James Adomian (born January 31, 1980) is an Armenian-American stand-up comedian, actor, and impressionist. He is best known for his work 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 ...

'', ''

Chapo Trap House ''Chapo Trap House'' is an American left-wing political podcast founded in March 2016 and hosted by Will Menaker, Matt Christman and Felix Biederman with Amber A'Lee Frost as a recurring co-host. The show is produced by Chris Wade and formerly by ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airing from January 3, 2005, to December 19, ...

'' where he impersonated President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

until 2009, and for portraying

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

during the 2016 '' Trump vs. Bernie'' tour. He voices Talking Ben in the ''

Talking Tom and Friends ''Talking Tom & Friends'' (known as ''Talking Friends'' until late 2014, and ''Talking Tom and Friends'' until early 2021) is a video game franchise created and owned by Outfit7 Limited, a Slovenian video game developer. The franchise focus ...

'' animated series.

Early life

Adomian was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

on January 31, 1980 and raised in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. His family moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, when he was ten years old. Adomian is an alumnus of

Los Angeles Baptist High School Los Angeles Baptist High School (LAB) was a Baptist, private, coeducational day school located in North Hills, California with approximately 848 students enrolled in grades 6 through 12. In the summer of 2012, the school was acquired by another C ...

and attended

Whittier College Whittier College (Whittier Academy (1887–1901)) is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of fall 2022, had approximately 1,300 (undergraduate and graduate) students. It was ...

studying in a self-designed major in Economics and Theatre Arts. He notes that he did not graduate during a 2017 interview with Pete Holmes. Adomian is of partial

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

n descent.

Career

Adomian began appearing as President George W. Bush frequently on '' The Late Late Show'' after Craig Ferguson took over hosting the show in January 2005 until 2009. He has appeared on several other comedy programs, including ''

MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' magazine. In its initial run, it aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from 1995 to 2009. After a one-off reuni ...

'', ''

Mind of Mencia ''Mind of Mencia'' is an American comedy television series on the cable channel Comedy Central. Hosted by comedian Carlos Mencia, it aired from July 6, 2005 to July 23, 2008. History The first season of ''Mind of Mencia'' ran from July 6, 2005 ...

'', ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'', ''

Short Circuitz ''Nick Cannon Presents: Short Circuitz'' is a sketch comedy show starring Nick Cannon on MTV that debuted April 5, 2007. The show was cancelled and pulled from MTV on April 30, 2007, due to low ratings. A month after the show's cancellation, the ...

'', ''

Atom TV Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...

'', ''

Cavemen The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as " simian" or "ape-like" by Marcellin Bo ...

'', ''

Recount An election recount is a repeat tabulation of votes cast in an election that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place if the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close. Election reco ...

'' and '' Players''. Adomian has appeared in the films ''

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay ''Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'' is a 2008 American buddy stoner comedy film written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The sequel to '' Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'' (2004), it is the second installment in th ...

'' and '' Miss March''. As a

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...

artist, Adomian performed on '' The Onion Radio News'', as several recurring characters on the PBS cartoon series ''

WordGirl ''WordGirl'' (stylized as ''W✪RD GIRL'') is an American children's Flash animated superhero television series produced by the Soup2Nuts animation unit of Scholastic Entertainment for PBS Kids. The series began as a series of shorts entitled ' ...

'', as President Bush on a few episodes of ''

'', as

Jimmy Kimmel James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the host and executive producer of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-night talk show that premiered on ABC on January 26, 2003, ...

on ''

Celebrity Deathmatch ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' is an adult stop-motion claymated series created by Eric Fogel and produced by John Worth Lynn Jr. for MTV. A parody of sports entertainment programs, ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' depicted various celebrities engaging in ...

'', and on a number of other cartoons. In 2011, he was cast as a co-lead in the unaired

Kari Lizer Kari Lizer (born August 26, 1961) is an American actress, writer, and producer. She was the creator and executive producer of the CBS sitcom ''The New Adventures of Old Christine''. In May 2010, CBS canceled ''Old Christine'' after five seasons ...

pilot project for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

alongside

Sarah Paulson Sarah Catharine Paulson (born December 17, 1974) is an American actress. She began her acting career in New York City stage productions before starring in the short-lived television series ''American Gothic (1995 TV series), American Gothic'' ...

and

Tim Meadows Timothy Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emm ...

. In 2012, Adomian appeared on ''

'' as

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

broadcaster

Huell Howser Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing ''California's Gold'' and his human interest sh ...

, on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

's ''

Childrens Hospital ''Childrens Hospital'' (originally titled ''Children's Hospital'' as webisodes) is an American black comedy television series and web series that parodies the medical drama genre, created by and starring actor/comedian Rob Corddry. The series ...

