Eugene Boris MirmanJackson, Todd (2009). Eugene Mirman. Retrieved on May 13, 2009 from . (born July 24, 1974) is a Russian-American actor, comedian, and writer, known for playing Yvgeny Mirminsky on '' Delocated'' and Gene Belcher on the animated comedy ''

Bob's Burgers ''Bob's Burgers'' is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is centered on the Belcher family—parents Bob Belcher, Bob and Linda Belcher, Linda and their three children, Tina Belcher, Tina, G ...

''.

Early life

Mirman was born Evgeniy Borisovich Mirman () on July 24, 1974, in

Moscow, Russia Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, when the country was part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, to Boris Mirman, a Latvian Jew, and Marina, a Russian Jew. His father was a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

. His family immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

when he was four years old, and settled in

Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by ...

, where Mirman attended William Diamond Middle School and Lexington High School. After arriving in the United States, his name was

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

, his first name being changed to its English form, Eugene, and his

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

Borisovich being shortened to simply Boris. Mirman is a graduate of

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...

in Western Massachusetts. As part of the college's "design your own major" program, Mirman graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in comedy, with a one-hour routine as his thesis. He returned to his high school to deliver its 2009 commencement address. He returned to Hampshire to deliver the 2012 commencement speech as well.

Career

Stand-up

In 2004, Mirman released ''The Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman'', a CD/DVD on Suicide Squeeze Records. The album was voted one of the Best Albums of 2004 by both '' The A.V. Club'' and '' Time Out'' New York. His second album, '' En Garde, Society'' was released by

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

in 2006. Three years later, Mirman released another comedy album, ''God Is a Twelve-Year-Old Boy with Asperger's'', which was recorded in Chicago at the Lakeshore Theatre. In 2012, Mirman released ''An Evening of Comedy in a Fake, Underground Laboratory''. Mirman has appeared at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...

, the Just for Laughs Festival in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Bumbershoot Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day (United States), Labor Day weekend (leading up to and ...

and

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

. He co-produced the weekly standup-variety show ''Invite Them Up'' with Bobby Tisdale and Holly Schlesinger, which won a Nightlife Award. Guests included the comedians Mike Birbiglia, Aziz Ansari, David Cross, and Chelsea Peretti. He produced ''Pretty Good Friends'' (formerly ''Tearing the Veil of Maya'') at Union Hall in Park Slope, Brooklyn with Julie Smith, which has been voted the best comedy night in New York City by ''New York Magazine''. Similar to comedians David Cross and Patton Oswalt, Mirman often performs in rock clubs and theaters as opposed to traditional comedy clubs. Often touring the US, Mirman occasionally opens for the comedy troupe Stella (former members of The State). He has opened for various bands such as The Shins and toured with Modest Mouse,

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (Spanish language, Spanish for "I've got it"; also abbreviated as YLT) is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley ...

, Gogol Bordello, Andrew Bird, and

Cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

. In 2012, Mirman stated that opening for musicians is uncommon and that music concerts pay three times that of a comedy gig. Mirman also toured with Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn and Maria Bamford on the Comedians of Comedy tour. He has toured as an opener for the comedy duo Flight of the Conchords and was a regular actor on their HBO series, and he also toured with

Andy Kindler Andy David Kindler (born October 16, 1956) is an American comedian and actor. He played the character "Andy", a fellow sportswriter and friend of sportswriter "Ray Barone" ( Ray Romano) on the TV show '' Everybody Loves Raymond'', was a regular ...

and

Marc Maron Marc David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician. In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' and appeared more than forty times ...

in ''Stand Uppity''. In January 2010, Mirman performed standup comedy on '' John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show'' on Comedy Central. Mirman's ''Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival'' ran for 10 years from 2008 to 2017. On April 10, 2015, Mirman filmed a live stand-up special in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. The special was released on Netflix in 2015 as ''Eugene Mirman:

Vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

on His Way to the Complain Store''.

Television

Mirman has appeared on several TV shows, including ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

'',

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's '' Flight of the Conchords'' as the character Eugene, the BBC's '' Russell Howard's Good News'', ''

Comedy Central Presents ''Comedy Central Presents'' is an American stand-up comedy television series created for Comedy Central. It is the network's main half-hour program which highlights either one or a series of stand-up comedians each episode. In 2011, the series ...

