Adam Conover
Adam Conover (born March 2)[1] is an American comedian, writer, voice actor, and television host. He created and hosted the half-hour truTV show Adam Ruins Everything, based on the CollegeHumor series of the same name.[2] He was also the host of the American version of The Crystal Maze on Nickelodeon. In 2022, Conover's limited series The G Word with Adam Conover debuted on Netflix.[3]
Adam Conover | |
|---|---|
Conover in 2015 | |
| Born | Smithtown, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Shoreham-Wading River High School |
| Alma mater | Bard College (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | Comedian, Writer, and Show Host |
| Years active | 2012-present |
| Known for | Adam Ruins Everything BoJack Horseman |
| Board member of | Writers Guild of America West (2021—) |
| Partner | Lisa Hanawalt |
| Website | adamconover |
Early life
Adam Conover was born in Smithtown, New York,[4] and grew up in Wading River.[5]
His parents are David O. Conover, a marine biologist,[6] and Margaret Conover (née Howard), a botanist.[4][5][6]
His younger sister is Emily Conover, a science reporter who holds a PhD in particle physics.[7]
His parents' and sibling's degrees have led Adam to describe himself as "the only member of the family without a Ph.D."[8]
In 2000, he graduated from Shoreham-Wading River High School, where he became interested in the performing arts. As a teenager, he was part of a band called Bocoach.[9] He then attended Bard College, where, in 2002, he became an active member of the sketch comedy group Olde English.[10] In 2004,[11] he earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Bard College.[5]
Career
In 2012, Conover began working as a sketch comedy writer and performer for the comedy website and YouTube channel CollegeHumor, where he eventually created the web series that would go on to become Adam Ruins Everything on TruTV.[5] The first episode of the TruTV show, which aims to reveal untold truths and to dispel common misconceptions,[12] premiered on September 29, 2015. Conover has said his character in the show is a comedic interpretation of the person he worries he once was and/or is. As he told The New York Observer, "It’s the reaction I’ve gotten my whole life: that I learn something and try to tell people in conversation, but when I tell them, they are annoyed."[13]
In March 2016, he was asked to speak at a marketing conference on the subject of millennials; the talk he gave was entitled "Millennials Don't Exist".[14] In 2018, Conover was the headliner of the first night of the annual CSICon conference for skeptics.[15] On August 17, 2018, Conover was a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher.[16] On April 17, 2019, Conover was a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience.[17]
He has voiced several characters in the Netflix animated series BoJack Horseman, including A Ryan Seacrest-Type, one of the Paparazzi Birds, and Bradley Hitler-Smith.[5][18] In 2019, he voiced the character of "Big_Hairy_Stallion_69" on the Netflix series Tuca and Bertie, and created the new Earwolf podcast Factually![19][20]
Since 2020, Conover has also acted as the host of an American adaptation of the family game show The Crystal Maze for Nickelodeon.[21]
In November 2020, Conover had a cameo appearance as his character from Adam Ruins Everything in The Eric Andre Show. He appeared in the show's opening sequence and was beaten to death then shot by Eric Andre.[22][23][24]
In December 2020, Conover announced that Adam Ruins Everything was no longer in production and that he was planning a new Netflix series about the federal government called The G Word with Adam Conover. The show premiered on Netflix on May 19, 2022.[25]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2019 | BoJack Horseman | Various voices | |
| 2015–2019 | Adam Ruins Everything | Self | |
| 2019 | WTF 101 | Doctor Gamma | CollegeHumor original programming |
| 2019–2021 | Tuca & Bertie | Various voices | |
| 2020 | The Eric Andre Show | Self | "Is Your Wife Still Depressed?" |
| 2022 | The G Word with Adam Conover | Self |
Personal life
Conover was once a roommate of BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg in New York City, who also introduced him to his girlfriend, illustrator Lisa Hanawalt.[26]
Conover quit drinking in early 2018.[27]
Activism
Conover has been an outspoken supporter of Nithya Raman, who challenged and beat David Ryu for the Los Angeles City Council. As an activist for Housing First policies, Conover performed stand-up to fundraise for the campaign and canvassed in support of Raman.[28] Conover serves on the board of the Writers Guild of America West.[29]
References
- ^ "Happy birthday, @adamconover! Treat yourself". Adam Ruins Everything (Twitter). 2018-03-03. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
- ^ Lloyd, Robert (26 September 2015). "TV Picks: 'Late Show,' 'My Brother's Bomber,' 'Adam Ruins Everything'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- ^ Chu, Hau (19 May 2022). "What to watch on Thursday: 'The G Word with Adam Conover' debuts on Netflix". Retrieved 20 May 2022.
