By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Monday April 20, 2015
Thanks to YouTube, Chris Hardwick's first big break is readily available for all to see from two decades ago: hosting three seasons of MTV's "Singled Out," a mindless dating show that was the precursor to "The Bachelor" and Tinder.
With hair that looked suspiciously like Joey's from "Friends," the happy-go-lucky Hardwick did inane skits and tried his best to act cool with hotties Jenny McCarthy and Carmen Electra. Surprisingly, the show didn't lead to stardom and Hardwick ended up hitting the road doing standup talking about whatever he personally found cool: nerd-like topics such as "Star Wars "and video games.
And now thanks to his wildly popular "Walking Dead" companion talk show on AMC "Talking Dead" and hit comedy/game show hybrid "@Midnight" on Comedy Central, Hardwick has now graduated from comedy clubs to theaters, including the Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points April 25. (Buy tickets here for $42.85 each after fees.)
"A lot of people who see me on TV have no idea I've been doing stand up for 17 years," said the 43-year-old Kentucky native.
He dubs this tour "Funcomfortable" because he tells stories about "fun but uncomfortable situations involving me and how I process the world." He considers his own "weirdly obsessive nerd brain" as a conduit that helps others "feel good about their lives."
And if you are a "Walking Dead" fan, don't expect his show to be "Talking Dead Live." He will only discuss the show for a few minutes.
His Nerdist podcast, launched in 2010, became wildly popular and helped lead to his hosting gig for "The Talking Dead" a year later. His bubbly, youthful fan-thusiasm bursts forth off the TV screen and provides an outlet for viewers, especially after a major character is killed.
The show's guests include producers and actors from the show as well as celebrities who love the show such as Conan O'Brien, Sarah Silverman and Aisha Tyler. The strangest one was singer Marilyn Manson, whose rantings annoyed viewers on social media. "I had to start treating him like a heckler at a comedy show," Hardwick said. "He was trying to overtake the show with weirdness. That's not what the show is."
But Hardwick is no hard-ass. "I'd have him back," he said. "I thought he was funny."
"The Walking Dead," which is shot largely in the Senoia area, is the most popular show on TV among 18 to 49 year olds. AMC is planning to debut a spinoff set in Los Angeles this summer for six episodes. Hardwick is open to doing a "Talking Dead" for that show starting season two in 2016 if the first season works.
He thinks the just concluded fifth season of "The Walking Dead" was the strongest and lauds the showrunner Scott Gimple (the show's third) for being such a fan of both the TV show and the graphic novel of the same name. And he isn't worried that the spinoff might stretch some of the creators too thin. "The prime show has been going on for five years," Hardwick said. "They've got it down. It's in a good place. The show is amazing now." He is hopeful about the spinoff.
He said he gets access to advance episodes of the show before they air but waits until that day to see them. He also doesn't want to know who the occasional surprise guest is until just before shooting. He said people often assume the surprise guest is someone whose character just died. That didn't happen during the season finale when the actor who plays Morgan Lennie James showed up.
Hardwick was as stoked as many of the fans to get to talk to James. "His character has been running around in the back of your head. What has he been doing since the 'Clear' episode where he appeared to have lost it. People ask me about him all the time. It's such a big loop coming around."
Hardwick's "@Midnight" show, now in its second season, comes on after "The Larry Wilmore Show" and features three comics riffing off whatever trending social media videos the writers choose to highlight. If they provide a funny enough quip, Hardwick says, "Points!"
For instance, on April 16, Hardwick showed a clip of Darth Vader revealing that he is Luke Skywalker's father dubbed in multiple languages. He asked the comics to play Darth in their native tongues.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
And there are daily "hashtag wars." In this episode, in honor of "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2," Hardwick created #AddBlartImproveAMovie. Comics provided answers such as "Being Paul Blartovich." "Spongebob SquareBlart." "Eternal Paulshine of the Blartness Mind."
The person with the most points wins... nothing tangible. But he or she gets bragging rights galore.
"We dismissed the competition element at first," Hardwick said. "But the comics have this innate drive to compete with one another."
As for "Singled Out," he has no regrets. "We did hundreds of episodes of that show," he said. "It was a great learning experience. Going through a dry spell was a learning experience. It's all about learning your craft."
CONCERT PREVIEW
Chris Hardwick
8 p.m., 10:30 p.m. Saturday, April 25, 2015
$42.85 after fees
Variety Playhouse
About the Author
