Bryan Callen

American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and podcaster

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Bryan Callen

Callen in April 2011

Born|  (1967-01-26) January 26, 1967 (age 58)
Manila, Philippines
Medium| Stand-up, film, television
Alma mater| American University
Years active| 1995–present
Genres| Sketch comedy, Improvisational comedy
Spouse|

Amanda Humphrey

(m. 2008; div. 2021)​

[citation needed]
Notable works and roles| MADtv, The Fighter and the Kid, Schooled
Website| bryancallen.com

Bryan Callen (born January 26, 1967)[1][2][3] is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and podcaster. He studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.[4] Callen initiated his career as one of the original cast members on the sketch comedy series MADtv.[5] Callen played Coach Mellor in The Goldbergs and reprised the role as a main character in the Goldbergs spinoff series Schooled.[6] He is also a co-host of The Fighter and the Kid podcast, alongside Brendan Schaub.[7][8][9]

## Early life

[edit]

Callen was born on a military base in Manila, Philippines.[10] He is the son of American parents, Victoria Callen (née Sclafani) and Michael A. Callen. Because of his father's career as an international banker, Callen lived overseas until he was fourteen years old, including in the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Lebanon, Greece and Saudi Arabia.[11] He graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon High School in Gill, Massachusetts in 1985. He then attended American University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in History.[12] He is of Italian and Irish descent.[13][14][non-primary source needed][15][non-primary source needed][16]

## Career

[edit]

### MADtv (1995–1997) and other television projects

[edit]

Callen was one of the eight original cast members when MADtv debuted in 1995.[5] Callen's characters included Pool Boy from Cabana Chat with Dixie Wetsworth, motivational speaker Al Casdy, and "relationship-challenged" death row inmate Jeremy Anderson.[17] Callen also performed impressions of Bill Clinton, Robert De Niro, Al Gore, Luke Perry, Steven Seagal, Sammy Hagar, Kevin Bacon, Jim Carrey, Ted Knight and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others.

Callen has guest starred on television series such as Entourage,[18] NewsRadio,[19] Oz,[20] Frasier, Suddenly Susan, NYPD Blue, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI, 7th Heaven,[20] Rude Awakening, Less than Perfect, The King of Queens, Sex and the City, Kingdom, Stacked, Las Vegas, Reba, Fat Actress, Californication and How I Met Your Mother.[20]

Callen played Ricky's sexually abusive father on The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family.[21] He also made frequent appearances on Chelsea Lately. He hosted the E! show Bank of Hollywood, and currently appears as a commentator of The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest... on truTV.[22][23]

Callen also played the role of Coach Mellor in The Goldbergs and its spinoff series Schooled. The pilot aired on January 24, 2018.[24][6] The spinoff was picked up for 13 episode order for the fall 2018 television season.[25]

Callen co-wrote and co-starred in Dream Crushers with Will Sasso, Sara Rue, and Scott Thompson. The series was shot in 2009 but unaired until 2011.[26] He appeared with Melinda Hill in an episode of the 2012–13 web series Romantic Encounters.[27]

### Ten Minute Podcast

[edit]

Beginning on February 20, 2012, Callen and fellow actors and comedians Will Sasso and Chris D'Elia began the Ten Minute Podcast.[28] Tommy Blacha and Chad Kultgen later replaced Callen and D'Elia.[29]

### The Fighter and the Kid

[edit]

Callen currently cohosts a podcast titled The Fighter and the Kid with Brendan Schaub, and producers Chin and Nick. The podcast formerly focused on the realm of mixed martial arts, but since their departure from Fox Sports, they regularly discuss pop culture and current events as well.[30]

Schaub and Callen performed the podcast live on a national tour in 2016. The tour included such venues as The Vic Theatre (Chicago), Gramercy Theatre (New York City), and Wilbur Theatre (Boston); culminating at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles.[31]

In 2016 Schaub and Callen released The Fighter and the Kid 3D. The twelve episode digital download series features sketch comedy pieces based on the duo's podcast personas.[32]

