Josh Gondelman Biography
Josh Gondelman is an American author, comedy writer, producer, and stand-up comedian. He is currently a supervising producer and writer for Desus & Mero on Showtime. He was previously a writer on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He is also known for co-creating the parody Twitter account @SeinfeldToday.
Josh Gondelman Age
Josh Gondelman was born on January 15, 1985, in Stoneham, Massachusetts, United States. He is 34 years old as of 2019.
Josh Gondelman Net worth
Josh Gondelman earns his income from his businesses and from other related organizations. He also earns his income from his work as an author, comedy writer, producer, and stand-up comedian. He has an estimated net worth of $ 2 million dollars.
Josh Gondelman Family
Josh Gondelman was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts, the United States to Ellion Lyons and David Gondelman. He grew up in a Jewish family.
Josh Gondelman Education
Josh Gondelman attended Stoneham High School. He then graduated from Brandeis University in 2007, where he double majored in creative writing and English, and minored in Spanish
Josh Gondelman Wife
Josh Gondelman is married to Maris Kreizman, the creator of the blog, and book, Slaughterhouse 90210. They live in Brooklyn with Bizzy, a “senior” [pug].
Josh Gondelman Author, comedy writer, producer, stand-up comedian.
When he was 19 years old, Gondelman began doing standup comedy in Boston. He did stand-up in Boston for seven years and occasionally returns. After college, he worked as a pre-school teacher and taught elementary school Spanish. In 2011, Gondelman moved to New York City, where his then-girlfriend lived, to do more stand-up comedy.
During this time he also began doing freelance writing. He co-wrote his first major story, “Both Sides of a Break Up”, with his recent ex-girlfriend; it was published in New York Magazine in 2012. In 2013, he wrote a story for Esquire describing his experience running in a Tough Mudder race in which he was sponsored by Wheaties in exchange for monetary compensation from General Mills and Zeus Jones.
He has also written for McSweeney’s, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. In October 2015, a book co-authored by Gondelman and Joe Berkowitz entitled You Blew It!: An Awkward Look at the Many Ways in Which You’ve Already Ruined Your Life, was published.
stand-up comedian
As a stand-up comedian, he has opened for John Oliver, Jen Kirkman, and Pete Holmes, and also performs regularly at New York City venues. Eve Peyser has said that during his stand-up, Gondelman “radiates humility and a relatable, everyday awkwardness alongside fierce confidence and wit.”
Everything’s The Best, his debut album, came out in 2011. His second album, Physical Whisper, was released on March 18, 2016. In 2010, he won the Laughing Skull Comedy Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. In March 2016, he made his late-night television debut on Conan. He made his network television debut in January 2018 on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
SeinfeldToday
In December 2012, he created the Twitter account “SeinfeldToday”, along with Jack Moore, formerly of BuzzFeed. The account posts humorous tweets reimagining Seinfeld characters in modern-day situations. As of October 2015, it had more than 900,000 followers. At the 6th annual Shorty Awards in 2014, the account won an award in the “#Fakeaccount” category.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
In 2014, Gondelman was hired by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver as the web producer for the show’s first season and became a staff writer for the second season. In 2016, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for his work on the show. He and the writing team of Last Week Tonight won this same award in 2017, as well as a Writers Guild of America Award in 2017.
Desus & Mero
In 2019, Gondelman left Last Week Tonight to become a senior staff writer and producer on Desus & Mero after the series moved to Showtime.
Josh Gondelman Album
Everything’s The Best!
Josh Gondelman Books
- Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results
2019 - You Blew It! An Awkward Look at the Many Ways in Which You’ve Already Ruined Your Life
2015
Josh Gondelman Review
Comedian Josh Gondelman won the two-time Emmy award-winning he then released his third stand-up album today, of Dancing on a Weeknight. It highlights the former pre-school teacher at his most joyful and cuddly. “I’m like if a cardigan were a person,” Gondelman comments early on, although that doesn’t mean he’s a G-rated Mr. Rogers type. Mr. Rogers surely never pondered the inspiration for the names of vibrator brands (well, certainly not on his show).
Married life informs much of the material in this set. This includes observations that in-laws are better than parents because they don’t have a shared history: “Now I have a mother-in-law. That’s a new mom in my life who has never walked in on me masturbating. Favorite mom by a mile and a half.” He also discusses targeted ads for bro-courting wedding bands, including the poorly named “Lone Wolf” ring.
And the set closes with a wedding reception anecdote, about a ridiculous Michael Jackson-impersonating DJ, that even holds up in the post-Leaving Neverland era. Mostly, Dancing on a Weeknight highlights Gondelman’s status as a near-nebbish. He’s incredibly smart nerdy, even an admittedly unhip, but he’s ingratiatingly self-effacing. He’s too well-adjusted to be a neurotic comic.
In fact, he is bubbly and charming as he discusses his senior pug’s health insurance or the unlikely time he found himself catcalled on the street. Gondelman does some political material but couches it in personal observations. As a former teacher, he is skeptical of Donald Trump’s suggestion to start arming educators, since Gondelman posits that teachers are “a gentle and cowardly people.”
He expresses his admiration for Bernie Sanders’s confident belief that America was ready to vote for a “Curb Your Enthusiasm-level Jewish” president before the country even had a “transitional president that was Seinfeld-level Jewish.” As on his two prior albums, Gondelman’s jokes come like a machine gun, complimented by his delivery, which is elegant and conversational. Each hour is like spending time with a quick-witted chum who is a lot of fun to catch up with.
