Jacob Penn Cooper Hurwitz (born August 5, 1985) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and member of the comedy duo
Jake and Amir
Jake and Amir is an American comedy duo made up of podcasters and former CollegeHumor writers Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld. The duo came into prominence in 2007 when they began writing and starring in the web series ''Jake and Amir.'' Th ...
. He was hired by the comedy website
CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles. Aside from producing content for release on YouTube, it was also a former humor website owned by InterActiveCorp ( IAC) until January 2020, when IAC withdrew funding and the websi ...
after becoming an intern there in 2006, and has written and appeared in original videos for the website, as well as contributing articles which have been published both online and in print. He also starred in ''
The CollegeHumor Show
''The CollegeHumor Show'' is an American television sitcom that premiered on MTV on February 8, 2009 and also aired on MuchMusic. The show was a scripted sitcom with sketch comedy elements written by, and starring, nine CollegeHumor editorial st ...
'', an
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
sitcom that ran for one season in 2009. Outside of CollegeHumor, Hurwitz has hosted
Myspace's ''BFF'' series.
He is best known as the comedy partner of
Amir Blumenfeld
Amir Shmuel Blumenfeld (; he, אמיר שמואל בלומנפלד; born January 18, 1983) is an Israeli-American comedian, actor, writer, Television presenter, television host, and member of the American comedy duo, Jake and Amir. Born in Isra ...
: the two appear as humorous and exaggerated versions of themselves in the web series ''
Jake and Amir
Jake and Amir is an American comedy duo made up of podcasters and former CollegeHumor writers Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld. The duo came into prominence in 2007 when they began writing and starring in the web series ''Jake and Amir.'' Th ...
'', with Hurwitz generally assuming the role of the
straight man
The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the ...
. Originally made as a hobby by the pair, the series was later produced by CollegeHumor. Beginning in April 2016, they announced the streaming of their new video series, ''Lonely and Horny'', exclusively on
Vimeo
Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...
. The pair have also hosted numerous live shows, and started the advice podcast ''
If I Were You'' in 2013. On August 1, 2015, Hurwitz and Blumenfeld launched the comedy podcast network
HeadGum
Headgum is an American podcasting network founded in 2015 by Marty Michael, Amir Blumenfeld, and Jake Hurwitz. The latter twoknown collectively as comedy duo Jake and Amirbuilt upon the success of their podcast '' If I Were You'' to launch the ...
alongside Marty Michael.
Career
Hurwitz has cited the television series ''
Arrested Development
The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...
'' and comedian
Mitch Hedberg
Mitchell Lee Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 30, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes mixed with absurd elements and non seq ...
as major influences in his comedy styling.
CollegeHumor
In 2005, Hurwitz began to write a column for the comedy website
CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles. Aside from producing content for release on YouTube, it was also a former humor website owned by InterActiveCorp ( IAC) until January 2020, when IAC withdrew funding and the websi ...
while attending school. When he transferred to Hunter College, he became an intern at the company
—he summarized his duties saying "I put together desks and microwaved". He later got a full-time position at CollegeHumor,
where he wrote and acted in original videos.
Having originally wanted to be a
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
writer, he "spent a year or two feeling really uncomfortable on camera", but now says he "love
it".
Hurwitz was a cast member on ''
The CollegeHumor Show
''The CollegeHumor Show'' is an American television sitcom that premiered on MTV on February 8, 2009 and also aired on MuchMusic. The show was a scripted sitcom with sketch comedy elements written by, and starring, nine CollegeHumor editorial st ...
'',
a 2009 sitcom set in the CollegeHumor offices and featuring videos from the website. His character's biography on the MTV website reads: "Jake might not be smarter than his coworkers, but he's better looking, and that's good enough for him."
The show received mixed reviews. ''Pajiba'' Dustin Rowles dismissed it as "a series of atrocious sketches haphazardly strung together", while Liz Shannon Miller, editor for online streaming site ''Newteevee'', criticized the show's sitcom format and wrote that she "would have preferred a stronger debut," but gave the premiere four stars out of a possible five. After it had gone nearly a year without being recommissioned, Hurwitz commented "We stopped holding our breath for a second season".
''BFF''
In 2009, Hurwitz was selected as the host of the second season of ''BFF'', a game show produced for
Myspace that Hurwitz described as "''
The Dating Game
''The Dating Game'' is an American television game show that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it c ...
'' for friends". This was the first time he had been hired to appear in a non-CollegeHumor series; he called it "the first time I've been tapped on the shoulder to do anything that wasn't
frat boy
Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America.
Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...
humor" and said the show's format was "out of
iswheelhouse".
