Boaz Frankel (born

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, 24 May 1982) is an American television personality who hosted and co-created the television show ''Clips & Quips'' and created the video series ''The Un-Road Trip'', slated to become a television series on

Halogen TV Halogen TV was an American digital cable and satellite television channel that aired feature-length films, documentaries, short films, and original reality programs that centered on making positive social changes and making the world a better pla ...

in 2011. He is also the curator of

The Kazoo Museum The Kazoo Museum is a museum dedicated to the history of the kazoo, located in Beaufort, South Carolina. The museum houses one of the largest collections of kazoos in the world. Originally established in 2007 in Seattle, Washington, The Kazoo Museu ...

Beaufort, South Carolina Beaufort ( , a different pronunciation from that used by the city with the same name in North Carolina) is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South ...

and owner of one of the largest collections of kazoos in the world.

Early life and education

Frankel grew up in Portland, and graduated from Wilson High School in 2000. He attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

, graduating in 2004 with a degree in dramatic writing.

Career

College television

While studying at NYU Frankel co-created a late-night talk show, ''On The Cusp'', that became the most popular program to ever air on NYU TV. In 2004, in his final year at Tisch, Boaz appeared on the ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...

'''s "The Intern" segment where he went on to win the top prize. Also during his senior year he became an intern on ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with ''Th ...

''. It was during his internship that Frankel heard about auditions for the WB reality show, '' Studio 7'', in which he appeared on one episode in August 2004. After graduating from NYU in 2004, Frankel created and hosted ''Clips & Quips'', an offbeat entertainment talk show that aired online and on college television stations nationwide for three years. He arranged the first kazoo-sponsored TV show and taught

Peter Sarsgaard John Peter Sarsgaard (; born March 7, 1971) is an American actor. His first feature role was in '' Dead Man Walking'' in 1995. He then appeared in the 1998 independent films ''Another Day in Paradise'' and ''Desert Blue''. That same year, Sarsga ...

to play kazoo and

Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Silverman was a writer and performer on ''Saturday Night Live'', and she starred in and produced ''The Sarah Silverman Program'', which ran from 2007 to ...

to play

dreidel A dreidel, also dreidle or dreidl ( ; yi, דרײדל, dreydl, plural: ''dreydlech''; he, סביבון, sevivon) is a four-sided spinning top, played during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The dreidel is a Jewish variant on the teetotum, a gamb ...

. Amongst other celebrities who appeared on the show, Frankel has interviewed

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...

Dame Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

and

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 200 ...

. In June 2007, Boaz brought ''Clips & Quips'' to an end and began development of ''Backstage Live'', a new online entertainment talk show for Social Strata.

The Un-Road Trip

In April 2009 Frankel started a project called the Un-Road Trip in which he travelled across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

for 10 weeks using any mode of transportation except for the gas powered car and documented his progress on video, Twitter, blogs and in photos. The trip began in Portland, Oregon, from where he travelled across the United States and to parts of Canada, returning to Portland at the end of the journey. Frankel's goal was to find alternative modes of transport and during the trip the modes of transport he used include: a duffy boat, a paddle boat,

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

motorcycle, train, electric bicycle kayak, paraglider, Couchbike, Treadmill Bike ,

Segway The Segway is a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter invented by Dean Kamen and brought to market in 2001 as the Segway HT, subsequently as the Segway PT, and manufactured by Segway Inc. ''HT'' is an initialism for "human transp ...

and camel. Coverage of the trip by the media included NBC's ''Today Show'' and

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

's '' The National''. the Un-Road Trip is being developed as a 10 episode television series for

who have licensed the footage Frankel produced during the trip and given him a contract to produce, co-write and host the series.

The Pedal-Powered Talk Show

In 2012, Frankel started the "Pedal-Powered Talk Show", a show where Frankel interviews people in a desk attached to the front of a bicycle. The show is set in Portland, Oregon.

Other work

In fall 2009 Frankel took a freelance job with the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

producing videos describing some of the eccentric mail delivery methods used by the U.S. Postal Service. He became the U.S. project manager for the

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...

celebration in 2010, responsible for various aspects of event organization from producing videos to writing educational materials for schools. In addition to the above projects, Frankel has carried out freelance reporting assignments for

Current TV Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smalle ...

The Kazoo Museum

Frankel is the owner and curator of

, which was the only kazoo museum on the West Coast when it opened in Seattle in 2007. The museum has since been relocated to Beaufort, SC where it officially opened in its new location in October 2010.

References

External links

GoBoaz WebsiteClips & QuipsUn-Road Trip
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frankel, Boaz American television personalities 1982 births Living people Television personalities from Portland, Oregon Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni