Doug Walker
Walker at the Grand Rapids Comic-Con inGrand Rapids, Michigan in 2022
Personal information
Born	Douglas Darien Walker (1981-11-17)November 17, 1981 (age 43)[1] Naples, Italy
Nationality	American
Education	Northern Illinois University (BA)
Occupations	Comedian film critic actor YouTuber
Spouse	Robin Poage ​ (m. 2012)​
YouTube information
Channel	Channel Awesome
Years active	2007–present
Genre	Film reviews
Subscribers	1.39 million[2]
Views	1.23 billion[2]
Associated acts	Angry Joe James Rolfe Lindsay Ellis Brad Jones Rob Scallon
Last updated: April 7, 2024

Douglas Darien Walker (born November 17, 1981) is an American comedian, film critic, actor andYouTuber. He is best known for creating and starring in the satirical film review web seriesNostalgia Critic, wherein the titular character reviewsnostalgic media in an angry or profane manner.^[3] After an initial run on YouTube, Walker co-created the website That Guy with the Glasses (later merged intoChannel Awesome) in 2008, where he and the series gained wider popularity. The site also presented other media critics who created similar content, includingLindsay Ellis andAngry Joe. Walker and his series returned to YouTube in 2012.^[4][5] As of 2025, Walker still creates the show but with less of an angry or profane approach.

Walker is the son of Barney (b. 1946), anaval officer and musician, and Sandra Ruth (née Polkow) Walker (1947–2016), atherapist.^[6] Both parents, as well as Walker's older brother Rob (b. 1979), would later appear regularly in his videos. Due to his father's career, Walker was born on anaval base inNaples, Italy, and moved frequently as a child, spending parts of his childhood in Rhode Island, Washington, andJacksonville, Florida, before moving to theChicago, Illinois, area in his teen years.

Walker attended and graduated fromNorthern Illinois University, majoring in mass communication and minoring in visual art, also serving as an editor and cartoonist for the school newspaper.^[7]

After graduating college, Walker worked as an illustrator and janitor. He started making videos on the then fairly new video sharing siteYouTube in his spare time. Although his earlyNostalgia Critic videos were popular, Walker claims his rise to internet fame first came from the success of his5 Second Movies edits. Walker has stated that the Nostalgia Critic character is primarily inspired byDaffy Duck and theQueen of Hearts, as well as by comediansLewis Black,Stephen Colbert, andBill Murray.^[8]

In 2008, Walker moved his skits from YouTube to independent site That Guy With the Glasses, later renamedChannel Awesome, with videos hosted viaBlip.tv.^[9] The majority of his skits have since been reuploaded to YouTube, and form a full web series spanning several seasons. Walker now works as a full-time content creator and staff member of Channel Awesome in Chicago, under the leadership of CEO Mike Michaud.^[10]

In September 2012, Walker announced that theNostalgia Critic series would be ending and that he and his brother would create thesketch comedy web seriesDemo Reel. In January 2013, however, Walker released "The Review Must Go On", a short film announcing that the series would continue. The new incarnation would co-star Malcolm Ray and Rachel Tietz ofDemo Reel, playing fictionalized versions of themselves as well as performing in sketches. Tamara Chambers would later join the series following Tietz's departure.^[11]

In March 2018, numerous former Channel Awesome contributors and employeesaccused the company of widespread mismanagement and mistreatment, culminating in theTwitterhashtag #ChangeTheChannel and aGoogle Doc entitled "Not So Awesome" chronicling the complaints of over 20 contributors.^[12][13]

Walker has cited many influences on his acting and style of comedy, includingMystery Science Theater 3000,Monty Python,The Simpsons,Lewis Black,Tom and Jerry,Mel Brooks,South Park,Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker,Stephen Colbert,Jon Stewart,Rowan Atkinson,Bill Murray,Animaniacs,Dave Chappelle,Robin Williams, and especiallyLooney Tunes (particularlyDaffy Duck).^[14]

Walker has been married to clinical social worker and therapist Robin Poage since 2012.^[15][16][17]

In his Nostalgia Critic review ofThe Land Before Time in 2024, he mentioned that he very likely hasADHD andOCD.^[18] In his review ofPercy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief in 2019, he mentioned having slightdyslexia.^{[citation needed]}

Quotations related toThe Nostalgia Critic at Wikiquote

• Official Channel Awesome website
• Doug Walker atIMDb
• Official YouTube channel

• 1981 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American comedians
• 21st-century American male actors
• American comedy musicians
• American comedy YouTubers
• American male comedians
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• Channel Awesome
• Comedians from Chicago
• Comedians from Naples
• Italian emigrants to the United States
• Male actors from Chicago
• Male actors from Naples
• Male actors from Jacksonville, Florida
• Northern Illinois University alumni
• Parody musicians
• Writers from Chicago
• Writers from Naples
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• YouTube channels launched in 2007
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