Michael Ian Black
(born Michael Ian Schwartz
; August 12, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, writer and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including The State
, Viva Variety
, Stella
, and currently Michael & Michael Have Issues
.
|
MICHAEL IAN BLACK TICKETS
|
Biography
Early life
Black was born in
Chicago, Illinois, the son of Jill, a store owner, and Robert Schwartz, an executive.
[1] He grew up in
Hillsborough Township, New Jersey,
[2] where he attended
Hillsborough High School. His parents divorced when he was three years old. When he was twelve, his father died during neurological
surgery following a mysterious assault. Black is
Jewish.
[3]
Schwartz attended
Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in New York and
Tisch School of the Arts at
New York University, but later dropped out.
Career
Black is known for appearing on
VH1's
I Love the...
series, his
Stella comedy troupe, and a variety of other TV series and films. He was also the
voice actor behind the
Pets.com sock puppet, is the main subject in the current
Sierra Mist commercials, hosted the first season of
NBC's hidden-camera show
Spy TV
, made several appearances in the film
Big Helium Dog
, and had a supporting role on the NBC
dramedy Ed
.
He began his career as a member of the comedy group
The State
and was featured on the television show by the same name on
MTV. He continued working with members of that group on the show
Viva Variety
in the role of "Johnny Bluejeans", and in the film
Wet Hot American Summer
. His dry,
sarcastically irreverent commentary on
pop culture artifacts on
VH1's
"I Love the 70s/80s/90s/New Millennium"
series has added to his and the shows' popularity. Black has stated several times on the show that he feels as if he is "doomed to an eternity of doing the 'I Love the...' series". He also makes fun of himself for being a
Jewish-American and sarcastically enforcing the Jewish
stereotypes.
In the latter part of 2004, he acted as guest-host of
CBS's
The Late Late Show
while auditioning for the permanent hosting role. He was a finalist for the position, although the job eventually went to
Craig Ferguson. He is also an occasional contributor to the online edition of
McSweeney's, where he writes a column titled "Michael Ian Black Is a Very Famous Celebrity".
Black, along with fellow
State
-rs
Michael Showalter and
David Wain, co-starred in and co-wrote the
Comedy Central series
Stella
, a television adaptation of their popular stage show. The ten-episode first season debuted in June 2005 and was not renewed for a second season.
Black wrote the screenplays for two feature film comedies —
Wedding Daze
(also known as
The Pleasure of Your Company
and
The Next Girl I See
, 2006) and
Run, Fat Boy, Run
(2007, co-written with leading actor
Simon Pegg).
[4] Black also directed
Wedding Daze
which stars
Jason Biggs,
Joe Pantoliano, and
Isla Fisher.
[5]
Black also has some minor screen credits. He appeared twice on the
Adult Swim show,
Tom Goes to the Mayor
, and was a guest voice on
Seth Green's stop-motion show
Robot Chicken
, and later did a bit for "
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!". He appeared on the Comedy Central shows
Crank Yankers
and
Reno 911!
. He had a cameo in
David Wain's 2007 film,
The Ten
as a prison guard. In September 2007, he released his first stand-up comedy album,
I Am a Wonderful Man
. In addition, he starred on the TV series
Reaper
as a
gay demon trying to destroy
the devil through acts of kindness.
[6] Most recently, Black wrote a book titled
My Custom Van ... And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays That Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face
, which was published on July 15, 2008.
Black is the host of
Reality Bites Back
, a scripted
reality show that premiered July 17 on
Comedy Central.
Black also developed another show for Comedy Central titled
Michael Ian Black Doesn't Understand
.
[7] The concept was later retooled as
Michael & Michael Have Issues
; a
pilot episode, featuring
Michael Showalter, was shot in August 2008.
[8] Comedy Central confirmed in February 2009 that a seven-episode run of the show would air in July.
[9]
His first children's book,
Chicken Cheeks
, was published by
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing on January 6, 2009. The book is illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. In a starred review, Kirkus called the book "a perfect collaboration of text and illustration."
Michael Black appeared in several Sierra Mist commercials, but has not done any further work in commercials.
On February 21, 2009, Black instigated a "Celeb-Feud" — or as he called it, the "World's First
Twitter War" — with
Levar Burton to see if he can muster more followers than Burton on the popular networking site
Twitter. Black dubbed the feud "LeWar."
On August 1, 2009, Black is part of a Klondike Bar chat called Enter The Man Cave with new stuff coming next Tuesday.
Personal life
Black married Martha Hagen on
October 17,
1998,
[10] and they have two children: a son, Elijah (born in 2001), and a daughter, Ruth (born in 2003). He resides in
Redding, Connecticut.
Poker
Black has been an amateur
poker enthusiast for several years, and is a regular player or "famous face"
[11] on the
online poker website,
Hollywood Poker, which is run in conjunction with
Ongame Network. He has appeared on a number of episodes of
Celebrity Poker Showdown
as a celebrity competitor — he has appeared in five episodes, more than any other player. He first appeared in the third game of the first season (2003), playing to earn money for the Endeavor House charity. He lost to
Nicole Sullivan, who would go on to win the entire tournament. His performance improved in the third game of the second season (2004), where he played for the charity
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and won a game with
Star Jones,
Norm Macdonald,
Adam Rodriguez and
Jeremy Sisto, earning the silver chip after a lengthy "see-saw" battle with Macdonald and proceeding to the final table. However, he was knocked out early in the finals.
After being absent for several years, Black returned to the show in 2006, appearing in the second episode of the eighth season and playing for MAZON again. There, Black defeated
Greg Behrendt,
Jorge Garcia,
Kim Coles, and
Andrea Martin, and made
Celebrity Poker Showdown
history by knocking out three players (Martin, Coles and Garcia) in three consecutive hands. In the final table, he came in third (receiving $100,000 for his charity), with
Jason Alexander winning the tournament (receiving $500,000 for his).
Black has made a mark in his appearances both for his jokes and antics and for his skilled, aggressive-but-controlled poker play. Black has been repeatedly praised by
Dave Foley, host of
Celebrity Poker Showdown
, and by the two poker experts who have commented on the show,
Phil Gordon and
Phil Hellmuth. Gordon has listed Black among eight of the best celebrities he's ever seen on the show,
[12] and Hellmuth considered him one of the best players in the eighth tournament
[13] and a favorite to win after
Jennifer Tilly's elimination. He and Foley argued over who would get to pick him to win in his two appearances.
References
- http://www.filmreference.com/film/48/Michael-Ian-Black.html
- Meoli, Daria. "That’s Entertainment", ''New Jersey Monthly'', October 2005. Accessed December 26, 2007. "Add Stella, the strange Comedy Network brainchild of Princeton native Michael Showalter and Hillsborough native Michael Ian Black—he played wacky bowling-alley employee Phil in Ed, filmed all over the state—and Ohioan David Wain."
- Stella
- BBC Movies Review of ''Run, Fatboy, Run''[1]. Retrieved on September 14, 2007.
- The Internet ,Movie Database, ''The Pleasure of Your Company''[1] retrieved on September 14, 2007
- Happy Reaper: Michael Ian Black
- Michael Ian Black: My Whereabouts
- Michael Ian Black: Come See Michael & Michael Have Issues
- Comedy Central commits to 'Michael and Michael Have Issues'
- WEDDINGS; Martha Hagen, Michael Black
- Michael Ian Black Biography
- HoboTrashcan - Phil Gordon interview
- Phil Hellmuth - Businessman, Host, and Poker Legend | Poker News