Adam Dean Friedland ( ; born April 10, 1987) is an American stand-up comedian, talk-show host and podcaster based in New York City. He hosts the comedy podcast '' The Adam Friedland Show'' after having co-hosted its predecessor, '' Cum Town'', with Nick Mullen and Stavros Halkias.

Early life

Friedland was born at Saint John's Hospital in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, to Lithuanian-Jewish South African parents. He grew up in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. Following high school, Friedland lived in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

for a year where he worked in the ambulance service. Friedland attended

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

as a

Middle Eastern studies Middle Eastern studies, sometimes referred to as Near Eastern studies, West Asian Studies or South Western Asian studies, is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, an ...

major and intended on pursuing a legal career.

Career

Friedland began his comedy career in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, following his college graduation and deferment from law school in 2009. He formerly worked as a

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant or paralegal specialist, is a legal professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with an admission to practice law. The market for p ...

for

Vox Media Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company founded in Washington, D.C. with operational headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by CEO Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''S ...

for two-and-a-half months. For the following two-and-a-half years, he helped run the DIY venue Subterranean A, which hosted the likes of musical artists Radical Face,

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

Secret Society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...

, and comedy acts

James Adomian James Adomian is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and impressionist. He is best known for his work on ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'', ''Chapo Trap House'', ''Last Comic Standing'', ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' where he Impressionist ...

and Wham City. He hosted a number of comedy shows, first at Subterranean A and then other venues in the city, gaining notability in the scene for his 'alternative' performance piece-oriented comedy. He also aided in the live series ''You, Me, Them, Everybody.'' In 2013 and 2014, he performed at the Bentzen Ball comedy festival and was named in the annual "Best of D.C." list by the ''

Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area since 1981. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial ...

''. He moved to New York City in 2014. In 2016, Friedland joined Nick Mullen and Stavros Halkias as co-host of the comedy podcast '' Cum Town''. The podcast is noted for its absurdist and controversial content. He also co-hosted the sports podcast ''White Chocolate NBA Pipecast'' with Halkias from 2017 to 2018. In January 2018, he appeared on

i24NEWS i24NEWS is a International news channels, 24-hour news television channel created by journalists and reporters from Israel. It broadcasts in languages such as French language, French, English language, English, Hebrew language, Hebrew, and Ara ...

to discuss the decline of support for

among young American Jews. He was a guest on The Michael Brooks Show and is a recurring guest on ''

Chapo Trap House ''Chapo Trap House'' (also referred to as ''Chapo'') is an American socialist political comedy podcast launched in March 2016 and hosted by Will Menaker, Felix Biederman, Matt Christman, and Amber A'Lee Frost. It is produced by Chris Wade. The ...

''. Friedland hosts the

alternative comedy Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ...

show ''Funny Moms'', which originated in Washington D.C. in 2012 with co-host Sara Starmour, but has since moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Personal life

Friedland is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He is the former fiancé of podcaster and actress Dasha Nekrasova. He is currently engaged to Maia Lafortezza. Friedland lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He is a lifelong supporter of

Arsenal F.C. The Arsenal Football Club, commonly known as simply Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, North London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. In domestic football, Arsenal h ...

Politics

Friedland voted for Vermont senator

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

in his

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

presidential campaigns respectively. He has an opposition to

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

, which he credits to an experience at 19 years old seeing Palestinian living conditions in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

in comparison to those of

Israeli settlers Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

in the area, which he described as "inhumane."

Podcasts

* '' Cum Town'' (2016–2022) * ''White Chocolate NBA Pipecast'' (2017–2018) * '' The Adam Friedland Show'' (2022–present)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Friedland, Adam 1987 births Living people 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews American male comedians American people of South African-Jewish descent American people of Latvian-Jewish descent American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American comedy podcasters American stand-up comedians George Washington University alumni Jewish American activists for Palestinian solidarity Jewish American anti-Zionists Jewish American comedians Jewish male comedians Jewish socialists People from Santa Monica, California Comedians from California People from Las Vegas Comedians from Nevada