- Chris Hardwick
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For the speed cuber, see Chris Hardwick (speed cuber).
Chris Hardwick 
Hardwick at the Palace Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky on June 19, 2009Birth name Christopher Ryan Hardwick Born November 23, 1971
Louisville, Kentucky, USAMedium Stand-up, music, television, film, podcasting Nationality American Years active 1991–present Genres Observational comedy, sarcasm, musical comedy Subject(s) Human behavior, self-deprecation, pop culture, nerd culture Notable works and roles Hard 'n Phirm
Host of Singled Out
Host of Wired Science
Host of Web Soup
Host of The Nerdist Podcast
Otis in the Back at the Barnyard series
Host of Talking DeadWebsite http://www.nerdist.com/ Christopher Ryan "Chris" Hardwick (born November 23, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, musician, podcaster, television personality, and voice artist. He is best known for performing with Mike Phirman in Hard 'n Phirm, hosting Singled Out, Wired Science, Web Soup, and The Nerdist Podcast, and the current voice of Otis in Back at the Barnyard.
Contents
Early life
Hardwick was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of former professional bowler Billy Hardwick and Sharon Hills, a real estate agent in Pasadena, California.[1] He was named after American sportscaster Chris Schenkel.[2] He grew up in Tennessee, attending St. Benedict at Auburndale K-12 School, then attended Regis Jesuit High School in Colorado, and then Loyola High School for his senior year.[3]
Hardwick studied philosophy at UCLA, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity during his freshman year.[3][4] Hardwick was roommates with Wil Wheaton for some time.[5][6] They met at a showing of Arachnophobia in Burbank, California.[5]
Career
Hardwick was a DJ on influential Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM during the mid-1990s.[3] In the fall of 1998, he starred in the UPN comedy Guys Like Us; the show aired 12 episodes before it was cancelled in January 1999.
He appeared in Rob Zombie's horror films House of 1000 Corpses and Halloween 2.[3] He also made a small appearance in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. In 2010 he was featured in the film The Mother of Invention. Hardwick was in episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Married... with Children,[3] Boy Meets World[3] and Zoey 101. He was also a guest commentator on VH1's I Love the 90s series which aired in 2005.[3]
He appeared as a television host on hip hop group Little Brother's 2005 album The Minstrel Show.
Hardwick plays the melodica, notably as part of Hard 'n Phirm.[7]
Currently, Hardwick is a contributing writer for Wired magazine (since 2007), writes for Web Soup and Back at the Barnyard,[3] and makes regular appearances on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Chelsea Lately. As part what Hardwick calls his "nerd media empire", he runs Nerdist Theater, an entertainment space at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles.[8]
Voiceover work
Hardwick voiced Alexander Hamilton in The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd and Otis in the Barnyard series (the character was originally voiced by actor Kevin James in the movie Barnyard: The Original Party Animals). He also provided the voice for Green Arrow/Oliver Queen on The Batman and was the voice of Glowface in The X's.[citation needed]. Hardwick also did voice work for The Minstrel Show from the rap group Little Brother and narrated the introduction video for the flash game George Plimpton's Video Falconry.
Hosting
Hardwick was first known as the host of MTV's Singled Out, a show that also helped launch the careers of Jenny McCarthy and Carmen Electra. While working on Singled Out, he met Jacinda Barrett, to whom he was engaged, although the couple later split up. Later, he hosted the syndicated dating show Shipmates. As of October 2007[update], he has been hosting Wired Science on PBS, writing for Wired, and works as a reviewer on Attack of the Show's "Gadget Pr0n".
On June 7, 2009, he became the host of G4's Web Soup, a spinoff of E!'s The Soup. Hardwick had previously guest hosted The Soup's predecessor, Talk Soup.[9]
Since February 2010, he has been producing the "Nerdist" podcast, which he hosts with Jonah Ray and Matt Mira.[10] The podcast was named one of 2010's best by The A.V. Club[11] and one of the 10 best comedy podcasts by Rolling Stone.[12] In May 2011, Hardwick signed a deal with BBC America to host a pilot of a panel talk show for the network based on the podcast. The deal also included Hardwick shooting hosting pieces for BBC America's Saturday night "Ministry of Laughs" comedy block.[13]
Hardwick also hosted the 2011 SXSW Interactive Awards show in Austin, Texas.
Since 2011, Chris Hardwick hosts Talking Dead, a talk show that follows The Walking Dead.
