Myq Kaplan (; born October 7, 1978Myq Kaplan
at

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

) is an American

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

. Born Michael KaplanChannon, Alison
"Brandeis comedians take smarts to the stage"
''The Brandeis Hoot'', 13 March 2009. in

Livingston, New Jersey Livingston is a township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 31,330, its highest United States census, decennial co ...

,Yaryshkin, Slava
''Stand-up Comedy 101'' Interview with Myq Kaplan
, 6 April 2009. he is based in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Alterman, Sara Faith
"Montreal Comedy Festival: The New Faces showcase"
''The Boston Phoenix'', 23 July 2009. and

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 ...

Education

Kaplan received his bachelor's degree from

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

in 2000 and a master's degree in

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

.Laskowski, Nicole
"The Last Comic Standing?"
'' BU Today'', 8 August 2007. While a student at Boston University in 2005, he won its "funniest student" contest.

Comedy career

Kaplan tours North America regularly and has performed over 1,000 shows at

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. He was a semifinalist in the 2006 Boston Comedy Festival and in the 2006 Seattle Comedy Competition. He was one of nine finalists in

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

's 2007 ''Open Mic Fight'' competition. In 2008, a reader poll by Boston's '' The Phoenix'' named him Local Comedian of the Year. He took part in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

's Just for Laughs comedy festival in 2009.

Television, internet and recordings

Myq Kaplan has appeared on Comedy Central's '' Live at Gotham'' and in promotional work for the network. He has been featured on ''

ABC News Now ABC News Live (a.k.a. ABCNL) is a U.S.-based streaming video news channel for breaking news, live events, newscasts, and longer-form reports and documentaries operated by ABC News since 2018. The channel is available through various streaming ...

''. On December 16, 2009, he performed for the first time on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

''. Kaplan also appeared as a contestant on the competition TV series ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...

'' during the summer 2010. He placed fifth in the competition. He is also a frequent guest on long running 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 ...

'' Keith and the Girl''. Myq Kaplan has been a guest on the podcast " Comedy Bang! Bang!" three times, #110 (June 27, 2011) #658 (May 31, 2020), and #818 (June 26, 2023). Myq Kaplan has been a guest on the podcast "You Made It Weird With Pete Holmes" 2 times, one released on April 4, 2012 and as a returning guest released December 20, 2017 Kaplan hosts his own podcast ''Hang Out with Me''. On April 30, 2010, his

Comedy Central Presents ''Comedy Central Presents'' is an American stand-up comedy television series created for Comedy Central. It is the network's main half-hour program which highlights either one or a series of stand-up comedians each episode. In 2011, the series ...

special aired on Comedy Central. Myq Kaplan's comedy album ''Vegan Mind Meld'' was released April 27, 2010, and his second album, ''Please Be Seated'' was released in 2012. In August 2014, Myq Kaplan's one-hour standup special entitled ''Small, Dork, and Handsome'' appeared on Netflix for streaming. On January 31, he was the first guest on ''Bombing with Mike Dorval'', where he talked about his joke writing and a joke that bombed for ''The New York Times''. Kaplan was also a contestant on the tenth season of ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

.'' He was eliminated in the Quarterfinals.

Personal life

Kaplan is also a musician, primarily as a guitarist and vocalist. He is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

, polyamorous and once described himself as "atheistic". However, he elaborated in a 2016 podcast that he has become more spiritual through use of psychedelics.

Discography

Comedy albums

* ''Vegan Mind Meld'' (2010, BSeenMedia) * ''Meat Robot'' (2013, Comedy Central Records) * ''Small, Dork, and Handsome'' (2014, Comedy Dynamics) * ''No Kidding'' (2017, Aspecialthing Records) * ''A.K.A.'' (2020, Blonde Medicine)

Music albums

* ''Please Be Seated'' w/ Micah Sherman (2012, BSeenMedia) * ''Many Mini Musics'' (2016, My Grandfather Was A Spy)

Podcast albums

* ''The Best of Super Hang, Vol. 1'' (2014, Keith and The Girl) * ''The Long Shot'' Season 3 - Episode #318: "Road Trips (feat. Myq Kaplan)" (2015)

EPs

* ''The Micah Myq Mega Mixtape'' w/ Micah Sherman (2014,

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

, 9-tracks)

Singles

* ''The Micah Myq Mega Mixtape'' w/ Micah Sherman (2016, BSeenMedia, 3-tracks)

Compilation appearances

* ''

Comedy Death-Ray Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Gr ...