'', '' Delocated'', ''

Aqua Teen Hunger Force ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also branded with different #Alternative titles, alternative titles for seasons 8–11), is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late night progra ...

'',

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

's '' Premium Blend'', VH1, ''

Third Watch ''Third Watch'' is an American crime drama television series created by John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero that aired on NBC from September 23, 1999, to May 6, 2005, with a total of 132 episodes spanning over six seasons. It was produced ...

'',

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

's '' Home Movies'', '' Cheap Seats'', '' Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil'' and more. He also played a spokes-potato on

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

. In 2010, Mirman co-starred with

Phill Jupitus Phillip Christopher Jupitus (, ''Given name#Name at birth, né'' Swan; born 25 June 1962) is a retired English stand-up comedy, stand-up and Improv comedy teacher, improv comedian, actor, performance poetry, performance poet, cartoonist and podc ...

in the Dave TV movie ''Comedy Exchange''. In late 2010, Mirman performed on the

show '' The Benson Interruption''. On February 21, 2011, Mirman appeared on ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...

'' as a fertility clown. On April 4, 2013, Mirman provided the voice for Cecil Tunt, multi-millionaire brother of Cheryl/Carol Tunt on FX's '' Archer''. On March 13, 2016, Mirman appeared on '' Last Week Tonight'' as a

hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hackersomeone with knowledge of bug (computing), bugs or exp ...

. Mirman voices the character Gene Belcher on the Fox animated series ''

''. Mirman was a guest voice as Emperor Keith Merman in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

original '' The Adventures of Puss in Boots''. Mirman voices the character Burger on the animated show '' Apple & Onion''.

Radio and podcasts

In January 2009, Mirman released a satirical self-help book entitled ''The Will to Whatevs''. He often appears on '' StarTalk Radio'', hosted by

Neil deGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysics, astrophysicist, author, and science communication, science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia Univ ...

. He has also appeared several times on the TV adaptation. Mirman guest starred as an "

Expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

" on humorist John Hodgman's podcast '' Judge John Hodgman''. Mirman appeared on Ken Reid's ''TV Guidance Counselor Podcast'' on April 24, 2015. The episode was recorded live as part of the 2015 Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival in Boston. Mirman plays a supporting role of Benny the gerbil on the children's podcast ''This Podcast Has Fleas'' in 2017. Mirman hosted his own podcast, ''Hold On with Eugene Mirman'', in 2017–18.

Personal life

On September 7, 2015, Mirman wed his longtime partner Katie Westfall-Tharp (1980–2020). She was a

set decorator The set decorator is the head of the set decoration department in the film and television industry, responsible for selecting, designing, fabricating, and sourcing the " set dressing" elements of each set in a Feature Film, Television, or New Med ...

who worked on such productions as '' Inside Amy Schumer'' and '' Human Giant''. The two remained married until Westfall-Tharp's death from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on January 29, 2020. They have one son, born in 2016. In 2023, Mirman married comedian Therese Plaehn.

Discography

* ''The Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman'' (2004) * ''Invite Them Up'' (2005) * '' En Garde, Society!'' (2006) * ''Comedians of Comedy 3" Tour CD'' (2006) * '' God Is a Twelve-Year-Old Boy with Asperger's'' (2009) * ''An Evening of Comedy In a Fake Underground Laboratory'' (2012) * ''I'm Sorry (You're Welcome)'' (2015)

Filmography

Film

Television

Bibliography

* ''The Will to Whatevs'' (2009)

References

External links

Eugene Mirman official website

Eugene Mirman on
MySpace *
Pretty Good Friends: Comedic Programming
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirman, Eugene 1974 births Living people 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male actors American humorists American male comedians American male television actors American male voice actors American people of Latvian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American stand-up comedians Comedians from Massachusetts Hampshire College alumni Jewish American comedians Jewish American male actors Jewish Russian actors Jewish Russian comedians Jewish humorists Jewish male comedians Lexington High School (Massachusetts) alumni Male actors from Massachusetts Male actors from Moscow People from Lexington, Massachusetts Comedians from Moscow Russian humorists Russian male comedians Russian male television actors Russian male voice actors Russian stand-up comedians Soviet emigrants to the United States Soviet Jews Sub Pop artists Suicide Squeeze Records artists

Early life

Career

Stand-up

Television

Radio and podcasts

Personal life

Discography

Filmography

Film

Television

Bibliography

References

Further reading

External links