and took part in a panel on ''Larry King Live
''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly.
Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...
'' in an episode titled "Politics & Humor".
Tompkins has appeared in documentaries such as Jamie Kennedy's '' Heckler'' (2007) and Doug Benson's '' Super High Me'' (2007). He also appeared in ''The Bitter Buddha'' (2013), a documentary about the career of actor and comedian Eddie Pepitone
Edward David Pepitone (born November 5, 1958) is an American character actor and stand-up comedian.
Early life
Pepitone was born to a Sicilian father and a Jewish mother in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, and was raised from the age of nine ...
.
Tompkins later became the host of a discussion show called '' No, You Shut Up!'' by The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...
under its Henson Alternative banner.
Podcasts, webcasts and radio
In 2010, Tompkins launched his podcast called ''The Pod F. Tompkast''.[ The podcast was a mixture of Tompkins discussing various topics, clips from his live show at Largo, and segments where Tompkins voices a variety of celebrities speaking with one another.] Comedian Jen Kirkman was a regular contributor on the show.[ The podcast ended in 2012.
The '' Thrilling Adventure Hour'' comedy show at Largo began ]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 choosin ...
ing in January 2011; in October of that same year the show's podcasts moved to the Nerdist Industries podcast network created by Chris Hardwick
Christopher Ryan Hardwick (born November 23, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer. He hosts ''Talking Dead'', an hourlong aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series '' The ...
. The show ended in 2015.
'' Dead Authors'', a live show that Tompkins hosts at the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles, also began podcasting in September 2011.
In May 2012 Tompkins started a weekly web series called ''Speakeasy''. Hosted by the Break Media
Break Media was an American digital media company that owned several Internet properties targeted at men (males aged 18–34 make up 70% of their visitors), including Break.com (its first website), Screen Junkies, CagePotato, Chickipedia, Hol ...
site MadeMan.com, the series features Tompkins interviewing various guests in the entertainment industry, such as Ty Burrell
Tyler Gerald Burrell (born August 22, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. Burrell is best known for his role as Phil Dunphy on the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor i ...
, Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...
, Zach Galifianakis, Chris Hardwick
Christopher Ryan Hardwick (born November 23, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer. He hosts ''Talking Dead'', an hourlong aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series '' The ...
, Oscar Nunez
Oscar Nunez (born November 18, 1958), sometimes credited as Oscar Nuñez, is a Cuban-American actor. He is best known for his role as the Dunder Mifflin accountant Oscar Martinez on NBC's ''The Office''.
He was a member of The Groundlings and l ...
, Weird Al Yankovic
Weird derives from the Anglo-Saxon word Wyrd, meaning fate or destiny. In modern English it has acquired the meaning of “strange or uncanny”. It may also refer to:
Places
* Weird Lake, a lake in Minnesota, U.S.
People
*"Weird Al" Yankovic ...
, and Alison Brie
Alison Brie Schermerhorn (born December 29, 1982) is an American actress. Her breakthrough came with the role of Trudy Campbell in the drama series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), which won her a Screen Actors Guild Award. She gained recognition fo ...
. The interviews are conducted as casual conversations between Tompkins and his guests over cocktails at various bars in the L.A. area.[
Tompkins has appeared well over 200 times as a guest, and occasionally as a guest host, on '']Comedy Bang! Bang!
''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' (formerly ''Comedy Death-Ray Radio'') is a weekly comedy audio podcast, which originally began airing as a radio show on May 1, 2009.A Special Thing Forums:Comedy Death-Ray Radio starts today! Popularly known as ''Humani ...
'' (formerly ''Comedy Death-Ray Radio''),[ a weekly audio podcast hosted by ]Scott Aukerman
Scott David Aukerman (born July 2, 1970) is an American writer, actor, comedian, television personality, director, producer, and podcast host. Starting as a writer and performer in the later seasons of the sketch series ''Mr. Show'', Aukerman is ...
, a comedian who also wrote for ''Mr. Show with Bob and David''. The show's format mixes conversation between the host and guests, and usually includes improv games. Some guests play characters or impersonate certain celebrities, usually for the entirety of the episode; Paul F. Tompkins has impersonated celebrities such as rapper Ice-T, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Buddy Valastro from the reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...
series ''Cake Boss
''Cake Boss'' is an American reality television series, which originally aired on the cable television network TLC. The series premiered on April 19, 2009, and has spawned four spin-offs: '' Next Great Baker'', ''Kitchen Boss'', ''Bake You Ric ...
(cakeboss.)''.[
In addition to Aukerman's ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'', Tompkins has appeared on the podcasts of other fellow comedians such as '']WTF with Marc Maron
''WTF with Marc Maron'' is a weekly podcast and radio show hosted by stand-up comedian Marc Maron. The show was launched in September 2009. The show is produced by Maron's former Air America co-worker Brendan McDonald.
