Born Jay Dante Rusciolelli, DANTE is currently a cast member on Last Comic Standing. On Last Comic Standing, he received the Capital One / No Hassle Pass audience favorite award in the LA auditions and again at the Semi-finals, becoming one of only two comedians in the show's history to receive back-to-back audience favorite awards; he even received the first standing ovation ever had during the show's semis round! On the show he is represented in the story line as the cute stay at home dad. The Internet response to Dante has been the most positive out of everyone. By far the most talked about cast member on line.

Dante is one of the top headlining comedians in the United States, appearing on numerous television shows and in films, and appearing to sold-out crowds across the country, as well as making regular stops each year at U.S. military bases around the world, entertaining the troops in every branch of the Armed Forces. He has been honored as the recipient of several comedy awards, including the $10,000 grand prize on America's Funniest People on ABC; he also still holds the record for winning the most comedy awards ever presented to a single comedian at the BET Comedy Awards. Dante was even the winner of Los Angeles "Funniest Black Comic in LA" award... we're still not sure how he even qualified for that one!

Beginning his career in San Diego at the La Jolla Comedy Store, Dante has since made a name for himself as one of the few comedians working today who are able to cross over to any crowd and still be just as funny. He is the rare sort of performer who can perform at an urban comedy club, do another set in front of a Latino crowd later that evening, and then still bring down the house at a Beverly Hills country club benefit show after that, all in the same night... and he has!

While he travels across the country, as well as abroad, today Dante calls Los Angeles his home, where you can catch him regularly at The Comedy Store and the Laugh Factory. In his comedy journey, Dante has had the honor and pleasure of working with some of the greats in the entertainment business, including Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, Milton Berle, BB King, Santana & Macy Grey... as well as Weird Al Yankovich (who may or may not qualify as one of the "greats" - but he IS a heck of a lot of fun!).

As an actor, Dante has been in over 20 plays. He received 1 of only 2 scholarships for acting at USIU. The other scholarship went to Jamie Foxx. Dante also studied under Jeff Goldblum at Playhouse West. He’s had many roles in films and on TV shows. He starred for 2 years on a sitcom called The Blackberry Inn on BET. It was their highest rated show ever. Dante was also the commercial spokesman for ICE LITE from Miller. And  had a development deal with Sony/Tri-Star in '95.

With his sold-out club shows & recent television appearances, as well as upcoming projects in the near future, Dante is one act that's hard to miss!