Austin David "Buzzy" Cohen (born March 5, 1985) is a recording music industry executive and trivia enthusiast from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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 ...

. He is best known for his association with the

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...

'' since 2016. Cohen was the winner of the 2017 Tournament of Champions and later appeared in the All-Star Games in 2019 and as a guest host for the show's 2021 Tournament of Champions following longtime host

Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian and American game show host and television personality. He was best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 seasons ...

's death. From 2022 to 2024, he has served a co-host for the show's podcast, ''Inside Jeopardy!''

Early life

Cohen grew up in

Millburn, New Jersey Millburn is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in southwestern Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, within the U.S. state of New Jersey, and part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's ...

. He graduated from the

Pingry School The Pingry School is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory country day school in New Jersey, with a Lower School (K–5) campus in the Short Hills neighborhood of Millburn, a Middle (6–8) and Upper School (9–12) campus in ...

in 2003, and graduated from Columbia College of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

with a BA in music in 2007.

Career

''Jeopardy!'' appearances

Cohen won $164,603 over nine games in April and May 2016. Many of his victories were guaranteed victories, which allowed Cohen to wager nothing and use his final response to make sarcastic remarks toward

, a humorous style that earned Cohen both praise and disdain from ''Jeopardy!'' fans. He later returned for the 2017 Tournament of Champions, which he won, collecting the grand prize of $250,000. Cohen appeared again in the 2019 ''Jeopardy!'' All-Star Games relay tournament. His team went home with $75,000 after losing the wild card match. Following Trebek's death, Cohen hosted the May 2021 ''Jeopardy!'' Tournament of Champions, being the youngest ''

'' host at age 36. From 2022 to 2024, Cohen has appeared as a recurring guest and host on the ''Inside Jeopardy!'' podcast hosted by current ''Jeopardy!'' showrunners Michael Davies and Sarah Whitcomb Foss. He left the position in September 2024 and was replaced by

Sam Buttrey Samuel Edward Buttrey (born August 19, 1961) is a podcaster, and retired Associate Professor of Operations Research at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He is best known for multiple appearances on the game show ''Jeopa ...

. In September 2022, Cohen appeared as a Clue Giver in the category "Fashion with Buzzy Cohen" during the Triple Jeopardy! round on the first episode '' Celebrity Jeopardy!'' on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. On September 29, 2022, Cohen hosted the inaugural ''Jeopardy! Honors'' event alongside Sarah Whitcomb Foss. From April to August 2023, Cohen hosted a podcast about the quiz show entitled ''This is Jeopardy!: The Story of America's Favorite Quiz Show'' for

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

and

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production company, production and broadcast syndication, distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division o ...

. In January 2024, Cohen hosted three radio-only "play-in" games for that year's new Champions Wildcard tournament.

Other appearances

In April and May 2020, Cohen appeared on the revival of ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (British game show), British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, cu ...

'' on

as a lifeline for comedian

Hannibal Burress Hannibal Amir Buress ( ; born February 4, 1983) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He starred on Adult Swim's ''The Eric Andre Show'' from 201 ...

. Cohen joined the cast of the American version of '' The Chase'' in 2022, joining as a Chaser as a replacement for the departing

Ken Jennings Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show host, former contestant, and author. He is best known for his work on the syndicated quiz show ''Jeopardy!'' as a contestant and later its host. Jennings was born in Edm ...

. His Chaser name is "The Stunner". Fellow Chaser

James Holzhauer James Holzhauer (born August 6, 1984) is an American game show contestant and professional sports betting, sports gambler. He is the American game show winnings records#All-time top 25 winnings list, fourth-highest-earning American game show c ...

described Cohen's playing style and persona as "happy-go-lucky", compared to Holzhauer's own cutthroat, villain-like role. In May 2024, Cohen appeared as a contestant on the podcast ''Go Fact Yourself'' on

KPCC (FM) KPCC ( FM 89.3) – branded LAist 89.3 – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed in Pasadena, California. KPCC itself is primarily serving Greater Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley; through rebroadcating and translator ...

. That same year, in June, he began hosting ''The Einstein Challenge'' for

The History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the General Entertainment Content division of The Wa ...

. Cohen was also featured at the 2023 and 2024 editions of SporcleCon, the annual convention run by the trivia website

Sporcle Sporcle is a trivia and pub quiz website created by trivia enthusiast Matt Ramme. First launched on April 23, 2007, the website allows users to play and make quizzes on a wide range of subjects, with the option of earning badges by completing cha ...

. He hosted the main event of the convention, a massive team trivia competition called Battle of the Brains, in both years and also conducted his own 1990s trivia quiz called Baby Got Facts.

Personal life

In 2011, Cohen married Elisha Levin, a marketing and communications director. They have two daughters.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Buzzy 1985 births Living people American game show hosts American music industry executives Columbia College (New York) alumni Contestants on American game shows Jewish American entertainers People from Los Angeles People from Millburn, New Jersey