Gregory A. Smith (born November 24, 1987), known professionally as Kid Fury, is an American

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 ...

vlogger 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 ...

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

, and writer. He is best known as the co-host 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 ...

The Read ''The Read'' is a weekly pop culture podcast. One of several podcasts affiliated with the Loud Speakers Network, ''The Read'' is hosted by American comedians Kid Fury and Crissle West and based in New York City. History Prior to starting ''Th ...

'', with Crissle West.

Early life

Kid Fury was born and raised in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Florida, where his parents emigrated from Jamaica. He has two younger brothers. He enjoyed comedy from a young age and especially liked ''

In Living Color ''In Living Color'' is an American sketch comedy television series that originally ran on Fox from April 15, 1990, to May 19, 1994. Keenen Ivory Wayans created, wrote and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions ...

'', ''

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

'' and ''

Moesha ''Moesha'' (, ) is an American television sitcom that aired on UPN from January 23, 1996, to May 14, 2001. The series stars Contemporary R&B, R&B singer Brandy Norwood, Brandy as Moesha Denise Mitchell, an African-American teenager living with ...

''.

Career

YouTube vlogs

Kid Fury launched a

channel in 2010 where he hosted a vlog series called ''Furious Thoughts''. At the time of the launch he also had a comedy blog and created the YouTube account to drive traffic to his blog. His videos featured comedic, unfiltered takes on pop culture and his real life and attracted a large, diverse audience. ''

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'' called him "Black Twitter's Kingmaker", and ''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...

Jamilah Lemieux Jamilah Lemieux (July 22, 1984) is an American writer, cultural critic, and editor. She rose to prominence for her blog, The Beautiful Struggler. She has worked for ''Ebony'', Cassius Magazine, and Interactive One, part of Radio One, Inc. Lemie ...

compared him to

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...

. Kid Fury moved to New York City in 2012. As of July 2013, his videos had over 10 million views. In 2016, he told

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 ...

: "As a person of color and gay man, it is three times as hard to get opportunities in this industry, so I am doing my best to create my own...I'm building my business instead of waiting for others to give me the keys."

''The Read''

In 2011, Kid Fury met future collaborator Crissle West, who later moved to

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 ...

in 2013. Chris Morrow approached Fury about doing a podcast with Morrow's then-startup podcasting company, the Loud Speakers Network. Fury asked West to join him and they named the podcast ''The Read''. , ''The Read'' was averaging 400,000 listeners per episode. In 2019, the podcast's television adaptation, ''

The Read with Kid Fury and Crissle West ''The Read with Kid Fury and Crissle West'' is an American variety and talk show. It is a television adaptation of the pop culture podcast ''The Read'' and stars the podcast's hosts, Kid Fury and Crissle West. The series premiered on October 11, ...

'', premiered on

Fuse Fuse or FUSE may refer to: Devices * Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current ** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles * Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protec ...

Television work

In 2016, Kid Fury put on a live version of his show that consisted largely of stand-up comedy, called "Furious Thoughts Live". He also appeared as a supporting character in the second season of ''

Dear White People ''Dear White People'' is a 2014 American comedy-drama film written, directed and co-produced by Justin Simien. The film focuses on escalating racial tensions at a fictitious, prestigious Ivy League college from the perspective of several black ...

''. In July 2018, it was announced that Kid Fury was developing a television show for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

with executive producer

Lena Waithe Lena Waithe (; born May 17, 1984) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She is the creator of the Showtime drama series '' The Chi'' (2018–present) and the BET comedy series ''Boomerang'' (2019–20) and '' Twenties'' (2020–2 ...

. The project is described as a "surreal dark comedy" that will follow a gay Black man in his twenties, navigating life in New York City with depression. Kid Fury met producer Chloe Pisello of Avalon Television, who enjoyed the pitch and helped him shop the show around to several networks. Eventually, they signed a deal with

. Kid Fury was a staff writer for the Miami-set

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

series ''

Rap Sh!t ''Rap Shit'' (stylized as ''Rap Sh!t'') is an American comedy television series created by Issa Rae for HBO Max. The show is produced by Hoorae Productions and 3 Arts Entertainment and centers on two Miami-based rappers (portrayed by Aida Osma ...

''. He also appeared in two episodes of the show's first season.

Personal life

Fury is openly gay. In an interview with ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', he stated, "I want people to understand that being black and gay is so different than just being gay...Black women get overlooked in the fight for women all of the time, so there's I think a similar thing that happens in the gay community with black gays." He is noted for advocating for

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

to receive MTV's VMA

Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award The Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, is a merit given to Musician, recording artists and music video directors at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), a ceremony that was established in 1984. It is presented by MTV for "outstanding contributi ...

on ''The Read''. Elliott received the award in 2019 and thanked Kid Fury and West for drumming up support during her acceptance speech.

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1987 births 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American screenwriters American comedy podcasters American gay writers American people of Jamaican descent American radio personalities Entertainers from Florida Gay comedians Jamaican screenwriters LGBTQ people from Florida LGBTQ YouTubers Living people American YouTube vloggers