Christopher Alan Strait (born January 14, 1976) is an American comedian and writer. He is best known for being a regular contributor to
TRU-TV's ''World's Dumbest'' series.
Personal
Strait was born in
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...
, and grew up in the
Ladera Heights section of
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, ...
near
Baldwin Hills. He is the older of two sons, and also has a half-sister (from father's side). Strait is of predominately English and German descent, although he claims to be a "European mutt".
He graduated from
Culver City High School
Culver City High School is the main public high school of the Culver City Unified School District (CCUSD) in Culver City, California. It was established in 1951. The school's colors are blue and silver, and the mascot is the centaur. As of 2022, ...
in 1994, and subsequently earned a bachelor's degree in history from
California State University, Dominguez Hills
California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH, CSU Dominguez Hills, or Cal State Dominguez Hills) is a public university in Carson, California. It was founded in 1960 and is part of the California State University (CSU) system.
In 2020, ...
in 1999. Strait then received his master's degree in psychology from
Antioch University
Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. It is the continuation of Antioch College, which was founded in 1852. Antioch College's first president was politician, abolitionist, and ...
in 2001. He had intended to be a
psychotherapist
Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...
, but was told by supervisors that his problem-solving style was "too aggressive".
He began his comedy career while still in
graduate school
Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...
, in the summer of 2000. His Masters Thesis was on the subject of humor. Early influences included
Mel Brooks
Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...
,
Bill Cosby
William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...
,
Bob Newhart
George Robert Newhart (September 5, 1929 – July 18, 2024) was an American comedian and actor. Newhart was known for his deadpan and stammering delivery style. Beginning his career as a stand-up comedian, he transitioned his career to acting in ...
, and
The Smothers Brothers. Later his admiration shifted to the likes of
George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercultur ...
,
Bill Hicks
William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian and satirist. His material— encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy— was controversial and ofte ...
,
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Known for reaching a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, he is widely regarded ...
, and
Louis CK. In addition to his comedy career, Strait has also been employed in real estate, finance, behavioral therapy, and journalism.
Strait was previously married from 2004 to 2017. He has a daughter (born 2007), and a son (born 2011). He and his second wife had a son in 2018. They married legally in December 2019, but their official wedding was delayed to June 2021, due to the
Covid-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Strait is a
polyglot
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...
, and has an intermediate proficiency in Spanish, Italian, and German.
Career
Strait has headlined over 50
comedy club
A comedy club is a venue where a variety of comedic acts perform to a live audience. Although the term usually refers to establishments that feature stand-up comedy, stand-up comedians, it can also feature other forms of comedy such as improvisati ...
s in the U.S. and Canada, and has also performed for the U.S. military in the US, as well as in Cuba, Japan, Bahrain and Germany.
"I've been to all 50 states, as well as 6 continents, and 48 countries. I've done casinos, cruises, corporates, private parties, bars, comedy clubs, colleges, and military bases. Pretty much all the categories of places one can do stand-up." After many years hiatus from international shows, Strait performed in South Africa in 2017. He has also worked as a private auctioneer. From 2018 to 2020, and 2021 onward, Strait has been primarily performing on cruise ships... but shifted to do over 100 virtual shows for private companies during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2023–24, he headlined clubs in Iceland, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, and Brazil.
In addition to his contributions on TRU-TV, Strait has also done commentary on
E!,
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
, and
Fuel TV
Fox Sports 2 (branded on-air as FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in ...
. He has performed stand-up comedy several times on
Fox's "Laughs", as well as single performances on
NickMom
NickMom was an American nighttime programming block owned by Viacom Media Networks (now Paramount Media Networks). It aired on the Nick Jr. Channel during the watershed hours of 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. ET, when the channel's regular ...
,
Playboy TV
Playboy TV (originally The Playboy Channel) is a pay television channel based in the United States.
History
The adult-oriented, commercial-free premium channel Bravo! launched in the summer of 1979. Bravo! aired two PG or R-rated B movies t ...