Schaub and Callen regularly appear alongside Joe Rogan during live event broadcasts, such as the UFC and Glory kickboxing, for what is called the Fight Companion. They also appeared on the MTV show Ridiculousness, hosted by Rob Dyrdek, in June 2016.[33]

In September 2023, Schaub and Callen publicly stated that Kast Media and its CEO Colin Thomson owed their production company $1.5-1.6 million dollars. Similar claims were made by Jim Cornette followed by Theo Von, Jason Ellis, Whitney Cummings, and Alyx Weiss, who stated they were owed money by Kast Media, including several six-figure and seven-figure shortages. This was in the process of an acquisition of Kast Media by PodcastOne, where Thomson was offering creators partial reimbursement combined with stock options. Amid the news, LiveOne and PodcastOne stock dropped considerably and the company no longer planned to officially hire Thomson. LiveOne took out a high-interest loan to pay Schaub and Callen, but did not compensate other creators.[34][35][36][37][38]

### Other

[edit]

In March 2023, Callen and fellow comedian Nick DiPaolo and Josh Firestine joined Steven Crowder on his network, Mug Club, to stream on Rumble.[39]

## Stand-up comedy

[edit]

Callen headlines his solo stand up comedy act at venues across the United States.[40] In early 2016 he released Never Grow Up which was recorded live at the Irvine Improv in April, 2015.[41] Never Grow Up was released online in conjunction with The Fighter and the Kid 3D Web series.[42] he released a special in 2019 called Complicated Apes. In 2022, he released his special “Man tears” on his YouTube channel.

## Sexual misconduct allegations

[edit]

On July 31, 2020, the Los Angeles Times reported that four women, including actress Kathryn Fiore, told the newspaper that Callen mistreated them and described incidents of sexual misconduct including rape, assault, and disturbing comments that date back to 1999.[43] In a tweet, Callen denied the accusations. He also released a long form video on Instagram and YouTube vehemently denying all allegations.[44][45]

Callen filed a lawsuit against Fiore and her husband, Gabriel Tigerman. In January 2021, Judge Monica Bachner ruled in the couple's favor, stating that Callen "did not meet his burden of demonstrating a probability of prevailing on his claim."[46]

## Filmography

[edit]

### Comedy specials

[edit]

Year | Title | Notes

|
|

2012 | Man Class | Online
2016 | Never Grow Up | Online
2019 | Complicated Apes | Online
2022 | Man Tears | Online

### Film

[edit]

Year | Title | Role | Notes

|
|
|

1995 | Mail Bonding | Poet |
1998 | Driven to Drink | Bartender |
2002 | Live from Baghdad | American Hostage No. 2 |
2003 | Deliver Us from Eva | Theo Wilson |
2003 | Bad Santa | Bar Owner |
2003 | The Goldfish | Duncan Poole |
2003 | Old School | Avi |
2005 | D-WAR | Dr. Austin |
2006 | Scary Movie 4 | President's Aide |
2007 | I Do & I Don't | Bob |
2008 | Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control | Howard |
2009 | The Hangover | Eddie Palermos |
2009 | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard. | Jason Big Ups |
2010 | The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It | Andy |
2011 | The Hangover Part II | Samir |
2011 | Warrior | Himself |
2011 | Division III: Football's Finest | Denny Dawson |
2013 | 10 Rules for Sleeping Around | Owen Manners |
2014 | Ride Along | Miggs |
2014 | About Last Night | Trent |
2014 | Planes: Fire & Rescue | Avalanche | Voice
2014 | Walk of Shame | Dealer |
2014 | My Man Is a Loser | Paul |
2016 | Range 15 | Guard Callen |
2019 | Joker | Javier[47] |
2019 | No Safe Spaces | Himself[48] |
2020 | Think Like a Dog | Agent Callen |

### Television

[edit]