Hurwitz was given the chance to film a ''Jake and Amir'' video on the set, which he said "turned out pretty well".
''
Tubefilter
Tubefilter, Inc. is a privately held company based in Los Angeles, California that operates media businesses focusing on the online entertainment industry. Tubefilter is best known for Tubefilter News, a blog targeted at the fans, creators, pro ...
'' Marc Hustvedt said of the season: "It's a bit of a shame to see the typically absurd Hurwitz stripped of any real comedy purpose and thrown into what is pretty squarely a young, fashion-loving women's chit-chat." Although some episodes of the season appeared to have been viewed over 500,000 times, Hustvedt said that many of them appeared to come from embedded video advertising and doubted the veracity of this number.
''Jake and Amir''
![Amir Blumenfeld 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Amir_Blumenfeld_2010.jpg)
Hurwitz met his colleague
Amir Blumenfeld
Amir Shmuel Blumenfeld (; he, אמיר שמואל בלומנפלד; born January 18, 1983) is an Israeli-American comedian, actor, writer, Television presenter, television host, and member of the American comedy duo, Jake and Amir. Born in Isra ...
in 2006,
when the former began his internship at CollegeHumor.
When their offices moved to
Union Square
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
, the two were seated across from each other.
Hurwitz received a digital camera as a birthday present from his father, and the two used it to make videos together,
which they uploaded to the video-sharing website
Vimeo
Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...
.
Hurwitz thought Blumenfeld was "the funniest person in the office" and said "Amir and I were constantly joking around in different, strange characters, so it seemed natural that once I had a camera we began to record it."
Their first video was called "Quick Characters": it was unscripted, and involved either Hurwitz or Blumenfeld spontaneously pointing a camera at the other and instructing them to act in a certain way.
The two later began the web series ''Jake and Amir'', episodes of which they posted to jakeandamir.com
In it, Hurwitz plays Jake, a "normal guy", and Blumenfeld plays Amir, his annoying and obsessive co-worker, who craves Jake's attention.
Hurwitz summed up the writing process by saying "me and Amir sit in a room and we make each other laugh for an hour or two and somehow we leave with a script"—he also noted the series' increased production values, saying that he and Blumenfeld have become better at editing it over time. Describing how his character has developed, Hurwitz said "I think the Jake character has become a little more wacky, which is fun for me. We've given me triggers for my insecurity and then I get to be a little weird which is cool." He also noted that the characters' roles had swapped somewhat because "when we're writing together we do each other's voices sometimes ... it was just making us laugh a lot when I was doing the crazy/funny man and he was doing the straight man when it came to fashion and girls."
''If I Were You''
On May 13, 2013, Hurwitz and Blumenfeld announced their first new project since ''Jake and Amir'': a comedy audio
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 ''If I Were You'', in which they give advice to listeners who submit questions. Kayla Culver of ''The Concordian'' lauded the podcast as "comfortable to listen to" and "genuinely funny" and said "It's like listening to two best friends having a hilarious conversation on the couch next to you." Conversely, ''The Guardian''
Miranda Sawyer
Miranda Caroline Sawyer (born January 1967) is an English author, journalist and broadcaster.
Education and early life
Sawyer was born in Bristol and grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire with her brother Toby, who is an actor. Sawyer was educated at ...
described ''If I Were You'' as "a typical example of a comedy podcast" and "amiable enough", but said it contained "far too much laughing", commenting that "New Yorkers Jake and Amir laugh and laugh, giggle and chortle their way around a topic" and "if I wanted
stream-of-consciousness
In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver in 1840 in ''First Li ...
waffle with the occasional funny line, I'd listen to
y small children"
''Lonely and Horny''
In 2016, Hurwitz and Blumenfeld released an
on-demand comedy series called ''Lonely and Horny'' on
Vimeo
Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...
. The series was picked up by CollegeHumor for its second season.
''HeadGum''
In 2015, following the success of Hurwitz and Blumenfeld's If I Were You podcast, the duo founded the HeadGum podcasting network in tandem with their friend and colleague Marty Michael. HeadGum currently hosts 42 podcasts, many of which are hosted by comedians who were involved with CollegeHumor. Some of the notable programs that can be found on the network include ''
Why Won't You Date Me?
''Why Won't You Date Me?'' is a comedy and relationship podcast hosted by Nicole Byer which debuted on December 1, 2017 on the HeadGum network. The podcast features Byer and a guest exploring why she is single, while discussing topics related to ...
