Harrison's mother, Pamela Greenbaum, stated in 2010 that Harrison's paternal grandmother "told the serious stories about the Holocaust camps" while his paternal grandfather Henry Greenbaum, also a Holocaust survivor, “told the humorous stories." Harrison's father, Steven Greenbaum, is "a New York City director of real estate."[1]
Greenbaum attended Harvard, where he graduated summa cum laude in 2008 and won the 2006 Visiting Committee Prize for Undergraduate Book Collecting for his collection of magic books.[2][3] He also won the Gordon W. Allport Prize for his psychology thesis, "'Did you hear the one about the...?': The effect of racial humor on prejudice."[4]
While at Harvard, Greenbaum co-founded the Harvard College Stand-Up Comic Society.[5][6][7]
Harrison Greenbaum's solo comedy and magic show, titled "Harrison Greenbaum: What Just Happened?", premiered at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City, marking the venue's first magic show. The show then had an Off-Broadway run and embarked on an international tour, with performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California, and the Comedy Cellar in New York City, where it was also the first magic show to be performed at the venue. Additionally, the show was the first magic show featured at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York, a museum and cultural institution dedicated to comedy.[12]
He was also featured in the first season of Gotham Comedy Live on AXS.TV and in the special Gotham Comedy Live episode, "Best of Season 4: New York, the City that Never Bleeps".
Greenbaum is the winner of the 2010 Andy Kaufman Award,[29][30][31] given in recognition of creativity and originality in comedy. He is also the winner of the 2011 Magners Comic Stand-Off and a 2011 Shorty Award for excellence in short-form social media (i.e. Twitter).[32] Greenbaum was named one of 2010's "Comics to Watch" by Comedy Central[33][34] and one of the "Best of the Breakout Artists" by Carolines on Broadway and Punchline Magazine.[35] As part of Carolines' Breakout Artists Series, Greenbaum headlined the club, becoming the first performer to sell out a "Breakout" show. Greenbaum became a member of the New York Friars' Club in 2009, making him one of the youngest people ever inducted into the legendary club. On August 5, 2017, Greenbaum was awarded the Clarke Crandall Award for Comedy at the 80th Abbott's Magic Get-Together in Colon, Michigan, the Magic Capital of the World.
^ abUllian, Adam (October 19, 2009). "Jokes up his sleeve"(PDF). amNew York. p. 20. Archived from the original(PDF) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2010.