'' as Madonna, and on

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 ...

's ''Money from Strangers'' as himself, also making regular appearances as various sketch characters on '' Conan''. In 2018, Adomian was one of the headliners at the

Portland Queer Comedy Festival The Portland Queer Comedy Festival is an annual five-day comedy festival that takes place in Portland, Oregon. Multiple venues are used throughout the festival's stretch, and upwards of 50 comedians perform. Comics such as Bruce Villanch, Irene Tu ...

. For the Freddie Mercury episode of the 2019

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 fil ...

program '' Historical Roasts'', Adomian played the title character.

Stand-up comedy album

In 2012, Adomian released his debut comedy album ''Low Hangin Fruit''. The release was the first album released by

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 ...

, and received mostly positive reviews. The one-hour stand-up set features personal stories, a number of celebrity impressions and political material including observations regarding the cultural perceptions of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

people.

Live appearances

James Adomian & Anthony Atamanuik by Gage Skidmore

Adomian frequently performs live at

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shorter UCB Theatre) is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. Prior t ...

in sketch and stand-up shows such as ''

'', ''Who Charted?'', and many others. He is also an alumnus of the Sunday Company at

The Groundlings The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniqu ...

Theatre, where he still frequently performs. He also regularly performs at "The Tomorrow Show" and other stand-up shows in Hollywood. Adomian is known for doing many impressions at live shows, both in-costume and as part of his standup act, including

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

Lewis Black Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion, or any other cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series '' Lewi ...

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...

Paul Giamatti Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character roles—typically lowlifes, eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical produ ...

Sam Elliott Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Board of Review Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Aw ...

Al Franken Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American comedian, politician, media personality, and author who served as a United States senator from Minnesota from 2009 to 2018. He gained fame as a writer and performer on the television comed ...

Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...

Gary Busey Gary Busey (; born 1944) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics ...

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...

Marc Maron Marcus David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician. In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' and has appeared more than forty ...

Andy Kindler Andy Kindler (born October 16, 1956) is an American comedian and actor from Queens, New York. He played the character "Andy", a fellow sportswriter and friend of sportswriter "Ray Barone" (Ray Romano) on the TV show ''Everybody Loves Raymond'', w ...

Tom Leykis Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

Todd Glass Todd Steven Glass (born December 16, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian. Life and career Glass was born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first began performing stand-up comedy in Philadelphia in 1982 while attendi ...

, and

. He has performed several impressions as recurring characters on ''

'' Adomian often makes live appearances around the country doing standup or characters, particularly at

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

political events like

YearlyKos Netroots Nation is a political convention for American progressive political activists. Originally organized by readers and writers of Daily Kos, a liberal political blog, it was previously called YearlyKos and rebranded as Netroots Nation ...

, Laughing Liberally, the

National Conference for Media Reform The National Conference for Media Reform (NCMR) is the largest conference devoted to media technology and news in the United States. Sponsored and presented by the media reform organization Free Press, the conference brings together activists; st ...

and campaign events for Congressman

Alan Grayson Alan Mark Grayson (born March 13, 1958) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated for reelection in 2010 by Republican Daniel ...

. In 2010, he made several live standup appearances across North America in the Breaking Even tour. In 2008, he appeared with comedian

Greg Giraldo Gregory Carlos Giraldo (December 10, 1965 – September 29, 2010) was an American stand-up comedian, television personality, and lawyer. He is remembered for his appearances on Comedy Central's televised roast specials, and for his work on ...

at venues around the country as part of the Indecision '08 Tour produced by

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 has performed at

comedy festival A comedy festival is a celebration of comedy with many shows, venues, comedy performers (such as stand up comics, sketch troupes, variety performers, etc.) and is held over a specific block of time. Normally, each festival has a diverse range of c ...

s across North America, including Just for Laughs in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. In March 2012, Adomian had his first overseas appearance, headlining a sold-out two night show in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

for Stand Up Seoul. Adomian toured the US with the '' Trump vs. Bernie'' tour in February–March 2016.

Personal life

Adomian is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. He is the grandson of Armenian-American mathematician George Adomian. He is a member of the

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Democratic Socialists of America#Tendencies within the DSA, multi-tendency Socialism, socialist and Labour movement, labor-oriented political organization. Its roots ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adomian, James 1980 births Living people Male actors from Omaha, Nebraska American male film actors American impressionists (entertainers) American people of Armenian descent American stand-up comedians American male television actors American male voice actors American podcasters American gay actors Last Comic Standing contestants Gay comedians LGBT people from Nebraska LGBT people from Armenia Members of the Democratic Socialists of America Cultural depictions of George W. Bush Whittier College alumni 21st-century American male actors Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers 21st-century American comedians