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Jake and Amir is an American comedy duo made up of
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 ...
ers and former
CollegeHumor Dropout, incorporated as CH Media and formerly known as CollegeHumor, is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles that produces content for release on its streaming service Dropout (streaming platform), Dropout as well as YouTube. Dropou ...
writers Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld. The duo came into prominence in 2007 when they began writing and starring in the
web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...
''Jake and Amir.'' The program would later be picked up and produced by CollegeHumor. It portrays humorous versions of Jake and Amir, where Jake is usually depicted as a sensible " regular guy" and Amir as his annoying co-worker who engages in bizarre and sometimes surreal hijinks which involuntarily involve Jake, much to his chagrin. In 2013, Jake and Amir started the podcast, ''If I Were You'', an advice show where listeners email in questions which are answered in a humorous way. Their involvement in podcasting led them to founding the podcasting network HeadGum. After the conclusion of ''If I Were You'', the duo launched a podcast called ''Segments''. Jake and Amir left CollegeHumor in 2015 to focus on producing their own content. In 2016, the duo released an on-demand comedy series called ''Lonely and Horny'' 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 ...
. The series was picked up by CollegeHumor for its second season.


Online video


''Jake and Amir''

''Jake and Amir'' is a
web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...
set in
CollegeHumor Dropout, incorporated as CH Media and formerly known as CollegeHumor, is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles that produces content for release on its streaming service Dropout (streaming platform), Dropout as well as YouTube. Dropou ...
's office 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 ...
and later
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, ...
where Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld played humorous versions of themselves: Jake is usually depicted as a sensible "
straight man The straight man (or straight woman in the case of female characters), also known as a "comedic foil", is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically ...
" and Amir as his annoying, obsessive, and odd co-worker. Running for over eight years, ''Jake and Amir'' was CollegeHumor's longest-running series and has amassed approximately one-billion views as of April 2017. The show was started in 2007 as a way for Jake and Amir to have fun at work. As it grew in popularity,
CollegeHumor Dropout, incorporated as CH Media and formerly known as CollegeHumor, is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles that produces content for release on its streaming service Dropout (streaming platform), Dropout as well as YouTube. Dropou ...
began paying Jake and Amir to make the videos for their website. Over its eight-year run, the web series featured a number of guests, including actors
Thomas Middleditch Thomas Steven Middleditch (born March 10, 1982) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his role as Richard Hendricks in the HBO series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019), earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in ...
, Kumail Nanjiani,
Ben Schwartz Benjamin Joseph Schwartz (born September 15, 1981) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his recurring role as Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on the NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'', his starring role as Clyde Oberholt on the Sh ...
,
Rick Fox Ulrich Alexander Fox (born July 24, 1969) is a Bahamian-Canadian actor and former basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, and played college basketball for the North Caro ...
, and Milana Vayntrub, as well as a cameo by actor
Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor, musician and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sit ...
as 'Mickey' in one of the final episodes. In 2011, CollegeHumor released ''Jake and Amir: Fired'', a thirty-minute special in which Amir is fired and Jake is promoted. The special was
CollegeHumor Dropout, incorporated as CH Media and formerly known as CollegeHumor, is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles that produces content for release on its streaming service Dropout (streaming platform), Dropout as well as YouTube. Dropou ...
's first paid content, and was available for purchase online or as a DVD. ''Jake and Amir'' ended in February 2015 when CollegeHumor released the series' eight-part finale. On October 27, 2016, the pair returned to CollegeHumor for a single episode of ''Jake and Amir'', titled ''Jake and Amir: Donald Trump'', to comment on the
2016 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor, Indiana governor Mike P ...
. The pair returned with another video on March 31, 2020 on their HeadGum channel in the midst of the
Coronavirus 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 ...
with a skit about Amir's social distancing ideas. In April of 2021, the majority of the videos from the ''Jake and Amir'' series were removed from Collegehumor's YouTube channel and transferred to a new channel run by the pair (called "JakeandAmir"), as they had regained the intellectual rights to create new episodes whenever they chose. In August of 2021, the first new episode of "Jake and Amir" was released on the duo's YouTube channel.