Xmas CD 2010'' (2010) - Track 3: "How Hitler Saved Christmas" * ''Live from Jamestown: Latenight @ Lucy Comedy Fest 2013'' (2014) - Track 14: "The Fast & Furious" * ''The Comedy Holiday Album'' (2017) - Track 10: "Merry Passover" * '' Just for Laughs: Premium, Vol. 26'' (2018) - Track 10: "Children (Jfl 2015)" * ''Just for Laughs: Funny AF, Vol. 6'' (2019) - Track 13: "My Demographic (Jfl 2012)"

Film and television appearances

Films

* ''JK LOL'' (Short, 2009) - Himself * ''Broken Mike'' (2012) - Himself * ''Like Me'' (2014) - Himself * ''Welcome to Bridgetown'' (2015) - Himself * '' Punching Henry'' (2016) - Zack * ''Off Stage: Myq Kaplan'' (2017) - Himself * ''Tasteless'' (2018) - Himself

TV series

* '' Louie'' (2010) - Myq Kaplan * '' Comedy Bang! Bang!'' (2015) - Lenny * ''The Comedy Show Show'' (2016) - Mitch Hedberg * ''Who Is?'' (2016) - Voice * ''Giving Up'' (2017) - Wake Performer * ''Tales from the Trip'' (2019) - Himself * ''Comedy Central Originals: High School Fails'' (2019) - Himself * ''Broadway Comedy Club Presents'' (2020) - Contestant/Comic * ''Mystery Mansion'' (2021) - Eyeball

Comedy specials

* ''

'' (2010,

) * ''Small, Dork, and Handsome'' (2014, Comedy Dynamics/

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

)

Stand-up appearances

* '' Live at Gotham'' (1 episode, 2008) * ''

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fifth installment of ''The Tonight Show'', hosted by Conan O'Brien. It aired from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, succeeding ''The ...

'' (1 episode, 2009) * ''

'' (1 episode, 2010) * ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airi ...

'' (4 episodes, 2010–13) * ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

'' (2 episodes, 2011–12) * '' Conan'' (5 episodes, 2011–17) * '' Funny As Hell'' (1 episode, 2012) * ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire variety talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing w ...

'' (1 episode, 2014) * '' Just for Laughs'' (1 episode, 2015) * ''

'' (3 episodes, 2015) * ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known simply as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show that aired on CBS from 2015 to 2023. It is the fourth and final iteration of '' The Late Late Show'', and aired in the United Sta ...

'' (1 episode, 2017) * ''

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is an American monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publi ...

'' (1 video, 2018)

Videography

Comedy animations

* ''Jews and Sea Creatures'' (2010) * ''Axes and Brains'' (2014) * ''Highs and Lose'' (2014) * ''Nothing, Everything, and Eddie Murphy'' (2017) * ''A Meditation to Help You Relax...'' (2020) * ''The Longest Sidewalk in the World'' (2020)

Music videos

* ''Bop 25'' w/ Micah Sherman (2012) * ''Movie Star'' w/ Micah Sherman (2013) * ''Comedian's National Anthem'' w/ Micah Sherman (2013) * ''Music's Fun (To Play)'' (2016) * ''Sung Advice #1-8'' (2017)

Video podcasts

* '' Risk!'': NYC PodFest (2013) * '' Robert Kelly's You Know What Dude'': #162 (2017) * ''

Never Not Funny ''Never Not Funny'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian Jimmy Pardo, since spring 2006, currently releasing two episodes a week. He and producer/co-host Matt Belknap have appeared in every episode. Comedian Mike Schmidt appeared as co-host f ...

'': Talking Eyebrows (2020) * ''Quip League'': with Moshe Kasher (2020) * ''Linda Marcus Smith's The Comics' Spot'': with Comedian Michael Adam Kaplan (2020) * ''Ghole'': Hanging with Myq A.K.A. Myq Kaplan (2020) * ''The Comedy Studio'': Podcast LIVE Sept. 22 (2020) * ''Face to Facetime'': #22 (2020) * '' The Dave Hill Goodtime Hour'': October 5 (2020) * '' The Ted Alexandro Show'': Ep. 27 (2020) * '' Scot Nery'': Is it a mistake to specialize? (2020) * ''The Rhett Sever Podcast'': #2 Existentialism (2021)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Myq 1978 births American male television actors American stand-up comedians America's Got Talent contestants Brandeis University alumni Jewish American comedians Last Comic Standing contestants Living people American male comedians Male actors from Livingston, New Jersey 21st-century American comedians Comedians from Essex County, New Jersey