Year | Title | Role | Notes

|
|
|

1995–1997  | MADtv | Various Characters  | 42 episodes
1998  | NewsRadio | Russ Garrelli  | 1 episode
1998  | Oz | Jonathan Coushaine  | 7 episodes
1999  | Frasier | The Chicken  | Episode: "Radio Wars"
2003  | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Derrick Pfeiffer  | Episode: "Risk"
2003  | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Barry Yoder  | Episode: "Last Laugh"
2003  | Sex and the City | Howie Halberstein  | Episode: "The Catch"
2004  | The West Wing | Louis  | Episode: "Disaster Relief"
2004–2006  | 7th Heaven | George "Vic" Vickery  | 9 episodes
2005  | Fat Actress | Eddie Falcone  | 7 episodes
2005  | The King of Queens | Jared  | Episode: "Like Hell"
2005  | Reba | Buzzard  | Episode: "Invasion"
2006–2009  | How I Met Your Mother | Bilson  | 6 episodes
2006–2007  | Entourage | Rob Rubino  | 2 episodes
2008–2014  | truTV Presents: World's Dumbest... | Himself  | 77 episodes
2009  | The Secret Life of the American Teenager | Bob Underwood  | 2 episodes
2009–2010  | Bank of Hollywood | Host  | 8 episodes
2010  | CSI: Miami | Kent  | Episode: "Getting Axed"
2010  | I'm in the Band | Bleed  | Episode: "Bleed Guitarist"
2011–2012  | In Plain Sight | Mark  | 8 episodes
2011  | Death Valley | Capt. Frank Dashell  | 12 episodes
2012  | Californication | Cop  | Episode: "The Ride Along"
2014–2017  | Kingdom | Garo Kassabian  | 14 episodes
2014–2020  | The Goldbergs | Coach Mellor  | 42 episodes
2016  | 2 Broke Girls | Tony  | Episode: "And The Booth Babes"
2019–2020  | Schooled | Coach Mellor  | 34 episodes

## References

[edit]

