T. J. Jagodowski

Thomas James Jagodowski (born September 2, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, and improvisational performer who resides in Chicago. He has been a member of The Second City as well as a performer and teacher at iO Theater, formerly known as "Improv Olympic". He has appeared in movies such as Stranger Than Fiction, The Ice Harvest, No Sleep Till Madison, Get Hard and the television show, Prison Break. He is most recognizable from the long-running series of improvised Sonic Drive-In commercials featuring himself and Peter Grosz until 2020. Life and career Jagodowski was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He attended Blessed Sacrament school and graduated as salutatorian of Holyoke Catholic High School in 1988. While in college at Syracuse University, a vending machine fell on his leg, breaking multiple bones. He had plates and screws installed in his right leg, though a rampant staph infection took hold. Doctors told him he was one week away from losing the leg to gangrene. Jagodowski discussed this during a performance of "The Armando Diaz Theatrical Experience and Hootenanny", a weekly show at iO that uses one performer's/guest monologist's stories as inspiration for improvised scenes. Jagodowski was the monologist that evening and noted while telling the story that he generally hates when other monologists tell "these kinds of stories". Jagodowski began improvising in the early 90s. He started out on several Harold teams at iO Chicago. In 1998, he was cast in the Mainstage cast of The Second City, where he appeared in revues on both Mainstage and e.t.c. stages alongside Kevin Dorff, Susan Messing, Stephnie Weir, and many others. Since 2002, he has been performing at iO with David Pasquesi in the long-running improv show "T. J. and Dave." The 2009 South by Southwest Film festival included the documentary "Trust Us, This is All Made Up" directed by Alex Karpovsky, which chronicles a "T. J. and Dave" performance.