Kurt Braunohler (born February 22, 1976) is an American comedian and co-host of the podcast ''Bananas'' on Exactly Right Podcast Network. He was previously the host of IFC's comedy game show '' Bunk'' and has appeared on

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 ...

, ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' is a weekly hour-long American radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is ...

'', and ''

Radiolab ''Radiolab'' is a radio program and podcast produced by WNYC, a public radio station based in New York City, and broadcast on more than 570 public radio stations in the United States. The show has earned many industry awards for its "imaginati ...

''. Braunohler is a frequent collaborator with

Kristen Schaal Kristen Joy Schaal ( ,; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Known for her distinctive high-pitched, childlike voice, she voices Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and voiced Mabel Pines on '' Gravity Falls''. ...

, with whom he created the web series ''

Penelope Princess of Pets ''Penelope: Princess of Pets'' is a comedy series by comedy duo Kurt Braunohler and Kristen Schaal, in which Schaal stars as Penelope, a woman who can talk with animals. On a mission to save the world by killing a legislator named Stone before i ...

''.

Career

Braunohler's first major project was the performance project Kurtbot. This was a series of street comedy sketches along with an accompanying website. He had more success with the street theatre project Chengwin. His work with the group earned a number of awards, including being voted by the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'' as "Best Hilarious Insane Guerilla Theatre" in 2008. In 2004, Braunohler began the Neutrino Video Projects. His work with the group garnered widespread praise, and in 2005 the group traveled to the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, as well as to the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The Neutrino Video Projects were awarded "Improv Ensemble of the Year" by the Chicago Improv Festival in 2004. In 2005, Braunohler began co-hosting ''Hot Tub'' with

, which was voted "Best Variety Show of 2005" by ''

Time Out NY ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

''s reader poll. In 2017, Braunohler had a supporting role in the widely acclaimed movie ''

The Big Sick ''The Big Sick'' is a 2017 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Michael Showalter and written by Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani. It stars Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Adeel Akhtar, and Anupam Kher. Gord ...

''.

Standup

Braunohler was named one of Variety's "Top 10 Comics to Watch" in 2012, as well as ''

s "50 Funniest New Yorkers". Among other venues Braunohler has performed at the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival,

The Comedy Festival The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, was a comedy festival that ran from 1995 to 2008. The festival included stand-up comedy performances, appearances by the casts of television shows, and has a film component calle ...

, Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal and Chicago,

New York Comedy Festival The New York Comedy Festival is an annual comedy festival founded by Caroline Hirsch and launched in November 2004. The week-long festival is produced by Carolines and held each year in November. It features more than 200 comedians performing in m ...

(named a "Comic to Watch"),

SXSW 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 ...

Bonnaroo Bonnaroo (or Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival) is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Bonnaroo has taken place at what is now Great Stage Park, a 700-acre (280 ha) far ...

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released as the band's debut single in 1966. The song is from their 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the so ...

, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (IF.Comedy Award nominee), Melbourne Comedy Festival (Barry Award Winner), the HBO Vegas Comedy Festival, the Chicago Improv Festival ("Improv Ensemble of the Year" Award Winner). Braunohler's debut comedy album, ''How Do I Land?'' was released by

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in February 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but it was orig ...

on August 20, 2013. The album was recorded live on February 13, 2013, in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, and February 14, 2013, in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. In March 2013, Braunohler completed a successful $4,000

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign by hiring a professional pilot to skywrite "How Do I Land?" in Southern California, in promotion of the album.

Radio and podcasts

In February 2012, Braunohler was featured episode 457 of ''

'', "What I Did For Love," where he discussed his experience bringing the concept of

rumspringa Rumspringa (), also spelled or ( , from Pennsylvania German ; compare Standard German ), is a rite of passage during adolescence, used in some Amish communities. The Amish, a subsect of the Anabaptist Christian movement, intentionally segr ...

to his monogamous relationship of 13 years. He and his comedy partner

also appeared on the "Loops" episode of ''

'' in October 2011, and in 2009 the two hosted "High Five! with Kurt and Kristen" on the

Sirius XM Satellite Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merger ...

Raw Dog Channel. Braunohler also hosted '' The K Ohle with Kurt Braunohler'' podcast on the

Nerdist Nerdist Industries, LLC (also simply known as Nerdist) is part of the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist Industries was founded as a sole podcast ( The Nerdist Podcast) created by Chris Hardwick but later spread to include a net ...

network, as well as its spin-off, ''Emotional Hangs'', with co-host Joe DeRosa. He has since become the co-host of ''Bananas'', a podcast on Exactly Right Podcast Network. In 2014, Braunohler guest starred in the episode "Namer vs. Namer" of

John Hodgman John Kellogg Hodgman (born June 3, 1971) is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as his satirical trilogy '' The Areas of My Expertise'', '' More Information Than You Require'', and '' That Is ...

's podcast ''

Judge John Hodgman ''Judge John Hodgman'' is a weekly, comedy, comedic court show podcast hosted by John Hodgman and Jesse Thorn. The show is distributed online by Maximum Fun. The program features host John Hodgman acting as a judge (with Jesse Thorn as bailiff) ...

''.

TV and digital media

In 2012 Braunohler hosted the improv game show '' Bunk'' on the

Independent Film Channel IFC is an American basic cable channel owned by AMC Networks. Launched in 1994 as the Independent Film Channel, a spin-off of former sister channel Bravo, IFC originally operated as a commercial-free service, devoted to showing independent fi ...

. Since 2012 Braunohler has been an occasional voice contributor to Fox's animated series ''

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 ...

'', and he is a frequent roundtable guest on the E! network show ''

Chelsea Lately ''Chelsea Lately'' is an American late-night comedy talk show created by Brody Stevens and hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler. The show was produced by Handler's production company (Borderline Amazing Productions), and taped its later years a ...

''. He has also performed on

's ''John Oliver Presents''. Braunohler was active on

Vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

, and was named one of the best comedians using the video phone app by ''

Funny or Die Funny or Die, Inc. is a comedy video website and production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a regular staf ...

''. Braunohler's first television special premiered on

on March 3, 2017.

Personal life

Braunholer lived in

Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 15,188, a decr ...

, before moving to Neptune City, New Jersey.He graduated from the Christian Brothers Academy in 1994. He majored in both English and philosophy at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. He became engaged to Lauren Cook in April 2014, and the two got married on September 28, 2014.

Discography

*''How Do I Land?'' (2013) *''Trust Me'' (2017) *''Fire Crotch, Icy Bottom'' (2020) *''Banana hammock summer'' (2020)

References

External links

Official website

Kurt Braunohler
on

Tumblr Tumblr (pronounced "tumbler") is a microblogging and Social networking service, social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and is owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content ...

*
Kurt Braunohler's artist page
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braunohler, Kurt American male comedians Living people Johns Hopkins University alumni Christian Brothers Academy (New Jersey) alumni People from Asbury Park, New Jersey People from Neptune City, New Jersey Comedians from New York City 1976 births Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers 21st-century American comedians Comedians from Monmouth County, New Jersey