Elliott Christopher Morgan (born February 22, 1987) is an American comedian, actor, writer, host, producer and
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 ...
personality. Morgan is best known for being a co-host of the YouTube channel ''
SourceFed''. Morgan attended the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
.
Early life
Morgan was born on February 22, 1987.
Morgan attended the
Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, graduating in 2005, and the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
, graduating in 2009 with a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
in
zoology
Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...
.
[
]
Career
''SourceFed'' years (2012–2014)
In 2011, 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 ...
began its funding of original channels, which was launched in 2012. One of these channels was '' SourceFed'', which was created by YouTube celebrity Philip DeFranco, who also created the popular ''Philip DeFranco Show''. DeFranco hired three hosts, Morgan being one of them, to write, produce, and present news videos that would be known as ''20 Minutes or Less''. The series would later be known as ''SourceFed'', named after the channel. Morgan was hired after he came into casting and DeFranco "instantly fell in love" with him and SourceFed co-host Lee Newton. Around the channel's launch, Morgan began posting videos on his personal channel as well. ''SourceFed'' began airing other programs, such as ''One on One'', which Morgan was a recurring host on. The channel grew, reaching 500,000 subscribers in August 2012. In June, Morgan obtained management representation with The Collective. Later in the year, Morgan joined DeFranco and ''SourceFed'' co-host Meg Turney during the channel's live program, ''Election Night 2012 #PDSLive''. Morgan also appeared in videos breaking down political parties and debates, as part of YouTube's "Election Hub".
In 2013 the ''SourceFed'' channel and its live event during YouTube's ''Election Hub'' were nominated for a total of four Streamy Awards
The YouTube Streamy Awards, also known as the Streamy Awards or Streamys, are an awards show presented annually by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter to recognize excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and wr ...
, winning the Audience Choice for Best Series. Morgan's podcast, ''The Morganism'', launched on March 20, 2013, debuted at #23, and peaked at #10 on the U.S. iTunes charts.
On July 22, Morgan launched a new show on his personal channel, "Happy Hour", in which he broaches a topic stand-up comedy style all the while drinking a beverage "someone over the age of 21 would drink, or someone under the age of 2." In November, Morgan began a series of guest co-host appearances on the webseries ''Live from E!'', one of which was replayed on TV on the E! Network on November 11, 2013.
On April 2, 2014, Elliott announced his resignation from the ''SourceFed'' channel on his Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
fan page, writing, "This is one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made and certainly the most bittersweet. I absolutely love the people I work with, and I'm incredibly proud of the content we’ve created over the past two plus years, not to mention the amazing audience that has supported me." During his time on ''SourceFed'', Morgan appeared on the popular Internet series ''Annoying Orange
''Annoying Orange'' is an American comedy web series created by Dane Boedigheimer (known online as DaneBoe). Set in a world of anthropomorphic food, the series follows its titular protagonist, Orange, who always annoys others by telling c ...
'' as Special Agent Cheese, on the web series ''H.A.C.K.S.'' as Lucas, and on an episode of SoulPancake's ''The FlipSide'' as Ryan. Aside from appearing, producing, and writing several Internet series, Morgan also appeared in the television series '' Marvin Marvin''.
Post-''SourceFed'' (2014–present)
On April 11, 2014, Morgan hosted his final video on the ''SourceFed'' channel. After his departure, Morgan continued his ''Happy Hour'' vlog series, which regularly featured several other SourceFed personalities, until October 2015. On April 12, 2014, Morgan began hosting the newly-launched ''Mashable Minute'' on Mashable
Mashable is a Online newspaper, news website, digital media platform and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005.
History
Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2004. Early iterations o ...
's YouTube channel, a series produced by Collective Digital Studio. Morgan later hosted ''Monumental'', a second online series produced by CDS under Mashable's online catalogue.
In October 2014, Morgan began hosting the weekly series, ''Misconceptions'', on the Mental Floss
''Mental Floss'' (stylized as ''mental_floss'') is an American online magazine and digital, print, and e-commerce media company focused on millennials. It is owned by Minute Media, an international digital media publisher based in London, Engla ...
YouTube channel. In addition to this series, Morgan began occasionally appearing in ''"Mental Floss: List"'' videos and continued to do so after "Misconceptions" aired its final episode on February 19, 2016.
In 2015, Morgan made a temporary return to SourceFed as the host of a weekly series called ''The Study''. Prior to its debut, Morgan described the satire news/talk show as one that would feature “tight writing, irreverent humor, and a lot of dumb vape pen smoke.” ''The Study'' premiered on August 22, 2015, and maintained high viewership until its final episode, entitled "Elliott C. Morgan Gets Cancelled!", was released on April 23 of 2016. In the same year, Morgan hosted a short-lived online revival of classic game show ''Beat the Clock
''Beat the Clock'' is an American television game show. Contestants attempted to complete challenges such as physical stunts within a time limit in order to win prizes. The show was a creation of Mark Goodson- Bill Todman Productions.
