Isaac Oliver (born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland) is an author, playwright and on-stage comic known for his debut humor collection.

Early life and education

Oliver studied playwriting at Sarah Lawrence College and graduated from the

Carver Center for Arts and Technology George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology, also known just as the Carver Center is a Baltimore County-wide public magnet high school originally established in 1992 as one of three geographically spread technology high schools, (othe ...

, which he later called "a magical place, a haven for weird, expressive kids who like to sob in stairwells." He was a 2013

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...

fellow.

Career

After college, Oliver moved to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, worked at a theatre box office and started a blog about his daily life, ultimately performing material from the blog for his friends. He then performed live at midtown theatre Ars Nova's variety-show gala "Showgasm." ''

New York magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'' called Oliver "a monstrous new talent." He has written for HBO's "High Maintenance",

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

's "GLOW," Amazon's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," and the upcoming "Etoile." He has also been a frequent contributor to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. After the release of Oliver's book ''Intimacy Idiot'', writer Sarah Larson wrote in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' that actor

Jonathan Groff Jonathan Drew Groff (born March 26, 1985) is an American actor and singer . He began his career on Broadway, rising to prominence for his portrayal of Melchior Gabor in the original production of '' Spring Awakening'' (2006-2008), for which h ...

, to practice each day for the play "Hamilton," read a page from ''Intimacy Idiot'' in a King George accent. In 2017, Oliver began performing in residence at Joe's Pub in

The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

, in a show titled "Isaac Oliver Sits Down" and directed by Jason Eagan. In December 2017, he premiered a holiday special, "Isaac Oliver's Lonely Christmas," on the West Coast at the Diversionary Theatre in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

Book

Oliver's book, ''Intimacy Idiot'', released by Scribner in June 2015, is a collection of essays about dating, living, working, and being single in New York City, about which '' Kirkus Reviews'' Features, in an interview with the author, wrote, "The material breathes with sharp honesty and boasts an assured authorial voice... ."

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

named ''Intimacy Idiot'' one of its Best Books of 2015. Stephan Lee in a book review for ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'', wrote, "Like any young memoirist worth reading, Oliver has mastered the art of self-deprecation." '' Kirkus Reviews'', in its review, described Oliver's writing as "in-your-face funny but with surprisingly moving moments," while ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' wrote, "His chatty style and candor about sex is entertaining." In a feature article about Oliver, ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...

'', an international daily newspaper, called his book "a collection of essays, vignettes, poems, lists and diary entries that document the poignant, hilarious and awkward moments of intimacy between humans."

Awards

In 2020, Oliver was nominated for a

Writers Guild Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility T ...

for his episode "Trick" from the fourth season of ''High Maintenance''. In 2011, Oliver took home a New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Original Short Script for his short play ''Come Here''.

Personal life

Oliver, who is homosexual, has said, "I'm very proud to be gay. I'm very thankful to be gay. If it were a choice, I'd choose it."

References

External links

Official site

Publisher's ''Intimacy Idiot'' page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Isaac Living people American humorists Writers from Baltimore Writers from New York City American comedy writers Fordham University alumni Sarah Lawrence College alumni American gay writers American male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights Gay comedians LGBT people from Maryland 21st-century American essayists American male essayists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American male writers American LGBT comedians