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Matt Kirshen

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Matt Kirshen
Matt Kirshen, Glastonbury Festival, 2019
Born1980 (age 43–44)
London, England
MediumStand-up comedy, film, television
NationalityBritish
Alma materClare College, Cambridge[1][2]
Years active2001–present
GenresStand-up comedy

Matt Kirshen (born 1980) is a British comedian, actor, writer, and presenter based in Los Angeles.

Initially known for jokes poking fun at his youthful appearance, he has since turned his attention to more general, real world, and topical subjects, with a tightly-written style [according to whom?] involving multiple "taglines" for every joke. [according to whom?] In 2007, he appeared in NBC's Last Comic Standing.[3]

Biography

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Kirshen originates from North London, where he attended Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood. He subsequently studied Mathematics at Clare College, Cambridge. University marked the beginning of his comedy career. At university, Kirshen briefly edited Clareification, a magazine in which students mocked Cambridge traditions, satirised the events of the week, reported on silly student antics, and spread college gossip. He also started a comedy club in Clare College cellars and became well known within the Cambridge University comedy scene. He hosted these "Clare Comedy" nights during the latter years of his degree, and has continued to return as guest host, in addition to performing at the Clare May Ball. Prior to attempting stand-up, Kirshen earned some local notoriety as "The Wilf", in the double-act Crazy and The Wilf.[citation needed]

Since 2001, Kirshen has become a frequent performer at London clubs including the Comedy Store, and has completed several university tours. Kirshen was a finalist in So You Think You're Funny? at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and was named Hackney Empire New Act of the Year. In 2007, he was one of the final seven comics in NBC's reality TV show Last Comic Standing. In 2008, he recorded a 30-minute special for Paramount Comedy, now known as Comedy Central (UK and Ireland). In 2009, he co-wrote and starred in the BBC Radio 4 sketch comedy series Bigipedia. He also released an album entitled I Guess We'll Never Know,[4] which ranked in Punchline magazine's Top 10 comedy albums of 2009.[5] In an appearance on the podcast International Waters, he vowed that "the world has seen the last of The Wilf", although when pressed, he joked, "Well, I guess we'll never know", in reference to his album of the same name.[6] In 2016, Kirshen voiced Hugh on The Loud House episode "Study Muffin". His international stand-up performances include Singapore, Dubai, the Netherlands, Germany, and France.[3]

Kirshen wrote for The Jim Jefferies Show on Comedy Central,[7] for which he was nominated for a 2018 Writers Guild of America Award,[8] and for season 5 of Arrested Development.

Podcasts

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Matt Kirshen performs at the 300th episode party for Skeptoid: Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena podcast

Kirshen co-hosts a science-based comedy podcast called Probably Science. Notable guests on the show include Janna Levin, Chris Hadfield, and Neil deGrasse Tyson.[9]

As of December 2017, Kirshen has co-hosted seven episodes of the StarTalk family of podcasts. Guests on the episodes he has co-hosted include Rainer Weiss, Andy Weir, Adam Steltzner, Jim Green, Sheyna Gifford, Chuck Nice, Bill Nye, Jay Leno, Mona Chalabi, Joe Patterson, David Kipping, and Chris McKay.[10]

Kirshen has also appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor podcast,[11] The Carl Donnelly and Chris Martin Comedy Podcast,[12] and The Comedian's Comedian.[13]

Filmography

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Comedy recordings

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  • I Guess We'll Never Know (CD) – 5 May 2009

References

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  1. ^ "Camden Fringe Review: Matt Kirshen @ Sheephaven Bay". 9 August 2010.
  2. ^ Benedictus, Leo (7 August 2008). "Edinburgh festival rapid review: Matt Kirshen". The Guardian.
  3. ^ a b "Last Comic Standing - NBC Official Site". nbc.com. NBC. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  4. ^ "I Guess We'll Never Know". 5 May 2009 – via Amazon.
  5. ^ "LAUGHSPIN". Archived from the original on 6 February 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ "International Waters: Episode 68 Suck It Brits! - Maximum Fun". 16 February 2016.
  7. ^ "Matt Kirshen on Instagram: "First show tonight on @comedycentral. Watch or you're not my friend, which you may not be after seeing this sickening #selfpromotion and…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021.
  8. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (7 December 2017). "Writers Guild Award TV Nominations: 'The Americans,' 'Handmaid's Tale,' 'GLOW' Grab Multiple Mentions".
  9. ^ "Episodes".
  10. ^ "Matt Kirshen Archives – StarTalk Radio Show by Neil deGrasse Tyson".
  11. ^ Reid, Ken (14 October 2015). "TV Guidance Counselor Episode 109: Matt Kirshen". tvguidancecounselor.tumblr.com. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Episode 128 With Matt Kirshen". 3 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016.
  13. ^ "156 – Matt Kirshen". 4 February 2016. Archived from the original on 11 July 2016.
  14. ^ "YouTube outtake from the show". YouTube.
  15. ^ "Royal Family desk piece on the show". YouTube.
  16. ^ "@midnight with Chris Hardwick - Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - Comedy Central". Comedy Central. 12 January 2017. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018.
  17. ^ "The Martian". 18 November 2016. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016.
  18. ^ "The Loud House (2016– ) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  19. ^ "Comedy Knockout (2016– ) Suck It, Ben Franklin". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  20. ^ "Legit (2013–2014) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  21. ^ "Gotham Comedy Live". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  22. ^ "The Nerdist (2013– ) The BBC Extravaganza". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  23. ^ "Home & Family". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  24. ^ "The Brit List". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  25. ^ "The Hour (TV Series) Episode #8.35 (2011) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  26. ^ "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009– ) Episode #3.110". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  27. ^ "The Green Room with Paul Provenza (TV Series) Episode #2.4 (2011) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  28. ^ "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (TV Series) Episode #7.109 (2011) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  29. ^ "Global Comedians (2010)". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  30. ^ "Most Annoying People 2009 (2009)". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  31. ^ "Rude Tube". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  32. ^ "Last Comic Standing (2003– ) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  33. ^ "Comedy Cuts (2007– ) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  34. ^ "28 Acts in 28 Minutes (2005 TV Special) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
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