Background
The show's ti ...
'',[ ]Jimmy Pardo
James Ronald Pardo, Jr. (born July 28, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and host of the long-running comedy podcast '' Never Not Funny''. From the show's inception until mid-2015, he performed as the Conan O'Brien program ''Conan ...
's '' Never Not Funny'', Jessica Chaffin and Jamie Denbo
Jamie Denbo (born July 24, 1973) is an American actress, writer, comedian and half of the comedy duo Ronna and Beverly with Jessica Chaffin. She also co-starred in the FX series ''Terriers'' and appeared in '' Spy'', '' The Heat'' and ''Ghos ...
's ''Ronna and Beverly
Ronna Marlene Glickman (née Levine) and Beverly Ginsberg (née Schiff, formerly Ginsberg, Kahn, Frisch) are the 50-something (born 1962) characters created and embodied by actors and comedians Jessica Chaffin and Jamie Denbo. They hosted a pod ...
'' podcast,[ and the '' Superego'' podcast with Jeremy Carter, Matt Gourley, and Mark McConville.] Tompkins has also been a regular guest on the radio show and podcast '' The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Scharpling''.
In 2015, Tompkins created his own podcast on the Earwolf
Earwolf is an American comedy podcasting network founded by Scott Aukerman and Jeff Ullrich in August 2010. In 2011, they announced a partnership with Funny Or Die. It merged with podcast advertising network The Mid Roll in 2014, a separate com ...
podcast network called '' Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins''. This podcast is similar to the ''Pod F. Tompkast''; however, ''Spontaneanation'' is fully improvised and in-the-moment, as opposed to the ''Tompkast'', which was highly produced. ''Spontaneanation'' begins with an improvised monologue, accompanied on piano by Eban Schletter, much like the ''Pod F. Tompkast''. The next segment is an interview with one of Tompkins' famous friends. The final segment is one long improvised story performed by Paul and guest improvisers, based on ideas discussed in the interview segment. The podcast ended in 2019.
Since 2019, Tompkins has cohosted, with Nicole Parker
Nicole Frances Parker (born February 21, 1978) is an American actress. She is best known for her work on Fox's sketch comedy show '' Mad TV'' (2003–2009, 2016), which she was a regular cast member. In July 2009, Parker concluded her run as El ...
, ''The Neighborhood Listen'' on Stitcher Premium. Along with Tawny Newsome, he also hosts ''The Pod Directive'', the official Star Trek podcast, which launched in September 2020.
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, Paul started a weekly podcast with his wife, Janie Haddad Tompkins, called ''Stay F. Homekins''. The first season ran for 41 episodes throughout the rest of 2020, and season two started in January 2021.
Personal life
Tompkins is married to actress Janie Haddad Tompkins.
In 2017, Tompkins stated on Twitter that he was once a Catholic, but later went on to become an atheist.
He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and helped canvass for Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martinez during the 2022 Los Angeles elections
The 2022 Los Angeles elections were held on June 7, 2022. Voters elected candidates in a nonpartisan primary, with runoff elections scheduled for November 8, 2022. Eight of the fifteen seats in the City Council were up for election while three ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
Discography
* 2007 – ''Impersonal'' (CD; released on AST Records)
* 2007 – ''Comedy Death-Ray
''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' (formerly ''Comedy Death-Ray Radio'') is a weekly comedy audio podcast, which originally began airing as a radio show on May 1, 2009.A Special Thing Forums:Comedy Death-Ray Radio starts today! Popularly known as ''Humani ...
'' (Compilation released on Comedy Central Records)
* 2009 – ''Freak Wharf'' (CD) (Released on AST Records)
* 2010 – ''Sir, You Have Fooled Me Twice'' (EP; released on AST Records)
* 2010 – ''You Should Have Told Me'' (DVD; released on AST Records)
* 2012 – ''Laboring Under Delusions'' (DVD; released on Comedy Central Records)
* 2012 – ''Laboring Under Delusions: Live in Brooklyn'' (CD; released on AST Records)
Podcast and radio appearances
Tompkins is known for his many podcast appearances, as well as hosting a few of his own. He is often referred to as the mayor of podcasts.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
The Pod F. Tompkast
'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tompkins, Paul F.
1968 births
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American atheists
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male television writers
American male voice actors
American people of Irish descent
American podcasters
American sketch comedians
American stand-up comedians
American television talk show hosts
American television writers
American writers of Italian descent
Former Roman Catholics
Living people
Male actors from Philadelphia
Members of the Democratic Socialists of America
Screenwriters from Pennsylvania
Temple University alumni