Guy Branum (born November 12, 1975) is an American comedian, writer, and actor best known as the head writer of, and a sketch performer on, ''

X-Play ''Xplay'' (previously ''GameSpot TV'' and ''Extended Play'') is a TV program about video games. The program, known for its reviews and comedy skits, airs on '' G4'' in the United States and had aired on ''G4 Canada'' in Canada (and briefly on Y ...

'' on the G4 network and as a regular panelist on ''

Chelsea Lately ''Chelsea Lately'' is an American late night comedy talk show created by Brody Stevens and hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler which was broadcast on E! The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and was produced by Handler's production company, Border ...

'' on the E! network. He used to host the podcast ''Pop Rocket'' on the

Maximum Fun Maximum Fun is an independent podcast and radio show production organization founded and run by Jesse Thorn. The organization originated with Thorn's college radio show '' The Sound of Young America'' which continued in an adapted format and wit ...

network, and hosted

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that ...

's ''Talk Show the Game Show''.

Early life

Branum was born and raised in

Yuba City, California Yuba City (Maidu: ''Yubu'') is a city in Northern California and the county seat of Sutter County, California, United States. The population was 70,117 at the 2020 census. Yuba City is the principal city of the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistic ...

to a Protestant father and Jewish mother.Interview
on ''Midday on WNYC'' July 31, 2018 He attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

from 1994-1998 where he was a history and political science major. He wrote a column for the '' Daily Californian'', one of which brought the

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

to his apartment in November 1997 before the Big Game between Berkeley and

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

, in which the Associated Press misquoted parts of his article, suggesting that he made suggestions that Berkeley students murder Stanford freshman

Chelsea Clinton Chelsea Victoria Clinton (born February 27, 1980) is an American writer and global health advocate. She is the only child of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clin ...

. He then moved to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

, where he attended the University of Minnesota Law School, and was on the school's Quiz Bowl team that placed third at CBI nationals in 1999. During his time in law school he publicly came out as gay. After graduating, he returned to California.

Career

After being recommended by co-hostess Laura Swisher, Branum was hired as a writer for ''Unscrewed with Martin Sargent'' while it was still on

TechTV TechTV is a defunct 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

. On ''Unscrewed'', he regularly appeared as a sweater model and as The Ambassador of Gay. He was also a writer and producer on G4tv.com, and head writer on the G4 channel program ''X-Play''. He also contributed to the comedy podcast ''Weezy and the Swish''. In December 2007, Branum became a writer and an onscreen comedy performer on ''

''. He made his feature film debut in January 2011 in '' No Strings Attached''. In 2012 Branum became a writer for the show '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'', performing a recurring segment "No more Mr. Nice Gay." He appeared on the eighth season 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 grou ...

''. In 2017, Branum performed at the inaugural

Portland Queer Comedy Festival The Portland Queer Comedy Festival is an annual five-day comedy festival that takes place in Portland, Oregon. Multiple venues are used throughout the festival's stretch, and upwards of 50 comedians perform. Comics such as Bruce Villanch, Irene T ...

. He was the host and executive producer of ''Talk Show The Game Show'' on

, which was canceled in November 2018. He was the regular host of Pop Rocket, a podcast that dissects popular culture, on the

network, which was cancelled in May 2019. His book ''My Life As A Goddess: A Memoir Through (Un)Popular Culture'' was published in 2018 with a foreword by

Mindy Kaling Vera Mindy Chokalingam (born June 24, 1979),Additional archive on June 25, 2015. known professionally as Mindy Kaling (), is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter and producer. She first gained recognition starring as Kelly Kapoor in the N ...

. Branum released his first comedy album, ''Effable'', in 2015 on

ASpecialThing Records ASpecialThing Records is a stand-up comedy record label started by Matt Belknap and Ryan McManemin. Belknap was the creator of aspecialthing.com, an internet message board especially popular with West Coast comedy fans. McManemin was an execut ...

References

External links

* *
G4tv interview
*
Profile on

WNYC-FM WNYC-FM (93.9 MHz) is a non-profit, non-commercial, public radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned by New York Public Radio along with WNYC (AM), Newark, New Jersey-licensed classical music outlet WQXR-FM (105.9 MH ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Branum, Guy 1975 births Living people American male comedians American male television writers American stand-up comedians People from Yuba City, California TechTV people UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni University of Minnesota Law School alumni X-Play American male television actors Male actors from California 21st-century American male actors American gay actors American gay writers People from Marysville, California Comedians from California Screenwriters from California 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers