Chris Hardwick
Encyclopedia
Christopher Ryan "Chris" Hardwick (born November 23, 1971) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 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
Hard 'n Phirm
Hard 'n Phirm is a comedy/parody musical duo based in Los Angeles. The members are Chris Hardwick and Mike Phirman. They began performing at UCLA in 1994, but broke up, only to reform 7 years later. After the huge success of their song "Rodeohead" , they released their first and only album to...

, hosting Singled Out
Singled Out
Singled Out was a game show that ran on MTV from 1995-1998. Each episode featured a group of 50 men and a group of 50 women competing for a date with one main contestant of the opposite sex.The original hosts were Chris Hardwick and Jenny McCarthy...

, Wired Science
WIRED Science
Wired Science is a weekly high-definition television program that covers modern scientific and technological topics. In January 2007 PBS aired pilot episodes for three different science programs, including Wired Science. Using Nielsen ratings, CPB-sponsored research and public feedback, PBS...

, Web Soup
Web Soup
Web Soup is a weekly series airing in the U.S. on G4. The show , hosted by Chris Hardwick, comments on the latest in viral videos...

, and The Nerdist Podcast
The Nerdist Podcast
The Nerdist Podcast is a weekly interview show "about what it really means to be a nerd" hosted by Web Soup host Chris Hardwick, who is usually accompanied by Jonah Ray and Matt Mira. The audio podcasts are typically an hour in length and include conversations with notable comedians or...

, and the current voice of Otis in Back at the Barnyard
Back at the Barnyard
Back at the Barnyard is a Nickelodeon CGI animated show that is a spin-off of the 2006 film Barnyard. The debut series premiered on September 29, 2007 on Nickelodeon. The show is produced by Omation Animation Studio, in association with Nickelodeon Animation Studios. The show mainly features pop...

.

Early life

Hardwick was born in Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, the son of former professional bowler
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...

 Billy Hardwick
Billy Hardwick
Billy Hardwick is a former right-handed ten-pin bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association. He currently hails from Florida.-PBA career:...

 and Sharon Hills, a real estate agent in Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. He was named after American sportscaster Chris Schenkel
Chris Schenkel
Christopher Eugene "Chris" Schenkel was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and baritone voice.-Early life and career:Schenkel began his broadcasting career at radio...

. He grew up in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, attending St. Benedict at Auburndale K-12 School, then attended Regis Jesuit High School
Regis Jesuit High School
Regis Jesuit High School is a Jesuit Catholic college preparatory high school located in Aurora, Colorado. Founded in 1877, the high school shares much of its history with its counterpart Regis University in neighboring Denver, Colorado....

 in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, and then Loyola High School for his senior year.

Hardwick studied philosophy at UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity during his freshman year. Hardwick was roommates with Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton
Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers...

 for some time. They met at a showing of Arachnophobia
Arachnophobia (film)
Arachnophobia is a 1990 American comedy horror film directed by Frank Marshall and starring Jeff Daniels and John Goodman. It was the first film released by Hollywood Pictures....

 in Burbank
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Career

Hardwick was a DJ on influential Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 radio station KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...

 during the mid-1990s. In the fall of 1998, he starred in the UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...

 comedy Guys Like Us
Guys Like Us
Guys Like Us is a short-lived American sitcom that aired on UPN from October 5, 1998 to January 18, 1999. The series starred Bumper Robinson, Maestro Harrell, and Chris Hardwick.-Synopsis:...

; the show aired 12 episodes before it was cancelled in January 1999.

He appeared in Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...

's horror films House of 1000 Corpses
House of 1000 Corpses
House of 1000 Corpses is a 2003 exploitation horror film written and directed by Rob Zombie; it is his directorial debut. It was released in the United States on April 11, 2003 by Lions Gate Entertainment.-Plot:...

 and Halloween 2
Halloween II (2009 film)
Halloween II is a 2009 American horror film written, directed, and produced by Rob Zombie. The film is a sequel to Zombie's 2007 remake of Halloween , and the second film in the rebooted Halloween film series and the tenth Halloween film in total...

. He also made a small appearance in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, commonly abbreviated as T3, is a 2003 science fiction action film directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes and Kristanna Loken...

. In 2010 he was featured in the film The Mother of Invention
The Mother of Invention
The Mother of Invention is a 2009 American "mockumentary" style comedy film directed by Joseph M. Petrick & Andrew Bowser, the screenplay by Petrick. The film starred Bowser, Jimmi Simpson, Kevin Corrigan, Mark Boone Junior, Dee Wallace, Craig Anton, Ruby Wendell, F. Jason Whitaker and Chris Hardwick...

. Hardwick was in episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...

, Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...

, Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...

 and Zoey 101
Zoey 101
Zoey 101 is an American television series that ran from January 9, 2005 to May 2, 2008 starring Jamie Lynn Spears as teenager Zoey Brooks, produced for Nickelodeon and syndicated worldwide. The show was initially filmed at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, then at stages in Valencia,...

. He was also a guest commentator on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...

's I Love the 90s series which aired in 2005.

He appeared as a television host on hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

 group Little Brother's 2005 album The Minstrel Show
The Minstrel Show
The Minstrel Show is the second studio album by hip hop trio, Little Brother. It followed the critical success of their 2003 debut, The Listening. The album was highly anticipated and touted as a probable breakthrough for the group, even before its release...

.

Hardwick plays the melodica
Melodica
The melodica, also known as the "blow-organ" or "key-flute", is a free-reed instrument similar to the melodeon and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole,...

, notably as part of Hard 'n Phirm.

Currently, Hardwick is a contributing writer for Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...

 magazine (since 2007), writes for Web Soup
Web Soup
Web Soup is a weekly series airing in the U.S. on G4. The show , hosted by Chris Hardwick, comments on the latest in viral videos...

 and Back at the Barnyard
Back at the Barnyard
Back at the Barnyard is a Nickelodeon CGI animated show that is a spin-off of the 2006 film Barnyard. The debut series premiered on September 29, 2007 on Nickelodeon. The show is produced by Omation Animation Studio, in association with Nickelodeon Animation Studios. The show mainly features pop...

, and makes regular appearances on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...

 and Chelsea Lately
Chelsea Lately
Chelsea Lately is an American late night comedy talk show hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler on E!. The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and is produced by Handler's production company, Borderline Amazing Productions...

. As part what Hardwick calls his "nerd media empire", he runs Nerdist Theater, an entertainment space at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

.

Voiceover work

Hardwick voiced Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...

 in The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd
The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd
The Radio Adventures Of Dr. Floyd is a short audio and video series distributed via podcasting. Created by Grant Baciocco and Doug Price, it is a family friendly show in the style of old-time radio. The show also draws much inspiration from The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. The show first began in April...

 and Otis in the Barnyard series (the character was originally voiced by actor Kevin James in the movie Barnyard: The Original Party Animals
Barnyard (film)
Barnyard is a 2006 computer-animated family comedy film, produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures, directed by Steve Oedekerk . and produced by Steve Oedekerk, Paul Marshal, and Pam Marsden...

). He also provided the voice for Green Arrow/Oliver Queen
Green Arrow
Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...

 on The Batman
The Batman (TV series)
The Batman is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. It ran from 2004 to 2008, on the Saturday morning television block Kids' WB...

 and was the voice of Glowface in The X's
The X's
The X's is an American animated television series created by Carlos Ramos about a family of spies, who must hide their identity from the outside world, but sometimes have a little trouble in doing so....

.. Hardwick also did voice work for The Minstrel Show
The Minstrel Show
The Minstrel Show is the second studio album by hip hop trio, Little Brother. It followed the critical success of their 2003 debut, The Listening. The album was highly anticipated and touted as a probable breakthrough for the group, even before its release...

 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
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

's Singled Out
Singled Out
Singled Out was a game show that ran on MTV from 1995-1998. Each episode featured a group of 50 men and a group of 50 women competing for a date with one main contestant of the opposite sex.The original hosts were Chris Hardwick and Jenny McCarthy...

, a show that also helped launch the careers of Jenny McCarthy
Jenny McCarthy
Jennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy is an American model, comedian, actress, author, activist, and game show host. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for Playboy magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. McCarthy then parlayed her Playboy fame into a successful television and...

 and Carmen Electra
Carmen Electra
Tara Leigh Patrick , professionally known as Carmen Electra, is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, and dancer...

. While working on Singled Out, he met Jacinda Barrett
Jacinda Barrett
Jacinda Barrett is an Australian American model turned actress. She first became known to audiences as a cast member on The Real World: London before appearing in films such as Ladder 49, The Namesake, The Human Stain, and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.-Early life and career:Born in Brisbane,...

, to whom he was engaged, although the couple later split up. Later, he hosted the syndicated dating show Shipmates
Shipmates
Shipmates is an American syndicated television show that ran for two seasons from 2001 - 2003.Reruns later ran on the cable channel Spike TV. The show was created by Hurricane Entertainment and the executive producer was John Tomlin. Chris Hardwick was the host...

. , he has been hosting Wired Science
WIRED Science
Wired Science is a weekly high-definition television program that covers modern scientific and technological topics. In January 2007 PBS aired pilot episodes for three different science programs, including Wired Science. Using Nielsen ratings, CPB-sponsored research and public feedback, PBS...

 on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

, writing for Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...

, and works as a reviewer on Attack of the Show's "Gadget Pr0n".

On June 7, 2009, he became the host of G4
G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...

