Dan Cummins (born May 17, 1977) is an American stand-up

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

and podcast host. His first comedy album, ''Revenge is Near'', distributed by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, was ranked as one of the top 10 comedy CDs of 2009 by Punchline Magazine. His first hour-long special for

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

, titled ''Crazy With A Capital F'', premiered May 29, 2010. He was a co-host for ''

The Playboy Morning Show ''The Playboy Morning Show'' is a live, daily, nationally syndicated talk show that airs internationally on Playboy TV and PlayboyRadio.com, reaching over 85 million households. The show is an audio/visual version of ''Playboy'' and integrates ma ...

'' and hosts multiple podcasts: ''Timesuck'', since 2016; ''Scared to Death'', with his wife Lynze, since 2019; and ''Is We Dumb'' with Joseph Paisley, which ran from 2020 to 2022.

Early life and education

Cummins was born and raised in

Riggins, Idaho Riggins is a city in the western United States in Idaho County, Idaho. Nestled deep in a canyon at the confluence of the Salmon and Little Salmon rivers in west central Idaho, it is approximately north of Boise, and south-southeast of Lewisto ...

. He graduated from high school in 1995 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

from

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the univ ...

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

. He then worked at a residential treatment center as a child and family counselor for six months, which he described as a horrible experience.

Career

Comedy

In 2000, Cummins performed at the open mic of the now-defunct Laugh’s Comedy Cafe inside the Season Ticket bar near the

Spokane Arena Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (Spokane Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in the northwestern United States, located in Spokane, Washington. Opened in 1995, it is home to the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League. Facility Construction W ...

. In 2001, Cummins entered the Seattle Comedy Competition, finishing as runner-up. There he met David Crowe, with whom he formed a two-man stand-up and variety act, COBDOG, (Crowe On Bass, Dan On Guitar), the highlight of which was having a radio-friendly version of one of their sketches, titled "At The Coffee Shop," making ''

The Bob & Tom Show ''The Bob & Tom Show'' is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995. Originally syndicated by Premier ...

'' best-of CD, ''Bob And Tom Gone Wild''. The duo split in 2003. In 2005, Cummins performed at the New Faces showcase at the Just For Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival, catching the attention of both

and ''The Late Late Show'' talent booker. In 2006, Cummins performed on Comedy Central’s ''

Live at Gotham ''Live at Gotham'' is a standup comedy television show airing on Comedy Central in the United States. The show features up and coming stand up comedians performing live at the Gotham Comedy Club in New York City Ne ...

'', his first performance recorded for television. A month later, he made his network television debut, performing on ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airing from January 3, 2005, to December 19, ...

''. Also, in 2006, he performed at his second major festival, the HBO Las Vegas Comedy Festival. The year 2007 started off with Cummins performing at the Comedy Central South Beach Comedy Festival, and then booking approximately 100 college dates at the NACA Nationals college booking convention in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

. Cummins then recorded his first television stand-up special, ''Comedy Central Presents Dan Cummins'', in August at the

Hudson Theater The Hudson Theatre is a Broadway theater at 139–141 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the Hudson was bui ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In 2008, Cummins performed at nearly 100 schools and also advanced to the semi-finals of

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

Season 6 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

. In 2009, Dan’s Comedy Central Presents was voted third favorite by fans in Comedy Central’s annual Standup Showdown. Shortly after, Comedy Central bought the rights to air a one-hour special. On October 17, 2009, in front of a sold-out audience at the

Bing Crosby Theater Bing Crosby Theater is a performing arts theater located in Spokane, Washington which was designed by theater architect Edwin W. Houghton. The theater was originally built in 1914 as an 800-seat movie theater called Clemmer Theater. Between May ...

in Spokane, Washington, Cummins recorded his first one-hour Comedy Central special, ''Crazy With A Capital F''. Its initial showing on Comedy Central aired May 29, 2010. The accompanying CD was released on May 25, 2010; the DVD version was released on June 8, 2010. Later in June 2009, Cummins performed at the second-annual Rooftop Comedy Aspen Comedy Festival. He made two additional television appearances in 2009, appearing on an episode of

Byron Allen Byron Allen Folks (born April 22, 1961) is the founder of the U.S. entertainment company Entertainment Studios which includes The Weather Channel. He is also a television producer, philanthropist, and comedian in his younger years. Notable s ...

’s ''Comedy.TV'', and on ''

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, as part of NBC's ''Tonight Show'' franchise. O'Brien had previously hosted NBC's ''Late Ni ...

'' the day before

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

. The year 2009 also included the release of Cummins' first nationally distributed CD, ''Revenge is Near'', on June 23 via Warner Brothers Records. It peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Comedy Charts, and Punchlinemagazine.com put it in their top 10 list for the best comedy CDs of 2009. In 2010, Cummins appeared in season two of G4’s ''The International Sexy Ladies Show'', and has moved to

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he began working with

Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. It is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients. In March 2016, CAA had 1,800 emplo ...

. Cummins also attempted to produce several television projects. Since early-2009, filmmaker Mike Newman has been filming an ongoing documentary on Cummins’ stand-up career. Cummins opened for Los Angeles-based recording artist Hughie Stone Fish on the "Siren Songs" tour in September 2014.

Podcasting

On January 5, 2015 it was announced that Cummins would take over permanent co-hosting duties on ''

''. On September 18, 2016, Cummins released the first episode of his comedic/historical podcast “Timesuck”. On September 18, 2019, Cummins released the first episode of his second podcast, “Scared to Death”. Cummins was the first comic chosen to be spotlighted by

Pandora Radio Pandora is a subscription-based music streaming service owned by Sirius XM Holdings based in Oakland, California, United States. The service carries a focus on recommendations based on the "Music Genome Project" — a means of classifying indiv ...

Personal life

Cummins has two children, a son and a daughter with his former wife, whom he divorced in 2009. Cummins shares custody of his children, who split time between

and

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Coeur d'Alene ( ; french: Cœur d'Alène, lit=Heart of an stitching awl, Awl ) is a city and the county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the largest city in North Idaho and the principal city of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolita ...

. Cummins married Lynze Radzyminski, a costume designer and wardrobe assistant, in August 2016.

Stand-up releases

* ''Comedy Central Presents Dan Cummins'' (2008) * ''Revenge is Near'' (2009) * ''Crazy With A Capital F'' (2010) * ''Hear This'' (2012) * ''Chinese Affection'' (2015) * ''Don't Wake the Bear'' (2016) * ''Maybe I’m the Problem'' (2018) * ''Feel the Heat'' (2018) * ''Get Out of Here; Devil'' (2020)

References

External links

* http://www.dancummins.tv * * http://timesuckpodcast.com * https://web.archive.org/web/20091106111336/http://www.livinthedreammovie.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Cummins, Dan American stand-up comedians Living people 1977 births 21st-century American comedians