Aaron Karo
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Aaron Karo (born June 18, 1979) is an American comedian and author, best known for his ''Ruminations'' email column and series of books, his young adult novel ''Lexapros and Cons'', and his Comedy Central special ''Aaron Karo: The Rest Is History''.


Career

In September 1997, as a freshman at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
's
Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...
, Karo sent a humorous email about college to twenty of his friends. That email spawned an "email column" called ''Ruminations on College Life'' that Karo began sending on a regular basis. Through forwarding and word-of-mouth, the column spread and readers began subscribing to receive the column directly. Karo continued to write the column after college, shortening the title to simply ''Ruminations''. On July 10, 2002, Karo made his stand-up comedy debut at Stand-Up New York in New York City. In August 2002,
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
published a collection of Karo's columns, also entitled ''Ruminations on College Life''. It is currently in its ninth printing. In May 2005,
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
published Karo's second book, ''Ruminations on Twentysomething Life'', a collection of Karo's post-college columns. In July 2005, Karo moved from New York to Los Angeles and began to write for television. He has since developed projects for
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
,
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
,
Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
, CBS Paramount, and a sitcom entitled ''Ruminations'' for
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
. In August 2008, Karo announced the launch of Ruminations.com, a user-generated humor site that allowed fans to write their own "ruminations" and share them with the community. The site received half a million submissions before being shuttered in 2012. On August 15, 2008, Karo performed on
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airi ...
on
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
. On December 9, 2008,
Comedy Central Records Comedy Central Records is a record label based in New York and owned by Paramount Global. The label specializes in stand-up comedy albums and is distributed by Alternative Distribution Alliance, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. The label has ...
released Karo's debut stand-up album ''Just Go Talk to Her''. The album reached number eight on the
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
comedy bestseller list. On September 15, 2009,
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
published Karo's third book, ''I'm Having More Fun Than You''. Described as a "tribute to modern bachelorhood," the book reached number one on
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...
’s humor bestseller list. On November 19, 2010,
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 ...
premiered his first one-hour stand-up special ''Aaron Karo: The Rest Is History''. An album by the same name was released the following day; it reached number one on Amazon.com's comedy bestseller list. On April 10, 2012, Karo's fourth book and first novel, a work of
young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...
, was published by
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer P ...
. ''Lexapros and Cons'' is the story of Chuck Taylor, a teenager with
obsessive–compulsive disorder Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts (an ''obsession'') and feels the need to perform certain routines (''Compulsive behavior, compulsions'') repeatedly to relieve the dis ...
who is obsessed with Converse and prescribed the antidepressant
Lexapro Escitalopram ( ), sold under the brand names Lexapro and Cipralex, among others, is an antidepressant medication of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is mainly used to treat major depressive disorder, generalized an ...
. On April 30, 2012, Karo's third stand-up album, ''I Need to Tell You Something'', was released. His fourth album, ''Charm/Offensive'', was released in 2015. On September 17, 2012, the fifteenth anniversary of his first email, Karo ended his ''Ruminations'' column after expanding his mailing list from twenty friends to 100,000 worldwide subscribers. In January 2015, Publishers Weekly reported that Karo's fifth book, a novel titled ''Galgorithm,'' would be published in summer 2015. It was later re-released in paperback under the title ''Me You Us''. In October 2015, Variety reported that Karo was developing a sitcom for CBS called ''Squad Goals'', executive produced by
Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American television presenter and producer. Seacrest is the host of '' Wheel of Fortune'', having hosted since replacing long-time host Pat Sajak in September 2024. Seacrest co-hosted and ser ...
. In March 2016, it was reported that Karo was developing an animated series for
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 ...
called ''Germany'', starring
Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his Breakthrough role, breakthrough with the sports comedy film ''She's the Man'' (2006) and t ...
. In April 2018, Deadline reported that Karo was developing a series for
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 ...
called ''Living the Dream'', starring DJ
Dillon Francis Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known as DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He played a key role in popularizing moombahton and later developed its heavier variants, moombahcore and EDM trap. Earl ...
. In December 2018, Variety reported that Karo was developing a series for TBS called ''Strange Times'', with former
Blink-182 Blink-182 is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Poway, California, in 1992. Its current and best-known line-up consists of bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though its so ...
member Tom DeLonge.


Education

Graduated from Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School in
Plainview, New York Plainview is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Oyster Bay (town), New York, Oyster Bay in east central Nassau County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 27,100. The Plainv ...
on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, in June 1997. The original twenty friends that Karo sent the first ''Ruminations'' email to are purported to also be from Plainview. Graduated ''
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' with a Bachelor of Science in economics from the
Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...
of the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
in May 2001. Was a member of the
Zeta Beta Tau Zeta Beta Tau () is a Greek-letter social fraternity based in North America. It was founded in 1898 at City College of New York. Originally a Zionist youth society, its purpose changed in 1954 when the fraternity became non-sectarian and open to n ...
fraternity.


References


External links


AaronKaro.com

''Ruminations'' column archive

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karo, Aaron 1979 births Living people American columnists American humorists American stand-up comedians American Internet celebrities Wharton School alumni People from Plainview, New York 21st-century American comedians Comedians from New York (state) American male comedians