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Hannibal Amir Buress ( , born February 4, 1983) is an American comedian, actor, rapper, producer, and writer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He starred on
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as
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and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
's ''
The Eric Andre Show ''The Eric Andre Show'' is an American surreal sketch comedy television series which began airing on May 20, 2012. The show premiered on Adult Swim and is a parody of late night talk shows. The series is hosted by comedian Eric André and formerl ...
'' from 2012 to 2020, and was featured on
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 ...
's '' Broad City'' from 2014 to 2019. He is also known for an October 16th, 2014 stand-up routine, which brought the sexual assault allegations of Bill Cosby to public attention and outcry, for which he was universally lauded.


Early life

Hannibal Amir Buress was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 4, 1983, the son of Margaret Buress, a teacher, and John Buress, a
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
employee. He was raised in the
Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
neighborhood of Chicago. He was named after
Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( la, Carthaginiensis ) usually refers to a citizen of Ancient Carthage. It can also refer to: * Carthaginian (ship), a three-masted schooner built in 1921 * Insurgent privateers; nineteenth-century South American privateers, ...
general
Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
, and has told stories in his stand-up act about his name causing women to turn him down because of its association with fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter. After attending
Steinmetz College Prep Steinmetz College Prep (also known as Steinmetz High School or Steinmetz Academic Centre) is a public 4–year high school located in the Belmont Cragin community area on the Northwest Side of Chicago, Illinois. Steinmetz is a part of the Chicag ...
, he attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale for four years but did not graduate. While there, he became friends with hip hop artist
Open Mike Eagle Michael W. Eagle II (born November 14, 1980), better known by his stage name Open Mike Eagle, is an American hip hop artist and comedian. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, he is now based in Los Angeles, California, where he is a member of the h ...
.


Career

Buress began his stand-up career at an open mic in 2002. He has been featured in ''The Awkward Comedy Show'' special on
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 ...
, and alongside comics Baron Vaughn, Eric André,
Marina Franklin Marina Franklin is an American stand-up comedian, actress and podcast host, based in New York City. She is best known for her work on, ''Single Black Female'' (comedy special) and '' Hysterical'' on FX on Hulu. She also hosts her own podcast ''Fr ...
, and
Victor Varnado Victor Varnado (born May 15, 1969) is an American stand up comedian and actor. He is African American and albinistic. He was born legally blind due to his albinism. He grew up in Huntsville, Alabama and later moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Care ...
, and on the FX sitcom ''
Louie Louie may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Louie'' (American TV series), by comedian Louis C.K. * ''Louie'' (French TV series), animated series about a young rabbit who draws pictures which come to life * "Louie" (song), by Blood Raw * ''L ...
''. From 2012 to 2020, he co-starred as Eric André's sidekick on ''
The Eric Andre Show ''The Eric Andre Show'' is an American surreal sketch comedy television series which began airing on May 20, 2012. The show premiered on Adult Swim and is a parody of late night talk shows. The series is hosted by comedian Eric André and formerl ...
''. In July 2010, Buress made Variety magazine's "Ten Comics to Watch in 2010" list. His first stand-up comedy album, ''My Name is Hannibal'', was released on July 27, 2010. Buress was a writer on ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' from 2009 to 2010. He left with only one of his sketches having aired. In September 2010, he began writing for the fifth season of the NBC comedy series ''
30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', takes ...
''. He left after six months, although he continued to portray various characters on the show for 9 episodes from 2010 to 2012 such as "Gus", "Homeless Guy" and "Bum". He released his second album, ''Animal Furnace'', in 2012, which also aired as a special on Comedy Central. The album received positive reviews. His stand-up comedy has been featured on Comedy Central programs such as '' Live at Gotham'' and '' John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show''. He has also performed on several late night talkshows such as ''
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, ...
'', ''
Lopez Tonight ''Lopez Tonight'' is an American late-night television talk show that was hosted by the comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the first Mexican-American to host a late-night ...
'', '' Russell Howard's Good News'', ''
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon. About pag ...
'', ''
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...
'', ''
Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
'',''
Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...
'', ''
Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell ''Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'' is an American stand up comedy television series that premiered on FX on August 9, 2012, starring comedian W. Kamau Bell. On stage, Bell did mostly observational comedy on recent news stories and current eve ...
'', and '' Conan''. Additionally, he performed a set at the 2012 '' Secret Policeman's Ball'' at
Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...
in New York City. An hourlong Comedy Central show, ''Hannibal Buress Live from Chicago'', aired on March 29, 2014. He used to host a weekly stand-up comedy show at The Knitting Factory on Sunday evenings in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York. In October 2016, Buress began a
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
called ''Handsome Rambler''. Buress played Coach Wilson in the 2017 Marvel film '' Spider-Man: Homecoming''. Buress paid a lookalike who did not look like him to attend the film's premiere in his place, because he was busy with the film ''Tag''. He got in contact with the lookalike when he did a video for the MTV Movie Awards. On February 8, 2020, he appeared on ''The Bob Ross Challenge'', painting for the first time, coming up with the art nickname ''7''. He had a comedy special for
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
via
Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
on April 17 at 9 pm exclusive to the students. Buress was one of many collaborators on ''Foam and Flotsam'', a comedy album by
Chelsea Peretti Chelsea Vanessa Peretti (born February 20, 1978) is an American comedian, actress, television writer, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for portraying Gina Linetti in the comedy series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' and writing for ''Parks and R ...
about coffee. The EP was released on April 21, 2020. On April 30, 2020, he released a single called ''Judge Judy'', paying homage to the series of the same name after it was announced that the show would end in 2021.


