Michael Donovan Mitchell (born October 6, 1982) is an American actor, comedian, and writer best known as a member of

The Birthday Boys ''The Birthday Boys'' is a novel by Beryl Bainbridge. First published in 1991, this book tells the story of Captain Robert Scott's 1910-13 expedition to Antarctica. Plot introduction Five first-person narratives give different perspectives o ...

sketch comedy group. He is also known for his role as Randy Monahan on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series ''

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

'', and Cowan in the

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service p ...

film '' The Tomorrow War''. He currently co-hosts the podcast '' Doughboys'' (with comedian and writer Nick Wiger), which reviews and discusses chain restaurants.

Early life

Mitchell was raised in

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 101,636, making ...

. He briefly attended

Thayer Academy Thayer Academy (TA) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory day school located in Braintree, Massachusetts, United States. The academy, conceived in 1871 at the bequest of General Sylvanus Thayer, known as the father of the United ...

before graduating from

North Quincy High School North Quincy High School (NQHS) is a public secondary school located in the North Quincy neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts, United States. The school serves grades 9 through 12, and has an enrollment of over 1,200 students. It is one of tw ...

. Mitchell attended

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and ...

, graduating in May 2005.

Career

Mitchell started as an improv and sketch comedian at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCB) in Los Angeles. He went on to write and star in ''The Birthday Boys'' for IFC until the show was canceled after two seasons. During this time he also appeared regularly on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

's ''

Parks and Recreation ''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, f ...

'' and IFC's ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' In 2014, Mitchell played a fictionalized version of himself in the short film ''The Badger's Promise'', the directorial debut of friends

Harris Wittels Harris Lee Wittels (April 20, 1984 – February 19, 2015) was an American comedian. He was a writer for '' The Sarah Silverman Program'', a writer and executive producer for ''Parks and Recreation'', and a recurring guest on '' Comedy Bang! Bang! ...

and

Armen Weitzman Armen Weitzman (born December 19, 1983) is an American actor and comedian best known for playing Garfield in the Comedy Central series ''Another Period''. Early life Weitzman was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, the son of lawyer How ...

. He was the head writer of ''

Hidden America with Jonah Ray ''Hidden America with Jonah Ray'' is a travel parody series that debuted on June 2, 2016 on Seeso. Parodying the style of Anthony Bourdain's travel show, viewers follow Jonah Ray as he explores and pokes fun at local restaurants, memorials and hist ...

'' on the Seeso streaming service and played the recurring role of Randy Monahan on the

comedy series ''Love''. Mitchell played the role of "Cowan" in the 2021 movie '' The Tomorrow War''.

The Birthday Boys

In 2007, at UCB, Mitchell formed the sketch comedy group The Birthday Boys with

Jefferson Dutton Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian footb ...

, Dave Ferguson, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Matt Kowalick, and Chris VanArtsdalen. With the exception of Kowalick, all members of The Birthday Boys graduated from

. Mitchell and The Birthday Boys performed regularly at UCB and the group uploaded original sketches to their

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

page. The Birthday Boys gained notoriety within the LA comedy scene, appearing on '' Comedy Bang! Bang!'' and called Adam McKay's "favorite sketch group." The group met

Bob Odenkirk Robert John Odenkirk (; born October 22, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker best known for his role as Saul Goodman on ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–2022). For the latter, he has re ...

through a show that Odenkirk's wife, Naomi Yomtov, created at UCB. They began collaborating with Odenkirk and were picked up for a sketch show, ''

'', at IFC, with Odenkirk and

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...

as executive producers. Mitchell featured frequently in ''The Birthday Boys'' sketches. His notable characters include Woosh, Pretty Dad, and September Santa. The series ran for two seasons before being canceled in 2014. Mitchell still performs sketch comedy with The Birthday Boys and other projects.

''Doughboys''

Mitchell created the comedy podcast '' Doughboys'' with comedy writer Nick Wiger in 2015. '' Doughboys'' was named "The One Food Podcast to Start With" by pop culture site Vulture. The co-hosts review chain restaurants with a weekly guest, including Nicole Byer,

Haley Joel Osment Haley Joel Osment (born April 10, 1988) is an American actor and voice actor. Beginning his career as a child actor, Osment's role in the comedy-drama film '' Forrest Gump'' (1994) won him a Young Artist Award. His breakthrough came with the ...

Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Silverman was a writer and performer on '' Saturday Night Live'', and she starred in and produced '' The Sarah Silverman Program'', which ran from 2007 t ...

, and all of the Birthday Boys, among others. Mitchell's fans call him "The Spoonman", "Mitchy Two-Spoons", "Spoon", "The Artist Formerly Known as Spoon", "Night Spoon", "Dorito Kid" and "Mr. Slice" all nicknames he gave himself. His Co-Host, Nick Wiger invites listeners to submit roasts of Mitchell to be read at the beginning of each episode, which often involve pop culture references and puns based on food or physique. As of early 2018, the podcast is no longer associated with Feral Audio and is now a member of the HeadGum network. Mitchell and Wiger use

Patreon Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a com ...

to bring exclusive paid ''Doughboys'' content to their subscribers beyond the weekly episodes. As of June 2019, the ''Doughboys'' Patreon is the 9th most popular podcast Patreon and the 25th most popular Patreon in general. On the June 13, 2019 episode of '' Doughboys'', Wiger and Jason Mantzoukas offered Mitchell $15,000 if he can get an original song on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 within a year. In 2020, the offer was extended indefinitely.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Mike 1982 births Living people Male actors from Massachusetts American comedy musicians American male television actors American television writers American male television writers Ithaca College alumni People from Quincy, Massachusetts Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers Screenwriters from Massachusetts 21st-century American comedians North Quincy High School alumni 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers