Brandon Scott Wardell (born September 5, 1992) is an American comedian, writer and podcast host.

Early life

Brandon Wardell was born in the Seattle area before moving to Northern Virginia when he was a child. His mother was born in Manila, Philippines, to a Spanish father and Filipino mother. He grew up in Fairfax, Virginia and attended Robinson Secondary School. Wardell was a frequent contributor on the ToonZone forum in his youth. After attending Robinson, Wardell briefly attended Virginia Commonwealth University in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, but ultimately dropped out to pursue a career in comedy. Wardell had type 1 diabetes.

Career

Wardell's career began at the age of 17 in early 2010 doing open mics, before being invited to comedy hours in the Washington, D.C. region. Garnering local success, Wardell was scouted to perform at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

in Austin, Texas and the

Bridgetown Comedy Festival The Bridgetown Comedy Festival is a stand-up comedy festival located in the Hawthorne district of Portland, Oregon that took place every spring from 2008 to 2017, featuring standup comedy showcases, live podcasts, panel discussions and improv comed ...

in Portland, Oregon in the Spring 2012, eventually leading him to be featured in '' The Washington Post'' in October 2012. In mid-2013, an agent in Los Angeles noticed Wardell through the ''Washington Post'' article, and scouted Wardell to be part of his organization. After spending two weeks at VCU, Wardell accepted the terms, dropped out of VCU, and moved to Los Angeles to further pursue comedy. After Wardell appeared on several podcasts, his work was noticed by

Bob Odenkirk Robert John Odenkirk (; born October 22, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker best known for his role as Saul Goodman on ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–2022). For the latter, he has re ...

, who featured Wardell on his late 2014 live comedy album, ''

Amateur Hour An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether t ...

'', in which Wardell is featured on the opening four tracks. While the album was well received, Wardell's performance received negative reviews, with many fans and critics questioning Wardell's presence on the album. One critic panned his performance, saying that Wardell starts the album off with a "thud" and "unmemorable bits". A writer for '' The A.V. Club'' found it "strange" that Wardell was included on the album. In 2015, he toured with

Bo Burnham Robert Pickering "Bo" Burnham (born 1990) is an American comedian, musician, songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. His comedy work often combines musical, sketch, and stand-up elements with filmmaking. Following his success as one of the earliest ...

. He then became the host of Comedy Central's Snapchat series "Hot Takes." On January 27, 2016, he made his TV debut appearing on the Comedy Central show ''

@midnight ''@midnight with Chris Hardwick'' (shortened to and formerly exclusively titled ''@midnight'') was an American late night Internet-themed panel game show, hosted by Chris Hardwick, that aired Monday through Thursday nights between October 21, ...

''. In 2016, Wardell became a proud member of the survivalist prepping scene after covering it for a Vice piece. He later would boast in his standup how this helped him thrive in the pandemic In addition to stand-up, Wardell has written articles for '' Vice'', '' The Washington Post'', and Four Pins. In November 2017, Wardell began recording a podcast entitled '' Yeah, But Still'' with co-host Jack Wagner. In 2016, Wardell received internet fame for popularizing the "dicks out for Harambe" meme. In 2021, Wardell reportedly signed with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Performance credits

Discography

* '' An ASMR Album'' (2018)

Featured

* ''

'' with

(2014)

Filmography

* ''

Filthy Preppy Teen$ ''Filthy Preppy Teens'' (stylized as ''Filthy Preppy Teen$'') is an American satirical teen sitcom developed for Fullscreen by Paul Scheer, Curtis Gwinn and Jonathan Stern. The series, in which two wealthy teen siblings try to re-climb the social ...

'' (2015) * '' What Would Diplo Do?'' (2017) * ''

Do You Want to See a Dead Body? ''Do You Want to See a Dead Body?'' is an American surreal comedy streaming television series created by Owen Burke and Rob Huebel that premiered on November 17, 2017, on YouTube Red. On April 10, 2019, YouTube canceled the series. Premise ''Do ...

'' (2017) *
Like and Subscribe
' (2018) * ''

Twelve Forever ''Twelve Forever'' is an American animated streaming series created by Julia Vickerman, a former writer and storyboard artist known for her work on ''Clarence'', ''Rick and Morty'', '' Harvey Girls Forever!'', '' Paradise P.D.'' and ''The Power ...

'' (2019) * '' I Think You Should Leave'' (2019-) * '' Easter Sunday'' (2022)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wardell, Brandon 1992 births Living people Actors from Fairfax, Virginia American comedy musicians American stand-up comedians American podcasters Virginia Commonwealth University alumni American male web series actors 21st-century American male actors Musicians from Virginia Comedians from Virginia 21st-century American comedians People with type 1 diabetes Robinson Secondary School alumni