, and
Starz
Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...
. He also wrote/produced/starred in a series of video sketches for
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
.
Strait has also lent his voice to video games, industrials, and film trailers. He was a writer for 'National Lampoon's Sports Minute', and appeared in the
National Lampoon Film, "Lost Reality 2".
His first commercially available CD, "Hitting The Wall", was shot in Indianapolis in Oct of 2011, and released on Next Round Entertainment's label, on December 13, 2011. His first commercially available DVD, "Urban Suburbanite" was released on Amazon in September 2015. The special had been shot nearly 3 years earlier, at the
Comedy & Magic Club in
Hermosa Beach
Hermosa Beach (, Spanish language, Spanish for "Beautiful") is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 19,728 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. The city is located in the South Ba ...
, CA but production issues delayed its release. It was rereleased on
Tubi
Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...
in 2022, and
Fawesome in 2024.
Strait released two more stand-up comedy CDs in 2019: "Incorrect Correctness" and "Personal Growth" for BSeenMedia. His
Dry Bar Comedy Special "Laugh Till You Run Out of Air" was released in January 2020. It was also picked up by Tubi in 2023. Strait then released an Open Bar Comedy Special, “Big and Raw” in 2025.
Strait has also written and self-released several e-books. Two books on boxing, "Strait on Boxing", and "Boxing Lists For the Die-Hard Fan", as well as a food review book, entitled "Eating Los Angeles". He has also released three books of poetry, "Free Thinker", "Tongues Lenguas", and "High-Cool" under the pen name, Alan Kimble, in 2016, 2019, and 2020, respectively.
The last one was a dedicated book of haiku, written during the 2020 COVID-19 quarantine. In September 2016, he released a travel essay book, entitled "40 Years, 50 States". He also released several books in 2019, "Borderless", a travel journal; "Psychology of Humor" and "Empty Bucket", the latter being his personal memoirs, told via bucket-list format.
Strait is also a US presidential historian. He released two books in 2022: "Presidentially Speaking", a comedic take on all 45 US Presidents, and "Strait Democracy", which is a proposed new constitution. In 2024, he released “Fast Food: Slow Digestion” a humorous review of fast food chains.
Boxing
Strait has worked as a live commentator and ring announcer for professional boxing shows, most notably on
CBS Sports Network
CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports ...
,
VYRE,
UFC Fight Pass
UFC Fight Pass is an American subscription-based video streaming service owned by the UFC's parent company, TKO Group Holdings, that launched in December 2013.
History
Fight Pass showcases live and on-demand mixed martial arts, submission grap ...
, and
Triller TV when it was FITE TV. He has been a freelance
boxing
Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
writer, blogger, and
vlog
A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one ta ...
ger since 2000. He has written for cyberboxingzone.com, boxingcentral.com, boxingtalk.com, ropeadoperadio.com, and Boxing Digest magazine. He was the head boxing writer for convictedartist.com and Punch Drunk Sports, and has also hosted several of his own boxing
podcasts
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their ...
.
Punch Line Boxing podcast
Strait also competed as a boxer, fighting in over 100 underground matches. He also won an official USA Boxing-sanctioned Los Angeles area tournament in the Super Heavyweight (over 201 lbs) elite division in 2001. Extremely nearsighted
Myopia, also known as near-sightedness and short-sightedness, is an eye condition where light from distant objects focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurred vision, blurry, while close objects ...
, he was unable to obtain a professional license. He returned sporadically over the years, fighting in “masters” and “point boxing” tournaments.
References
External links
Boxing Record For Chris Strait
from Boxrec
BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopedia of boxing.
The objective of the site is to document every profess ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strait, Chris
1976 births
People from Inglewood, California
Living people
People from Hawthorne, California
American boxing commentators
American male poets
American people of English descent
American people of German descent
American people of Irish descent
Comedians from California
People from Ladera Heights, California
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American poets
21st-century American male writers
American male comedians