Lloyd Ahlquist | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Ahlquist in 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Lloyd Leonard Ahlquist |
| Also known as | EpicLLOYD |
| Born | (1977-01-18)January 18, 1977 (age 48) Staten Island,New York, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1999–present |
| Spouse | |
| Website | erbofhistory |
Lloyd Leonard Ahlquist (born January 18, 1977), better known by his online aliasEpicLLOYD, is an American internet personality and rapper best known for theYouTube video seriesEpic Rap Battles of History,[1] along withPeter "Nice Peter" Shukoff.[2][3] Ahlquist has performed as anMC, actor, improviser and writer.[4] In addition to the rap battles, Ahlquist, along with Shukoff, appeared in a cameo inThe SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
Ahlquist was formerly the General Manager and Artistic Director ofM.I.'s Westside Comedy Theater.[5] Ahlquist also studied atUMass Amherst and later trained inChicago (where he met his frequent collaboratorPeter Shukoff)[6] atThe Second City,Improv Olympic andAnnoyance Theatre. Ahlquist was one of the founding members of Mission IMPROVable, and continues to perform with the group weekly in their show "The Grind"[7] while serving on the Board of Directors of M.i. Productions.[8] He founded the comedy troupe after dropping out of theUniversity of Massachusetts with five classmates.[9]
In August 2014, Ahqluist hosted YouTube's first live-streamed improv comedy event, "Off the Top."[10] A trailer for "Epic Studios", a show starring Ahlquist, was released in 2015 and the first episodes were posted to his personal YouTube channel in April 2017.[11][12]
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Lloyd runs his own YouTube channel that launched on April 20, 2011. Ahlquist has a staple series on his own channel, titled "Dis Raps For Hire", which features Ahlquist taking a user-submitted comment asking Ahlquist to lyrically "destroy" or insult another person that is bullying or harassing the user.[13][14] To date, 20 "Dis Raps for Hire" have been produced. Season 2 of "Dis Raps for Hire" started on March 11, 2013.
On July 17, 2012, Lloyd's channel hit 200,000 subscribers. As a "thank you" gesture, he produced a parody of theCinnamon challenge.[15] In 2016, Lloyd hit 400,000 subscribers. By 2021, he had 495,000 subscribers.
Starting in 2017, EpicLLOYD has also run the series Epic Studios, where he portrays a fictional version of himself as he struggles to keep the Canadian music studio he inherited from his father from being turned into condos.
In 2010, Ahlquist partnered with singer and rapperPeter Shukoff to createEpic Rap Battles of History underMaker Studios[16] sometime after Ahlquist, Shukoff andZach Sherwin (a guest in the rap battles), were playing Check OneTwo, afreestyle rapimprov game where they took suggestions from the audience of famous people tobattle rap off the top of their heads.[17] Ahlquist has played several characters in the successful[17][18] rap battles, and has specialized in playing villains such asBill O'Reilly andAdolf Hitler.[19] Epic Rap Battles of History received four wins at the3rd Streamy Awards, with Ahlquist receiving one of the four awards.[20] By October 2014, the rap battles accumulated a total view count of over 1 billion, excluding the hundreds of millions of views earned by the season 1 episodes.[21] As of early 2020, the Epic Rap Battle channel had over 3.4 billion views.[22]
Ahlquist grew up inExeter, New Hampshire, and graduated fromExeter High School.[23][24] He married Josie Hutchinson, a student affairs educator, on 18 October 2009 inMalibu.[25] They live in Los Angeles.[26][27]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–present | Epic Rap Battles of History | various roles | web series |
| 2011 | X-Men: First Class Rejects | Prof. Doug Xavier | web short |
| 2011 | The League | Dr. Andre Nodick | Season 3, Episode 1, "The Lockout" |
| 2012 | Ninja – Part 2 | Sam Macaroni web video[28] | |
| 2012 | Epic Rap Battle of Manliness | Jogger | Rhett and Link web video[29] |
| 2013 | Key & Peele | Rap Battle Host | Episode #3.1 |
| 2014 | The Most Popular Girls in School | Darren Darabond | Episodes 50–52 |
| 2015 | The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water | Surfer Dude, Seagull | |
| 2016 | Crossroads of History[30] | LLOYD | web series |
| 2016 | Dirty 30 | Homeless Man | |
| 2021 | The Mystic Crystal | Knight #1 | Ninja Sex Party web video[31] |
| Year | Award Show | Category | Result | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 3rd Streamy Awards | Best Writing: Comedy | Nominated | Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahlquist |
| Best Original Song | Won | - |