- ^ a b Barkley, Giselle (24 September 2015). "North Shore native ready to 'ruin' truTV". The Times Beacon Record. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Lovece, Frank (28 September 2015). "'Adam Ruins Everything': LI's Adam Conover creates witty truTV humor series". Newsday. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- ^ a b Champagne, Christine (29 September 2015). "Spoiler Alert: Adam Conover Hilariously Dispels All Your Beliefs To Teach You a Lesson". Fast Company. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
- ^ Lovece, Frank. "LI's Adam Conover returns for 'Adam Ruins Everything' season 2". Newsday.
- ^ Weissmueller, Zach (21 February 2016). "What You Think You Know Is Wrong". Reason. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
- ^ Smith, Nicole (8 October 2015). "Watch as this Shoreham-Wading River grad 'Ruins Everything'". Riverhead News-Review. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- ^ Genzlinger, Neil (24 October 2016). "Adam Conover Turns a Skeptical Eye to the Presidential Campaign". The New York Times.
- ^ "The Exquisite Corpse Project". Bard College. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
- ^ Hendrickson, Paula (2017-06-07). "TruTV's 'Adam Ruins Everything' Promotes Facts in the Age of Fakery". Variety. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
- ^ Grant, Drew (29 September 2015). "'Adam Ruins Everything' Creator Adam Conover on Making Difficult Truths Into Comedy". The Observer. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- ^ Singer, Sarah (21 March 2016). "This Comedian Just Obliterated All Stereotypes About Millennials in One Presentation". Mic. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
- ^ Fidalgo, Paul (2019). "Parasites and modern mind control". Skeptical Inquirer. 43 (2): 15.
- ^ "Real Time with Bill Maher | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
- ^ Conover, Adam. "Adding Evidence to the Discussion of Trans Issues on Joe Rogan's podcast". adamconover.net. Adam Conover. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
- ^ Conover, Adam (2017-05-02). "Yep! I also play Bradley Hitler-Smith, aka Ethan from Horsin' Around!". @adamconover. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
- ^ "Adam Conover Is The Voice Of Big_Hairy_Stallion69 (Aka Joel)". Refinery29. 2019-05-03. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
- ^ "Introducing My New Podcast, Factually!". Adam Conover: Official Site. Tour dates, Podcasts, Blog. 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
- ^ Haring, Bruce (2019-12-09). "'The Crystal Maze' Taps Adam Conover As Host Of New Nickelodeon Family Game Show". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
- ^ "Adam Conover's tweet about his appearance on The Eric Andre Show". Twitter. from the original on 2020-11-19.
- ^ "Adam Conover's Instagram post about his appearance, featuring a video of his scene". Instagram.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Full cast of episode". IMDb.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Conover, Adam (December 1, 2020). . Adam Conover. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
- ^ Havrilesky, Heather (Sep 7, 2018). "Don't Look BoJack's Gifted Horse-Lady in the Mouth". The Cut. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
- ^ Dykes, Brett Michael (April 23, 2018). "Adam Conover Of 'Adam Ruins Everything' Is Loving RSS Feeds Again". Uproxx.
- ^ The Comedy Bureau - "Comedy for the City: A Fundraiser for Nithya Raman"
- ^ @AdamConover (July 24, 2021). "Fellow writers: I'm running for @WGAWest board this year. My candidate statement is linked below, but in this thread I'll explain why I'm running as succinctly as possible. 1) Comedy/Variety 2) Streaming contracts & residuals 3) Organizing for change" (Tweet) – via Twitter.