Rich Vos is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor. Since 2011, he has been the co-host of the podcast ''My Wife Hates Me'' with his wife, comedian

Bonnie McFarlane Bonnie McFarlane (born March 28, 1969) is a Canadian-American comedian and writer. She is best known for appearing on the second season of the TV reality show ''Last Comic Standing'' and for co-hosting the podcast ''My Wife Hates Me'' with her h ...

Early life

Vos was raised in a Jewish family who lived in an "all black neighborhood" in New Jersey. Vos's parents divorced when he was young and he did not graduate from high school. He became a fan of stand-up comedy from watching television as a child and cites acts featured on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'' as a big influence.

Career

Vos began his stand-up career in 1984, choosing to pursue it full-time as he "failed at everything else", and developed his act in local clubs. In 1995, Vos became the first white comic to perform a set on ''

Def Comedy Jam ''Def Comedy Jam'' is an HBO television series produced by Russell Simmons. The series had its original run from March 7, 1992 to May 2, 1997. Simmons was inspired to make Def Comedy Jam by The Uptown Comedy Club in Harlem, New York and Jerry Le ...

'' on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, a show usually featuring African American comedians. In July 1999, Vos hosted at the

Woodstock '99 Woodstock '99 (also called Woodstock 1999) was a music festival held from July 22 to July 25, 1999, in Rome, New York. After Woodstock '94, it was the second large-scale music festival that attempted to emulate the original 1969 Woodstock fe ...

festival, later calling it a highlight of his career. In 2000, Vos received the Bistro Award for Outstanding Achievement as Comedy Performer. In 2001, Vos played the bouncer and wrote and performed skits on the British television show ''

The People vs. Jerry Sadowitz ''The People vs. Jerry Sadowitz'' was a late night British TV show which ran from 1998 to 1999 on Channel 5 (UK), Channel Five. It featured comedian Jerry Sadowitz talking to members of the public. The idea being that the person Sadowitz found m ...

''. In 2001, Vos released his first stand-up comedy album, ''I'm Killing Here''. This was followed by the DVD ''Vos'' in 2004, consisting of an unedited, 55-minute performance recorded at the Stress Factory in New Jersey. He went on to produce two half-hour specials on ''

Comedy Central Presents ''Comedy Central Presents'' is an American stand-up comedy television series created for Comedy Central. It is the network's main half-hour program which highlights either one or a series of stand-up comedians each episode. In 2011, the series e ...

''. From 2002 to 2004, Vos was a frequent guest on ''

Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn ''Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn'' is a comedic talk show which aired on Comedy Central from 2002 to 2004. The show featured host Colin Quinn and a panel of comedian guests, discussing politics, current events, and social issues. Show history and ...

'' 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 ...

. He picked the show as one of his favourites to do as he lived close to its filming location and by the fact that he could do it with his best friends. In 2003, Vos finished third on the first 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 group ...

'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

. During this time he was given the nickname "The Don" by

Cory Kahaney As a given name, Cory is used by both males and females. It is a variation of the name Cora, which has Greek origins and is the maiden name of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word ''coire'', which means "in ...

"because of my rough and tough demeanor ... maybe it was more because I was the most experienced comic". At the end of the season, Vos toured with Kahaney and

Dave Mordal Dave Mordal (pronounced like "more doll") is a comedian from Elk River, Minnesota. Career He was a contestant on the first and third seasons of NBC's ''Last Comic Standing'' where, as per the ''Arizona Daily Star'', he came to be "best known for ...

for eight months. In 2004, Vos was a finalist in its third season. Vos was a frequent guest on the ''

Opie and Anthony ''Opie and Anthony'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg Hughes, Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton (comedian), Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show origina ...

'' radio show, with jokes centered at his expense, most often highlighting his speech impediment or lack of intellect. In 2002, he was responsible for having fellow comedian

Patrice O'Neal Patrice Lumumba Malcolm O'Neal (December 7, 1969 – November 29, 2011) was an American comedian and actor. He was known for his stand-up comedy career and his regular guest appearances on the talk show ''Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn'' and the ...

come on the show, who also became a popular regular guest. When the show aired on

SiriusXM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

, Vos hosted a Saturday night program with his wife Bonnie McFarlane. He hosted the 2006 and 2007 editions of the

Opie and Anthony's Traveling Virus Comedy Tour Opie and Anthony's Traveling Virus was a stand-up comedy tour hosted by American radio personalities Gregg Hughes, Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that featured a roster of comedians from their radio show, ''Opie and Anthony''. There were th ...

. Between 2006 and 2008, Vos prepared three pilot episodes for a comedy series alongside McFarlane, but neither were picked up by a network. He was featured in a segment of the television show, '' What Would You Do?''. In November 2011, Vos and McFarlane started their own podcast, ''My Wife Hates Me''. In 2016, Vos released his fifth comedy album ''V'', of which its material took between one year and a half and two years to develop. It charted at number one on the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

and ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' release charts. In 2022, while performing at a comedy club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Vos made racist comments about members of the audience based on their Indigenous ethnicity. After several Indigenous members of the audience walked out, Vos reportedly said "They should all go back to their f——— wigwam," at which point more audience members walked out. He also reportedly used the word "gay" in a derogatory sense during his set.

Personal life

After struggling with crack cocaine and alcohol addiction throughout his 20s, Vos completed a one-month rehabilitation course in 1987, three years into his comedy career. He has been clean since. Vos has married twice; he and his first wife have two daughters, Jessica and Ellen, before they divorced. In September 2005, Vos married comedian

. Their daughter Rayna was born in 2007. Vos lives in

Hillsborough Township, New Jersey Hillsborough Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The township is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region within the much larger New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the tow ...

to be closer to his children.Condran, Ed
"Rich Vos"
''Bucks County Courier Times'', February 23, 2006; accessed July 10, 2013.
"'I'm very close with my daughters,' Vos said. 'I moved to Hillsborough to be close to them. I know comics who never see their kids. I don't get that.'"

Stand-up releases

* ''I'm Killing Here!'' (2001) * ''Vos'' (2004) * ''Vos: Live in Philly'' (2010) * ''Still Empty Inside'' (2011) * ''141 IQ'' (2016) * ''V'' (2016) * ''When I Saw Hamilton...'' (2019)

References

External links

RichVos.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vos, Rich Living people People from Hillsborough Township, New Jersey Jewish American male actors American podcasters American stand-up comedians Last Comic Standing contestants Male actors from New York City American humorists American radio personalities Comedians from New York City Jewish American comedians 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews Year of birth missing (living people)