'', ''
Gilmore Guys
''Gilmore Guys'' is an audio podcast that follows comedian Kevin T. Porter and writer/performer Demi Adejuyigbe as they watch every episode of the television series ''Gilmore Girls''. The show represented two points of view, as Porter was a long ...
'', and ''
Doughboys
Doughboy was a popular nickname for the American infantryman during World War I. Though the origins of the term are not certain, the nickname was still in use as of the early 1940s. Examples include the 1942 song "Johnny Doughboy Found a Rose in ...
''. ''
If I Were You'' and ''
Not Another D&D Podcast'', both of which feature Hurwitz as a co-host, are also featured on the network.
''Not Another D&D Podcast''
In 2018, Jake Hurwitz alongside
Brian Murphy Brian Murphy may refer to:
Sportspeople
* Brian Murphy (Jamaican cricketer) (born 1973), Jamaican cricketer
* Brian Murphy (Zimbabwean cricketer) (born 1976), Zimbabwean cricketer
* Brian Murphy (baseball) (born 1980), American head baseball coach ...
,
Emily Axford
Emily Axford is an American actress, writer, and producer. She is best known for her various roles in CollegeHumor videos, her role as Emily on the truTV comedy ''Adam Ruins Everything,'' and for her role on the Pop original ''Hot Date'' co-sta ...
and Caldwell Tanner launched ''Not Another D&D Podcast''. On May 9, 2020, the
Dungeons and Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). ...
-themed podcast released its 100th and final episode of its first main campaign, with plans to begin its second campaign later in 2020. In the first main campaign, Hurwitz played Hardwon Surefoot, a human fighter. Hardwon was raised in a "dwarfanage". Hardwon is commonly referred to by his full name: "Hardwon Surefoot, Bastard of the Mountain, Pride of the Dwarfanage"(and on rare occasions, Thick of Calf and Quad, Dug farther into Iron Deep than any man or dwarf before him, Dragon Slayer, the Oft Dead, will be added). In episodes 62-65, Hurwitz played a dwarven Path of the Zealot barbarian named Jveliin. In their monthly campaign, ''Trinyvale'', DMed by Caldwell Tanner, Jake plays Nyack, a half-elf ranger who dreams of being the silverback of his gorilla tribe. He deeply loves his half-brother, Jens Lyndelle, sometimes called Jensitals (played by
Brian Murphy Brian Murphy may refer to:
Sportspeople
* Brian Murphy (Jamaican cricketer) (born 1973), Jamaican cricketer
* Brian Murphy (Zimbabwean cricketer) (born 1976), Zimbabwean cricketer
* Brian Murphy (baseball) (born 1980), American head baseball coach ...
), who refers to him as a half-stranger. In the second season, Jake played Henry "Hank" Hogfish, a cursed human echo knight fighter. In the third and current season Jake plays Calder Kildae, a half giant Eldritch Knight from the frozen north of Bahumia.
Personal life
Hurwitz was born in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
.
The son of a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
father and a Christian mother, he had a
Bar Mitzvah and attended
Hebrew school
Hebrew school is Jewish education focusing on topics of Jewish history, learning the Hebrew language, and finally learning their Torah Portion, in preparation for the ceremony in Judaism of entering adulthood, known as a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Hebr ...
, but also celebrated Christmas and Easter.
He attended
Hamden Hall Country Day School
Hamden Hall Country Day School is a coeducational private day school in Hamden, Connecticut, educating students in preschool through grade 12. Hamden Hall was founded in 1912 as a country day school for boys by John P. Cushing, its first headma ...
for high school, and
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...
and
New School University
The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
in New York City.
From 2009 to 2012, Hurwitz was in a relationship with
Bee Shaffer, the daughter of fashion editor
Anna Wintour
Dame Anna Wintour (; born 3 November 1949) is a British journalist based in New York City who has served as editor-in-Chief of ''Vogue'' since 1988 and Global Chief Content Officer for Condé Nast since 2020; she is also the artistic directo ...
, whom he met after she began working at CollegeHumor.
Since 2013, he has been in a long-term relationship with Jillian Vogel, whom he married in August 2018.
Filmography
Television
Online video
Bibliography
*
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurwitz, Jake
1985 births
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American writers
American comedy writers
American male comedians
American male television actors
CollegeHumor
Hunter College alumni
Jewish American male actors
Jewish American writers
Jewish American comedians
Living people
Male actors from Connecticut
Male actors from New York City
People from Hamden, Connecticut
The New School alumni
Writers from Connecticut
Writers from Manhattan
CollegeHumor people
Comedians from New York City
Headgum
21st-century American comedians
Hamden Hall Country Day School alumni
21st-century American Jews