Biography

Stephen Lynch

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Stephen Lynch was born on July 28, 1971 in Abington, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer and actor, known for The Ten (2007), Pillowfighter (2002) and The Survivalist (1987). He has been married to Erin Dwight since September 6, 2003.

In the summer of 2004, he went on a tour co-headlining with Mitch Hedberg. The tour was such a success that they added an extra leg and ran into 2005. This was the last tour of Hedberg's before his death.
Cites the film This Is Spinal Tap (1984) as his inspiration to become a professional singing/songwriting comedian
Grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, with a younger brother, Drew, and attended Western Michigan University. His parents are a former priest and a former nun. Both became teachers. His father is a singer and stage actor as well. Lynch's earliest work in the theater was performing with his father in local community theater productions in Saginaw as a child. The first live musical he got to see was "Man of La Mancha", a community theater production in which his father played the role of the padre.
Makes a point of ending all playbill bios and all liner notes on his albums with, immediately following a loving remark to his wife: "I love you all. Except Heilman." This is in reference to Jeff Heilman, a close friend of his from his university days and his former songwriting partner.
Met best friend and fellow musician/actor/comedian Mark Teich when they both attended the theater program at Western Michigan University

"Lullaby" was the first song I wrote where I felt like, "Wow, I nailed it!" I don't want to say that people can relate to it--actually, you kind of hope that nobody can relate to it. But it seemed to me that the style had become subtler. And I saw how to set a course at the beginning, turn 90 degrees, and then once you think you know what's going on, turn it around again. That's pretty much how I've worked ever since then.
[on his tradition of bouncing the original ideas for his songs off his wife, Erin] I'll say something, like an idea for a song or whatever, and if she laughs then I'll start writing it, and if she doesn't, I don't even bother. Luckily, she has a good sense of humor.
I've always admired people who can tell a story with a simple song. You don't need much more than a guitar or a piano and a voice. That's what I've responded to, even when I was a kid. Even now, I like to think that both Joni [Joni Mitchell] and I are expressing some sort of truth -- hers might be just a little deeper, that's all.

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