Bill Cosby routine

On October 16, 2014, at the Philadelphia club The Trocadero, Buress was recorded doing an extended routine about sexual assault allegations against comedian Bill Cosby. Buress addressed Cosby's legacy of "talk ngdown" to young black men about their style of dress and lifestyle. Buress criticized the actor's public moralizing by saying: "Yeah, but you raped women, Bill Cosby, so that kind of brings you down a couple notches." When the audience responded to Buress's accusation with incredulity (Philadelphia being Cosby's home town), he encouraged everyone to search for "Bill Cosby rape" on
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
when they got home. Buress had been doing the same Cosby routine for the previous six months with little response, but the October performance went viral after being posted on the website of ''
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
'' magazine. A media firestorm ensued, with numerous publications tackling the question of how Cosby had managed to maintain, as Buress called it in his set, a "Teflon image" despite more than a decade of public sexual abuse accusations. Comedian
Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...
later referenced Buress's role in the allegations coming to light while impersonating Cosby during his 2015 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor acceptance speech, mockingly playing Cosby as threatening Buress's life.


Personal life

After living in New York City, Buress moved back to his hometown of Chicago in 2017 and settled in its Wicker Park neighborhood. Buress is a fan of the
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
. In December 2017, Buress was arrested in Miami for disorderly intoxication. Bystander footage of the arrest showed Buress mocking the police officers and demanding to know why he was being arrested. The arrest report revealed that Buress was detained because he approached the police officers and would not stop asking them to call an
Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
for him. Buress later stated, "I asked the fficerto call me an Uber, and he said, 'No.' He told me to leave the street. I go into this bar to get a phone charger for an Uber. He follows me into the bar, and told me I'm too drunk to go inside. ..'If I can't be on the street, where do you want me to be?' I ask him. I was in a state of trying to get home. ..I don't really believe I was at fault." The case was later dismissed. The ''
Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami area and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired by Village Voic ...
'' reported that the arresting officer has an alleged history of violence and was previously disciplined by internal affairs for an alcohol-fueled assault. The report was included by Buress in a televised stand-up routine he did at the Olympia Theater in Miami, in August 2019. In July 2020, Buress brought a lawsuit against the City of Miami and the officers involved for constitutional violations in connection with the incident. The case is currently proceeding in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Buress stated in a September 2018 interview that he had "quit drinking" after a number of "different situations appenedthat were alcohol fuelled", such as "arguments" stating that the ways he had handled things "were not smooth, just messy shit". Buress owns a building in Chicago and in 2017 removed residential tenants in order to convert the property into Airbnb short-term rental units. In October 2019 he posted a tweet against
Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
' call for
rent control Rent regulation is a system of laws, administered by a court or a public authority, which aims to ensure the affordability of housing and tenancies on the rental market for dwellings. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: *Price cont ...
and asked for donations to an Illinois
landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...
s association, leading to Twitter users criticizing him with the phrase "Hannibal Buress is a landlord". Buress later stated that he regretted his now-deleted tweets, which he claimed were jokes meant to stir up controversy. He attributed the criticism he received to fallout over comments he made on Bernie Sanders' age. Buress also said a housing charity had refused his $4,000 donation due to his perceived landlord advocacy. Buress has a daughter.


Filmography


Film


Television


Web series


Video games


Discography


Albums/comedy specials

* ''My Name Is Hannibal'' (2010) * ''Animal Furnace'' (2012) * ''Live from Chicago'' (2014) * ''Comedy Camisado'' (2016) * ''Hannibal Takes Edinburgh'' (2016) * ''Miami Nights'' (2020)


Guest appearances


Singles

* ''Judge Judy'' (2020)


Awards and nominations


References


Further reading

*


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buress, Hannibal 1983 births 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters African-American atheists African-American male actors African-American male comedians African-American male writers African-American media personalities African-American screenwriters African-American stand-up comedians American atheists American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American male television writers American podcasters American stand-up comedians African-American television writers Comedians from Illinois Critics of religions Living people Male actors from Chicago Screenwriters from Illinois Shorty Award winners Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumni Stand Up! Records artists Writers from Chicago