The sho ...
''(featuring various internet personalities as contestants) for YouTube's online channel Buzzr
Buzzr (stylized as BUZZR) is an American digital broadcast television network owned by Fremantle North America, a unit of the Fremantle subsidiary of RTL Group. The network serves as an outlet for the extensive library of classic game shows ow ...
until 2016.
In December 2015, Morgan recorded his first stand up comedy special entitled ''"Premature"''. The special premiered on Vimeo
Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...
On-Demand December 10, with SUPERGRAVITY Pictures producing. The hour-long show included material outside of the usual from Morgan, but was well-received. Morgan used this special to kick-off his comedy tour while still regularly updating his personal YouTube channel and appearing as a guest on other channels.
In the fall of 2016 Morgan once again took his comedy act on tour, alongside former SourceFed cohost Mike Falzone and friend Andrew Delman. In the same year Morgan began a comedy podcast
A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
with former SourceFed cohost Lee Newton, titled ''Shooting Stars''. The show ran from March 2016 until August 2017.
Since 2017, Morgan has been a collaborator with YouTube channel Sugar Pine 7, appearing in their ''Alternative Lifestyle'' vlog series, as well as their short horror film, ''The Woods,'' in October 2017.
In December 2017, Morgan appeared in an hour-long TLC
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an A ...
special called ''I Catfished My Kid''. Inspired by 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 ...
's ''Catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...
'', ''I Catfished My Kid'' follows host Elliott Morgan as he guides parents through a confrontation with their children regarding their internet activity.
In early 2018, Morgan began performing alongside Andrew Delman, Mike Falzone, Lee Newton, and others at Hollywood Improv as part of the show ''"Delman's Definitely Not Star Search"''.
Morgan launched a new YouTube channel and production company The Valleyfolk, with friends and founding SourceFed members Steve Zaragoza
Esteban "Steve" Zaragoza (born June 9, 1982) is an American online personality, singer-songwriter, musician and web series host, notable for his work on the current events and news series ''SourceFed''. Zaragoza became a host on the series in 2012 ...
, Lee Newton, and Joe Bereta on January 8, 2018. As part of the channel he hosts a feature show called ''Hot Take'', which combines real-world news reporting with satirical commentary.
Later in 2018, Morgan joined his friend Peter Rollins to start The Fundamentalists, a podcast where they discuss philosophy, comedy, and “life before death”.
In 2019, the Valleyfolk competed on the NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
comedy competition show ''Bring the Funny
''Bring the Funny'' is an American comedy competition series that aired on NBC from July 9 to September 17, 2019.
Hosted by comedian Amanda Seales, the series features various comedy acts performing in front of an audience for a chance to win $ ...
'', winning the show's first season.
On October 1 of 2019, Morgan released his second comedy special, titled ''Holy Shit''. The special explores Morgan's religious upbringing and transition into the lifestyle of Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
, and was filmed in one continuous shot. The hour-long special was directed by Sharon Everitt and produced by FilmSignal.
Personal life
Morgan married in 2007 when he was 20 years old (proposing at 19) to his wife, Tiffany, whom he met at 14. Elliott announced on his podcast ''Shooting Stars'' that he and Tiffany had separated in September 2015 and their divorce became final in June 2017.
On October 17, 2016, Morgan published a video endorsing Gary Johnson
Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...
for President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
in the 2016 election. This video was primarily a response to Casey Neistat
Casey Owen Neistat (; born March 25, 1981) is an American YouTube personality, filmmaker, vlogger and co-founder of the multimedia company Beme, which was later acquired by CNN. In 2018, he founded ''368'', a creative space for creators to ...
's video endorsing Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
.
Morgan volunteers weekly with the Born to Act Players, a 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, ...
-based charity that teaches acting and improv to special needs students.
In early 2019, he announced via Instagram that he and fellow YouTuber and comedian Grace Helbig were dating. On February 28, 2021, Morgan announced via Instagram that he and Helbig were engaged. On October 2, 2022, both Helbig and Morgan announced via Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
they had married the day before.[
*]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Elliott
1987 births
Living people
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American comedy YouTubers
American male television actors
American sketch comedians
American YouTube vloggers
Comedians from Florida
DFTBA Records creators
Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts alumni
Male actors from Florida
News YouTubers
People from Winter Haven, Florida
SourceFed people
University of Florida alumni
YouTubers from Florida