Stand-up comedy
Hardwick in July 2011
Hardwick is also a stand-up comedian and performs with Mike Phirman in the music comedy duo Hard 'n Phirm, whose half-hour comedy special Comedy Central Presents: Hard 'n Phirm premiered in January 2008.[14]
In 2004, Comedy Central used some of his material for an animated series called Shorties Watchin' Shorties.[15]
In 2007, both his solo standup and duo act were featured on the comedy compilation CD Comedy Death Ray. Hard 'n Phirm completed several songs for the 2009 Rob Zombie animated movie The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. Hardwick has announced plans to do a live stand-up album from his 2009 tour. He has toured as a featured comedian for Joel McHale.[citation needed]
In 2010, Hardwick appeared as a stand-up comic on John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show twice.[citation needed] In the same year, Hardwick performed on the Comedy Central show The Benson Interruption (starring Doug Benson).
On July 19, 2011, Hardwick performed for troops from the 124th Air Support Operations Squadron at Idaho's Sawtooth National Forest.
Personal life
Hardwick quit drinking alcohol in 2003.[16] He has been in a relationship with actress Janet Varney since 2004.[17]
References
- ^ Silberman, Stephen M. (September 30, 1996). In Their Own Prime Time. People
- ^ Chris Hardwick (20 October 2008), Technology's Gutterball, 16-11, Wired magazine, http://www.wired.com/gaming/hardware/magazine/16-11/st_bowling, retrieved 2010-08-12
- ^ a b c d e f g h Nerdist Podcast 90
- ^ Schools for Chris Hardwick, search for "Chris Hardwick's Schools"
- ^ a b Nerdist Podcast 63 with Wil Wheaton, 8 minute mark
- ^ Wheaton, Wil (2 September 2001). "WIL WHEATON dot NET: 1.5: Nimrod's Son". http://www.wilwheaton.net/2001/09/nimrods_son_2.php. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^
- "Twitter / Chris Hardwick: Goodbye, current Melodica! ...". Twitter. 9 December 2009. http://twitter.com/nerdist/status/6523912496. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- "News Brief-KZSC Laugh Riot". May 9-15, 2005. http://currents.ucsc.edu/04-05/05-09/brief-laugh.asp. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- "The long and short of it for Hard 'N' Phirm". Aspen Times. 11 February 2005. http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20050211/AE/102110001. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^
- Leijon, Erik (July 28, 2011). "The dean of dweebs: Chris Hardwick fine-tunes his nerd-dar at Just for Laughs". Montreal Mirror. http://www.montrealmirror.com/wp/2011/07/28/the-dean-of-dweebs/. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
- "Chris Hardwick Reveals Details of BBC America Deal, How Nerdist Podcast Will Be Adapted For TV". The Hollywood Reporter. May 25, 2011. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/chris-hardwick-reveals-details-bbc-192334. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
- "The NerdMelt Origin Story". NerdMelt. http://nerdmeltla.com/press-kit-the-nerdmelt-origin-story/. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
- ^ G4 Picks Up Web Soup, nerdist.com, May 2009
- ^ Hardwick, Chris (February 8, 2010). "The Nerdist Podcast: Now A Thing!". nerdist.com. http://www.nerdist.com/2010/02/the-nerdist-podcast-now-a-thing/.
- ^ "The Best Podcasts of 2010". The A.V. Club. December 29, 2010. http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-best-podcasts-of-2010,49466/1/.
- ^ Berkowitz, Joe (April 6, 2011). "The 10 Best Comedy Podcasts of the Moment". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-10-best-comedy-podcasts-of-the-moment-20110406. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
- ^ Wicks, Kevin. "Chris Hardwick to Host ‘Ministry of Laughs’ and ‘Nerdist’ Pilot for BBC America". bbcamerica.com. http://blogs.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2011/05/23/chris-hardwick-to-host-ministry-of-laughs-and-nerdist-pilot-for-bbc-america/. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
- ^ http://ccinsider.comedycentral.com/2008/01/25/tonight-hard-n-phirms-comedy-central-presents-special/
- ^ comedycentral.com
- ^ Comedy Death-Ray Radio #88, 23 minute mark
- ^ "Chris Hardwick: Nerdism For Fun and Profit". Gothamist. 30 June 2009. http://laist.com/2009/06/30/chris_hardwick.php. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
External links
Categories:- American stand-up comedians
- American actors
- American writers
- American musicians
- American podcasters
- American television personalities
- American voice actors
- American comedians
- 1971 births
- Actors from Kentucky
- American comedy musicians
- American film actors
- American game show hosts
- American television actors
- American television writers
- Melodica players
- Living people
- People from Louisville, Kentucky
- University of California, Los Angeles alumni
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