Josh Gondelman Seinfeld
The “Seinfeld” was resurrected ala “Will and Grace,” perhaps Josh Gondelman would have a crack at crafting scripts.
The “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” writer/stand-up comic has scored some acclaim for creating contemporary “Seinfeld” concepts via Twitter with his “Modern Seinfeld” account. He and fellow writer, Jack Moore, succinctly detail “Seinfeld” episodes in 140 characters or less.
Josh Gondelman Recommendations
So great to hear from you. It’s a bummer that we’ll miss you while you’re in town. We’re sneaking away for a little babymoon before Keithlyn arrives. It sounds corny, but we seriously need it. (What do you think of Keithlyn as a unisex baby name, by the way?) I guess we’re going to be shipped in the night this time. Like, actual ships—my wife and I are going to be on a prenatal-yoga harbor cruise.
We’re super stoked for it. Anyway, I know you’re around for just a couple of days, but here are the restaurants you should definitely check out while you’re here: For breakfast, you’ve got to try the French Test. They open at eight, but if you’re not in line by quarter to six—forget it. There’s only one item on the menu: a single slice of French toast served in a waxed-paper sleeve.
They only let you buy one, and they sell them until they run out, usually around 8:06 a.m. They don’t have any maple syrup, but this French toast doesn’t need maple syrup. It’s that good. They do offer house-made sriracha, which sounds like a gross combination but is actually amazing. My favorite lunch spot is Mama Rosa’s. Not the original Mama Rosa’s. The Finnish mob burned down that building when Little Helsinki started to spill over into Little Havana.
It’s still the best Cuban food in the city, though. I go there, like, three times a week. O.K., technically, it’s not in the city; it’s in the main concourse of a minor-league baseball stadium in the burbs, about an hour and a half away. You’re going to need to take a commuter train and buy a ticket to the game, but that absolutely shouldn’t deter you. Everything on the menu is awesome, but the tres leches cake is ridic. Get it to go, though. Consuming that much dairy in the sun will make you pass out.
If that’s not your speed, check out Greenliness. The food is all vegan, but it’s so good you’ll swear it’s vegetarian. They grow the ingredients right in the restaurant, so it’s fully table-to-table. Plus, it’s right around the corner from this great used-book store that’s never open. For dinner, there’s a super-authentic pho place, but you can only get in with a Vietnamese passport. They’re tough to track down, but it’s totally worth it. Let me know if you want me to introduce you to my guy.
If you can’t get the paperwork in order, no problem. Make a reservation at Le Coquette. It’s the new French place by that lady who got kicked off “Top Chef” after her blowfish sushi killed one of the judges. It’s a little pricey, but every course will change your life, some of them in ways you might not like. The duck pâté made me realize that I’m not really afraid of failure; I’m afraid of success.
I mean, wow, right? Plus, the signature cocktails all have truffle oil in them, which is the most amazing thing you’ll ever pretend you can taste. Otherwise, Bub’s Tavern is a fun little neighborhood hole-in-the-wall. Heads up: the service is kind of slow. The original waitstaff from the sixties is mostly still there, and when a server dies they don’t replace him, so the kitchen can get pretty backlogged.
If you want the full Bub’s experience, order the burger. They put sawdust in it, which Bub insists is some kind of Old Country tradition. It tastes horrible. The worst you’ll ever have. It’s great. Just try not to mention that you’re Jewish. Mrs. Bub has some opinions.
Josh Gondelman Pep talk
In describing his decidedly unhip but sweetly calm essence on the opening track of his new album, Dancing on a Weeknight, Josh Gondelman says, “I’m like if a cardigan were a person.” But clearly, there’s a place in comedy for someone so buttoned-up. He first garnered attention for co-creating the Modern Seinfeld Twitter account in 2012.
That nabbed Gondelman a Shorty Award for social media excellence in the Best Fake Account category. As his reputation for being one of stand-up comedy’s nicest people grew, he won two Peabodys and three Emmys for his writing work on Last Week Tonight. Showtime recently plucked him away from HBO to write and produce for Desus & Mero, which debuted in February.
In addition to Gondelman’s third album, set to be released on vinyl and streaming April 19, his second book, Nice Try, is also slated to hit stores in September. He’s also married, has a pug, and often offers pep talks to struggling Twitter followers in need of a pick-me-up.
Vulture lured Gondelman away from his busy schedule to talk about how he manages both his work and private life, the origins of his Twitter pep talks, what it’s like as a nice guy to write for roast-ready Desus and Mero, and if he ever gets angry.
Congrats on the new album! It’s very funny, and you do nothing to dispel the rumor that you’re the “nicest guy in comedy.” Is that something you embrace or are you over it already?
If there’s any reason that I would want to dispel that I’m “the nice one,” it’s not because I think I’m not nice or I think that’s an unflattering tag to have affixed to me, it’s just that I think there are so many people in comedy that are very kind and wonderful that get less recognition for it.
I think it’s very exciting to have earned any kind of reputation in comedy. [Laughs.] Obviously there are some comedians that are “bad,” but for so many years you’re just kind of a person who shows up. To be known for anything, especially something that’s positive is just warming.
Is there anything that gets you down, angry, or frustrated?
I’ll get grumpy about if I miss out on a career opportunity that I’m looking for or have a weird interaction with a friend or an acquaintance. I’ll stomp around for a day. It’s not that that never happens. The relentless horror of bad news in the world is something that is a personal drain although not as much as it is for people, I think, who are more directly impacted by the actualities of the happenings, rather than just how depressing and demoralizing it is. Living in the world, and being attuned to what’s happening in it, is discouraging.