1. ^ LoBrutto, Vincent (2018). TV in the USA: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 81\. ISBN 9781440829734. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
2. ^ "Twitter" – via Twitter.
3. ^ Rose, Mike (January 26, 2023). "Today's famous birthdays list for January 26, 2023 includes celebrities Sasha Banks, Ellen DeGeneres". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
4. ^ "Bryan Callen on the Beverly Hills Playhouse Acting School". Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
5. ^ a b Leitereg, Neal J. (November 10, 2016). "'MADtv's' Bryan Callen snaps up a newly built contemporary in Santa Monica". Los Angeles Times.
6. ^ a b Goldberg, Lesley (January 8, 2018). "'The Goldbergs' 1990s-Set Pilot to Air on ABC". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
7. ^ "Brendan Schaub reflects on Joe Rogan intervention: 'I was trying not to cry'". December 11, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
8. ^ "The Fighter & The Kid". Radiopublic.com. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
9. ^ David, Mark (July 7, 2014). "Comedian Bryan Callen Snags Snoozy Calabasas Crib". Variety.
10. ^ "EP35 Riffin With Bryan Callen". June 16, 2019. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2019 – via YouTube.
11. ^ "MADtv's Bryan Callen looks back on a life on the move". Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly. April 2, 2014.
12. ^ "Bryan Callen: Comic abroad (Interview)". LEO Weekly. October 7, 2015.
13. ^ Gadino, Dylan P. (June 16, 2011). "Interview: Bryan Callen– comedian, actor, zombie killer". Laughspin.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
14. ^ "I'm Italian. To my core. I burn with... – Bryan Callen Fan Page". December 14, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2019 – via Facebook.
15. ^ "Bryan Callen on Instagram: "I'm an Italian soccer player. Please recognize."". Instagram.com. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021.
16. ^ "Align Podcast". Alignpodcast.libsyn.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
17. ^ Fitzpatrick, Molly (January 12, 2016). "Here's what happened to every single 'MADtv' cast member". Splinternews.com.
18. ^ "The Fighter and the Kid hug it out with 'Entourage' star Jeremy Piven". Fox Sports. December 4, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
19. ^ "The Joe Rogan Experience Episode 1045 with Bryan Callen – JREfan.com". Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
20. ^ a b c "PopEntertainment.com: Bryan Callen interview about 'The Bryan Callen Show.'". Popentertainment.com. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
21. ^ Bonner, Mehera (December 22, 2010). "20 Things You Didn't Know About Secret Life". Wetpaint.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
22. ^ Meetinghouse Web (July 23, 2013). "Bryan Callen Has A Message!". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2019 – via YouTube.
23. ^ David, Mark (July 7, 2014). "Comedian Bryan Callen Snags Snoozy Calabasas Crib". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
24. ^ Gray, Ellen (January 9, 2018). "'Goldbergs' spinoff pilot to air on ABC – could this be a second chance?". Philadelphia Daily News. Philadelphia Media Network. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
25. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (April 16, 2018). "'The Goldbergs' Spinoff Picked Up To Series By ABC With Tim Meadows, Bryan Callen & AJ Michalka Set To Star". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
26. ^ Sasso, Will. "Dream Crushers". Archived from the original on December 25, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
27. ^ Gutelle, Sam (June 26, 2013). "Melinda Hill Seeking 'Romantic Encounters' On My Damn Channel Network". Retrieved October 23, 2013.
28. ^ Will Sasso (February 20, 2012). "The 10 Minute Podcast". Tenminutepodcast.com. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
29. ^ Will Sasso (November 22, 2016). "The 10 Minute Podcast". Tenminutepodcast.com. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
30. ^ "Onnit Labs – Total Human Optimization". Onnit.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
31. ^ "The Fighter & The Kid announce national tour". Axs.com. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
32. ^ ""The Fighter and the Kid" 3D". iTunes Store. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
33. ^ "Ridiculousness – Bryan Callen & Brendan Schaub". MTV. Archived from the original on October 27, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
34. ^ "Kast Media accused of "not paying creators"". podnews.net. July 24, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
35. ^ Brooks, Dave (September 9, 2023). "PodcastOne Public Listing Collides With Viral Takedown Video From Comedian Theo Von". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
36. ^ Carman, Ashley (September 14, 2023). "A Fight Over Missing Ad Money Roils the Podcast Industry". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
37. ^ Khalid, Amrita (September 14, 2023). "Why everyone in the podcast world is mad at Kast Media's Colin Thomson". The Verge. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
38. ^ Brooks, Dave (September 28, 2023). "PodcastOne Paid Brendan Schaub $1.6M, While Other Kast Podcasters Were Asked to Accept Pay Cuts". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
39. ^ "Steven Crowder Signs Bryan Callen, Nick DiPaolo, MrGunsNGear, and Josh Firestine to Mug Club" (Press release). Retrieved August 7, 2023 – via Yahoo! Finance.
40. ^ "Bryan Callen Events". Bryancallen.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
41. ^ "Bryan Callen's New Special Now Available". Mma-core.com. March 23, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
42. ^ "Bryan Callen: Never Grow Up". Tfatk3d.com. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
43. ^ Kaufman, Amy (July 31, 2020). "Actor Bryan Callen accused of sexual assault, misconduct". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
44. ^ Petski, Denise (July 31, 2020). "Comedian Bryan Callen Denies Rape & Sexual Misconduct Allegations; Amy Schumer Sends Message Of Support To Accusers". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
45. ^ Wright, Megh (August 3, 2020). "4 Women Accuse Comedian Bryan Callen of Sexual Assault and Misconduct". Vulture. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
46. ^ Kaufman, Amy (April 1, 2021). "Bryan Callen gives up effort to sue husband of woman who claims comedian raped her". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
47. ^ "Joker Origin Movie Set Photos Show Male Stripper". Inverse.con. September 20, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
48. ^ Schultz, Marisa (January 29, 2018). "Tim Allen joins docudrama taking down PC culture".

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bryan Callen.

* Official website
* Bryan Callen at IMDb
* Official MADtv site

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Spain

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

*[m.]: married
*[div.]: divorced