Jeff Richards | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jeffrey Hanson Richards (1974-10-21)October 21, 1974 (age 51) Walnut Creek, California, U.S. |
| Education | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2000–present |
Jeffrey Hanson Richards (born October 21, 1974)[1][2] is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He was the first person to be a cast member on bothFOX'sMADtv and its rival sketch show,NBC'sSaturday Night Live, appearing on the former in 2000, and the latter from 2001 to 2004.[3][4] He is perhaps best known for his frequentSNL character "Drunk Girl".[3][4][5]
As a standup comedian, Richards has opened forChris Kattan,Andrew Dice Clay,Rob Schneider,David Spade,Louie Anderson, andAndy Dick. He has appeared as a guest onMarc Maron'sWTF podcast, andKill Tony, as well as onAqua Teen Hunger Force andNBC'sLate Night. In October 2020, Richards launchedThe Jeff Richards Show,[6] a new podcast - guests have includedAlec Baldwin,Bob Saget,Brad Garrett,Tommy Chong and more.[7]
Richards was born inWalnut Creek,California, and attendedLas Lomas High School.[8] At age 17, he created and hosted apublic access sketch comedy show calledHanson Live.[3][8] He later worked forKVHS, a student-run radio station which broadcasts fromClayton Valley High School.[9][10] He then attended theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and, in his senior year, he joined theimprovisational comedy team CHiPs Improv.[3] Fellow CHiPs member Zach Ward brought Richards to the comedy club Charlie Goodnights inRaleigh, North Carolina, where he performed at anopen mic show; Richards would eventually go on to host at the club.[3]
After graduating from UNC, Richards moved toLos Angeles to further develop his comedy career.[8]
After moving to LA, Richards worked the door atThe Comedy Store and eventually started to perform stand-up.
In 2000, Richards became a featured player in the cast ofMADtv, appearing in 3 episodes of the show's6th season. The following year Richards joined the cast ofSaturday Night Live during its27th season, making him the first person to be a cast-member of bothsketch comedy shows (Taran Killam would later become the only other performer to do so). Richards was promoted to repertory status forSNL's29th season although he left the show after the 10th episode, which aired on January 17, 2004. In interviews, Richards has stated that he left the show on his own terms.[8]
Perhaps Richards' most popular character onSNL was "Drunk Girl", who appeared on theWeekend Update segment nine times. He based the character on an audience member he encountered while performing stand-up atThe Comedy Store inLa Jolla,California.[3][11]
In 2004 Richards appeared in theComedy Central year-end retrospective specialLast Laugh '04 asFox News commentatorBill O'Reilly. In 2006 he again portrayed O'Reilly in episode ofMind of Mencia titled "Carlos Smoov".[2]
In 2007 he appeared on episode 22 ofComics Unleashed with Byron Allen along with comics Jeff Jena,Natasha Leggero, andMike Epps.[12]
Richards has also done voice work which includes characters in the 2004 video gameEverQuest II, a character in the 2006MTV animated seriesWhere My Dogs At? and in 2010 he played the voice ofBrad Pitt in an episode titled "The Wedding" of theFOX sitcom'Til Death.[2]
Richards produced a comedic album titledA$$WAX which was released on iTunes on March 3, 2009;[3][13] a portion of the proceeds from the album's sales was used to fight world hunger.[3] Richard also performed in a series of comedy benefit shows called "Asswax 4 Hunger" in 2009; the shows were hosted by friendKato Kaelin. Richards and Kaelin also hosted a podcast calledIn Pod We Trust in 2011.
In 2009 Richards played the character of Jerome Murphy in episode 3 of theABCscience fiction seriesFlashForward.[2] That same year Richards appeared in the pilot episode of a sitcom created by comedianBill Burr calledThe Burr Effect which appeared onComedy Central;[2] the series did not get picked up by the network.
In an episode of The Big 3 Podcast which was released on June 8, 2012, Jeff Richards made an appearance where he played Dr Tommy Morris, a psychiatrist with a bachelor's degree from The University of Idaho (28:00)[14] This episode became one of the most viewed episodes of the podcast. As reported inEntertainment Weekly,[15] Richards recently launched his own podcast, featuring one of his impressions interviewing celebrity guests. Moviemaker magazine described it as a "very funny, mindbending show where [Richards] uses deepfakes to mimic celebrities interviewing other celebrities".[16]
Over his career Richards has also appeared onLate Night with Conan O'Brien,Jimmy Kimmel Live! andThe Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.[5]