Dana Gould

Dana Gould
Birth name Dana John Gould
Born (1964-08-24) August 24, 1964
Hopedale, Massachusetts, United States
Medium Stand-up, television
Nationality American
Years active 1982–present
Influences George Carlin, Albert Brooks, Kenny Rogerson, Pee-wee Herman[1]
Notable works and roles writer and producer for The Simpsons
Website http://www.danagould.com/

Dana John Gould (born August 24, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian and comedy writer who has been featured on HBO, Showtime, and Comedy Central. He is known for portraying Gex the gecko.

Career

Raised in Hopedale, Massachusetts, Dana began performing comedy onstage at age 17. After high school, he studied communications and theatre at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, but after a year moved to San Francisco to pursue a career in comedy. It was there he, along with fellow comedian Alex Reid, founded the San Francisco Comedy Condo in 1986.

Gould wrote and performed on The Ben Stiller Show; one such sketch features Gould as Otto, Cupid's twisted brother, whose arrows convince a young man to fall madly in love with an elderly woman. Another series of sketches features a heavily disguised Gould as Wilford Brimley advertising "Grady's Oats" (a parody of Brimley's Quaker Oats advertisements). In one, he speaks of his Uncle Ray's hobby of dressing in a pink taffeta gown and filling his panties with oatmeal; in another, he brandishes a revolver through the window at children. He also appeared in an episode of MADtv as Newt Gingrich and on one episode of Seinfeld ("The Junk Mail") as "Fragile" Frankie Merman, Jerry's childhood friend (aka "The Summer George"). He co-created and was executive producer on the MTV series Super Adventure Team. In addition Gould's stand up material was featured in Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties.[2]

In 1998, Gould appeared in the episode "Supermarket Story" of the sitcom The King of Queens. For seven years he wrote for The Simpsons, one episode of which he provided the voice of Don Knotts as Barney Fife (an impression that originated in his standup routine). He left the show in late 2006 in order to focus on his own screenwriting, though he served as co-executive producer on seasons 14 through 18.

Gould had a featured cameo in the 2003 film Girls Will Be Girls, in which he played a hit-and-run victim who admits to his alcohol problem after having a desperate one-night stand with aging C-list actress Evie Harris, the other driver in the car accident. He was also featured in the film The Aristocrats, where, among other commentary, he presents an Amish version of the eponymous joke. His short films, Last Man On Earth, Break On Through With J.F.K., A Night On Java Island, and Soul Mates are also available for download on his site. Except for the latter, all feature Gould in acting roles. 2009 saw the release of his new stand up special, "Let Me Put My Thoughts In You" on Shout Factory.

Gould provided the voice for the title character in the U.S. versions of the Gex video game series and the UK version of the first game. Gould, with his frequent writing partner Rob Cohen, wrote the majority of the jokes for the games.

He was a regular contributor to the Adam Carolla radio show where he did impressions of Huell Howser. He appears occasionally on The Adam Carolla Show podcast. The first episode of Gould's own podcast, The Dana Gould Hour [3], was made available on iTunes on January 31, 2012. Recurring guests include comedians like Eddie Pepitone, and each episode revolves around a singular theme. Currently, a new episode of The Dana Gould Hour is released about every two months.

In 2010 he appeared in live action on the Family Guy episode, "Brian Writes a Bestseller".

In 2013, Gould appeared with Melinda Hill and Scott Shriner[4] in an episode of the web series Romantic Encounters.[5] He also frequently performs live shows with comedian Arden Myrin as "The Tinkle Twins."

In 2014, Gould participated as a comedian on Playboy's "Foursome: Walk of Shame" where he joined other comedians in making fun of the program's contestants.

Personal life

Gould was born in Hopedale, Massachusetts, the fifth of six children. He was raised Roman Catholic, and served as an altar boy in the Boston Archdiocese. He currently lives in Los Angeles. In 2000[6] he married Sue Naegle, former President of HBO Entertainment. The couple separated in 2014. They have three adopted daughters[7] all from China.[8]

Podcast Appearances

On July 26, 2010 Gould appeared on Marc Maron's WTF podcast Episode 93

Gould returned to WTF with Marc Maron for a live episode on episode 463 on January 20, 2014

In February 2012 Gould started his own (sort of) monthly podcast called The Dana Gould Hour

Gould appeared on Janet Varney's JV Club on September 3, 2015 in episode 169

Gould appeared on You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes on April 27, 2012.

Gould appeared on Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend on December 3, 2015.

Gould appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor podcast on December 15, 2015.

Gould appeared on the Planet of the Apes episode of Damn Dirty Geeks on April 3, 2015

Discography

Filmography

The Simpsons episodes

The following is a list of episodes Gould wrote during his tenure at The Simpsons.

He also made an acting appearance in the Season 16 episode "Pranksta Rap".

Family Guy episodes

Gould guest starred in the episode "Brian Writes a Bestseller" as himself, during a live-action segment.

Films

References

  1. ↑ Pollak, Kevin; Gould, Dana (2011-09-21). Kevin Pollak Chat Show. Interview with Kevin Pollak.
  2. ↑ comedycentral.com
  3. ↑ "The Dana Gould Hour". Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  4. ↑ Carrie, Stephanie. "Steph’s LA Weekly Feature Series – Melinda Hill’s Romantic Encounters". Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  5. ↑ Gutelle, Sam. "Melinda Hill Seeking ‘Romantic Encounters’ On My Damn Channel Network". Tubefilter. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "You Made It Weird #44: Dana Gould | Nerdist". Nerdist. Retrieved 2015-11-26.
  7. ↑ "Sue Naegle Joins HBO as President, HBO Entertainment, Overseeing All Series Programming and Specials |". Thefutoncritic.com. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  8. ↑ "Sklarbro Country podcast episodes on Earwolf". Earwolf.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17.

External links

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