''Lonely and Horny''

In December 2013, ''Deadline'' reported that Jake and Amir were being brought on by TBS to star in a comedy directed by
Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor, musician and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sit ...
. When news came in February 2015 of Jake and Amir's departure from CollegeHumor, fans pushed for TBS to pick up the production with the
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
trending campaign #GreenLightJakeandAmir. TBS ultimately declined the proposal, but TruTV noticed the social media campaign and ordered a pilot episode. On December 20, 2015, it was announced that TruTV had decided not to pick up the show. While TruTV and TBS ultimately did not run their TV series, Jake and Amir were offered the opportunity to return to
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 ...
to create an original web series. On April 8, 2016, a new web series titled ''Lonely and Horny'', directed by Jake and written by and starring Jake and Amir, was released on Vimeo. The on-demand series is about a 30-something-year-old Ruby Jade, played by Amir, who wants to have sex more than anything. His dating-coach, Josh Rice, played by Jake, sets out to help Ruby find love. While ''Lonely and Horny'' is intended to be a "completely different universe" than their original ''Jake and Amir'' web series, Isabelle Hellyer of
Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
writes that Ruby Jade is, "written to be flawed in almost all the same ways as ''Jake and Amir'''''s'' Amir." Conversely, Hellyer writes that the straight-man character Josh Rice is "the most multifaceted role they've ever written."
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
's Ian Crouch compares the series with ''Jake and Amir'', writing that many of the jokes and themes from the duo's shorter sketches have been "exported to the longer-form space of Lonely and Horny'','" and that, while "frequently very funny, it lacks the comedic density of their best short sketches." On September 26, 2018, CollegeHumor announced the production of a second season of ''Lonely and Horny'' as part of their subscription service, but in 2019 the agreement between Jake and Amir and CollegeHumor ended and the show is no longer available on Dropout.


Podcasting


''If I Were You''

In May 2013, Jake and Amir started the podcast ''If I Were You'' as an advice show where they take listener questions and try to answer them in a helpful but funny way. Jake said that ''If I Were You'' was partially inspired by the NPR show '' Car Talk'', in that their audience listens for the banter between the two hosts, not necessarily the questions themselves. Averaging 1 million views per month, Amir says that ''If I Were Yous audience is primarily made up of 15- to 34-year-olds. Jake says that they like advising people younger than them, "because we were there, and we came out the other side." More than that, Jake says that he enjoys reaching out to "nerdy" younger fans because they can act as role-models to show that their best days are ahead of them: "We're like a little beacon of hope for losers that are told they're gonna be cool in ten years." Kayla Culver for ''The Concordian'' writes, "the responses Jake and Amir give probably wouldn't qualify as great advice but it's honestly not the worst advice ever given." Admitting that they are not experts who should be giving out advice, Amir puts forward that he at least "tends to think of us as expert 20-somethings because we've been doing it for a decade." In 2018, Jake and Amir began producing a video version of the podcast for their
Patreon Patreon (, ) is a monetization platform operated by Patreon, Inc., that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service and sell digital products. It helps artists and other creators earn a recurring income by provid ...
page supporters. In 2023, Jake and Amir announced they would be ending the podcast indefinitely. The final episode of ''If I Were You'' titled "589: The End Is Here" was released on April 24, 2023.


HeadGum

On August 1, 2015, after leaving CollegeHumor, Jake and Amir founded a podcast network named HeadGum with their friend Marty Michael. Jake and Amir's podcast, ''If I Were You'' served as the network's flagship program. HeadGum expanded into online video in 2016 when they launched a
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 ...
channel for comedy videos. HeadGum is headquartered in
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, ...
.


''Segments''

Following the conclusion of ''If I Were You'' and a brief hiatus, Jake and Amir introduced ''Segments''. Unlike their previous podcast, which focused solely on offering advice to listeners, ''Segments'' features a dynamic format with multiple segments per episode. The podcast description reads:


References

{{reflist


External links


Jake and Amir's official website

''Jake and Amir'' section on CollegeHumor.com
CollegeHumor Performing groups established in 2007 American comedy duos Headgum