's Web Soup
Web Soup
Web Soup is a weekly series airing in the U.S. on G4. The show , hosted by Chris Hardwick, comments on the latest in viral videos...

, a spinoff of E!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...

's The Soup
The Soup
The Soup is an E! Entertainment Television weekly series; it is a revamped version of Talk Soup that focuses on recaps of various pop culture and television show moments of the week...

. Hardwick had previously guest hosted The Soups predecessor, Talk Soup
Talk Soup
Talk Soup was a television show produced for cable network E! that debuted on January 7, 1991, and aired until August 2002. Talk Soup aired selected clips of the previous day's daily talk shows—ranging from daytime entries like The Jerry Springer Show and to celebrity interview shows like The...

.

Since February 2010, he has been producing the "Nerdist" podcast
The Nerdist Podcast
The Nerdist Podcast is a weekly interview show "about what it really means to be a nerd" hosted by Web Soup host Chris Hardwick, who is usually accompanied by Jonah Ray and Matt Mira. The audio podcasts are typically an hour in length and include conversations with notable comedians or...

, which he hosts with Jonah Ray
Jonah Ray
Jonah Ray Rodrigues is an American actor, comedian and writer from Los Angeles.-Life and career:Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, Ray later moved to Los Angeles...

 and Matt Mira
Matt Mira
Matthew Paul "Matt" Mira is an American podcast host and stand-up comedian. He has been co-host of The Nerdist Podcast since 2010.-Life and career:...

. The podcast was named one of 2010's best by The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...

 and one of the 10 best comedy podcasts by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

. In May 2011, Hardwick signed a deal with BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...

 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.

Hardwick also hosted the 2011 SXSW Interactive Awards show in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

Since 2011, Chris Hardwick hosts Talking Dead, a talk show that follows The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead is a monthly black-and-white US comic book series published by Image Comics beginning in 2003. The comic was created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore, who was replaced by Charlie Adlard from issue #7 onward, although Moore continued to do the covers through issue...

.

Stand-up comedy

Hardwick is also a stand-up comedian and performs with Mike Phirman in the music comedy duo Hard 'n Phirm
Hard 'n Phirm
Hard 'n Phirm is a comedy/parody musical duo based in Los Angeles. The members are Chris Hardwick and Mike Phirman. They began performing at UCLA in 1994, but broke up, only to reform 7 years later. After the huge success of their song "Rodeohead" , they released their first and only album to...

, whose half-hour comedy special Comedy Central Presents: Hard 'n Phirm premiered in January 2008.

In 2004, Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....

 used some of his material for an animated series called Shorties Watchin' Shorties
Shorties Watchin' Shorties
Shorties Watchin' Shorties was a television show broadcast on Comedy Central that is now on DVD. The show is made up of various short animated clips with audio from comedians' stand up routines. It also features two "shorties," a pair of babies voiced by Nick DiPaolo and Patrice O'Neal who watch...

.

In 2007, both his solo standup and duo act were featured on the comedy compilation CD Comedy Death Ray
Comedy Death-Ray (album)
Comedy Death-Ray is a two disc CD collection of highlights from the weekly comedy showcase Comedy Death-Ray , released on September 11, 2007 on Comedy Central Records. Disc one was recorded January 15, 2007, at Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco...

. Hard 'n Phirm completed several songs for the 2009 Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...

 animated movie The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto is a 2009 animated comedy exploitation film that also combines elements of horror and thriller films. It is based upon the comic book series created by Rob Zombie that follows the character of El Superbeasto and his sidekick sister, Suzi-X, voiced by Sheri...

. 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
Joel McHale
Joel Edward McHale is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, television producer, television personality, and voice artist. He is best known for hosting The Soup and for his role as Jeff Winger on Community....

.

In 2010, Hardwick appeared as a stand-up comic on John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show
John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show
John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show is a stand up comedy television series that currently airs on Comedy Central in the United States. Hosted by British comedian John Oliver, the show features new material by both up-and-coming and established comedians. Each episode opens with Oliver's witty...

 twice. In the same year, Hardwick performed on the Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....

 show The Benson Interruption
The Benson Interruption
The Benson Interruption was a stand-up comedy show on Comedy Central starring Doug Benson. The show was cancelled after one season. The concept of the show was that three stand-up comedians per episode perform their acts in front of an audience, with Benson sitting on a throne by the side of the...

 (starring Doug Benson
Doug Benson
Douglas Steven "Doug" Benson is an American stand-up comedian and actor who has appeared on Comedy Central Presents, Best Week Ever and was a contestant on Last Comic Standing in the show's fifth season....

).

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. He was in a relationship with actress Janet Varney
Janet Varney
Janet Varney is an American comedic actress best known for being the current hostess of TBS's Dinner and a Movie.-Early life:Varney was born in Arizona...

 from 2004 until 2011.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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