A former stand-up comedian who gave up performing after a long run on the road with Rodney Dangerfield and many others, he's since published eight books, including two well-received novels, and written a hundred hours of primetime television. He's also traveled around the world for thirty years, writing as he journeyed for a dozen national magazines. In his latest incarnation, Turk can be seen as a recurring character in the third season of HBO's hit series, "The Sopranos."

After meeting Sopranos creator David Chase on a film festival panel, Pipkin was asked to audition for a one-time part in the show. After the first episode, his comic turn as Aaron Arkaway, the born-again, narcoleptic, song-writing boyfriend of Tony’s sister, Janice, was brought back for additional episodes.

In the meantime, Turk continues to work with his longtime pal and partner, actor-magician Harry Anderson, for whom he played the sucker to Anderson’s "Harry the Hat" on the original Comic Relief and co-starred in Showtime’s "Hello, Sucker!" Following a stint as the original warm-up act for the sit-com Cheers, Turk also appeared in and worked as a writer for the NBC sit-com NightCourt. Numerous other television and film appearances include Chris Guest's Waiting for Guffman.

His work as an actor comes as no surprise considering that he spent fifteen years touring a one-man show in European and American theaters and nightclubs, performing some 3,000 shows before moving nearly full-time to writing.

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