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Michael Ian Black (born Michael Schwartz on August 12, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and comedy writer. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in Hillsborough, New Jersey. He is best known for appearing on VH1's I Love The... series and a variety of other TV series and films. He was also the voice actor behind the Pets.com sock puppet, is the main subject in the current Sierra Mist commercials, hosted the first season of NBC's hidden-camera show Spy TV, and had a supporting role on the NBC dramedy Ed.
Comedy career
He began his career as a member of the comedy group The State and was featured on the television show by the same name on MTV. He continued working with members of that group on the show Viva Variety in the role of "Johnny Bluejeans", and in the film Wet Hot American Summer.
His dry, sarcastically irreverent commentary on pop culture artifacts on VH1's "I Love the 70s/80s/90s" series have added to his and the shows' popularity. Black has stated several times on the show that he feels as if he is "doomed to an eternity of doing the 'I Love the...' series".
In the latter part of 2004, he acted as guest-host of CBS's The Late Late Show while auditioning for the permanent hosting role. He was a finalist for the position, but the job eventually went to Craig Ferguson.
He is also an occasional contributor to the online edition of McSweeney's, where he writes a column entitled Michael Ian Black Is A Very Famous Celebrity.
Black, along with fellow State-rs Michael Showalter and David Wain, co-starred in and co-wrote the now-canceled Comedy Central series Stella, a live-action adaptation of their popular stage show. The ten-episode first season debuted in June 2005 and was not renewed for a second season. He has also appeared on the Comedy Central show Crank Yankers.
In 2005, Black wrote and directed the film The Pleasure of Your Company, starring Jason Biggs, Joe Pantoliano, and Isla Fisher. The film is scheduled to be released in 2006.
Poker
Black has been an amateur poker enthusiast for several years, and has appeared on a number of episodes of Celebrity Poker Showdown as a celebrity competer—in fact, he has appeared in more episodes than any other player, a total of five. He first appeared in the third game of the first season (2003), playing to earn money for the Endeavor House charity. He lost to Nicole Sullivan, who would go on to win the entire tournament. His performance improved in the third game of the second season (2004), where he played for the charity "MAZON - A Jewish Response to Hunger" and won a game with Star Jones, Norm MacDonald, Adam Rodriguez and Jeremy Sisto, earning the silver chip after a lengthy "see-saw" battle with MacDonald and proceeding to the final table. However, he was knocked out early in the finals.
After being absent for several years, Black returned to the show in 2006, appearing in the second episode of the eighth season and playing for MAZON again. There, Black defeated Greg Behrendt, Jorge Garcia, Kim Coles, and Andrea Martin, and made Celebrity Poker Showdown history by knocking out three players (Martin, Coles and Garcia) in three consecutive hands. In the final table, he came in third (receiving $100,000 for his charity), with Jason Alexander winning the tournament (receiving $500,000 for his). His loss was remarkable in that he for a time held nearly 80% of all the chips on the table while playing against Alexander and Robin Tunney. However, he lost several hands in a row, mostly to Tunney, as he received a number of fairly good hands like Ace-4 only to be raised out of the pot by superior hands like Ace-7. Black's implosion was the biggest fall from the top in the history of the show.
Black has made a mark in his appearances both for his jokes and antics and for his skilled, aggressive-but-controlled poker play. Black has been repeatedly praised by Dave Foley, host of Celebrity Poker Showdown, and by the two poker experts who have commented on the show, Phil Gordon and Phil Hellmuth. Gordon has listed Black among eight of the best celebrities he's ever seen on the show,and Foley and Hellmuth considered him one of the best players in the eighth tournament[http://www.pokernews.com/news/2006/5/phil-hellmuth-businessman-poker-legend.htm and a favorite to win after Jennifer Tilly's elimination, and argued over who would get to pick him to win in his two appearances.
External links
- Gothamist interview - with Michael Ian Black, August 2005
- Kittenpants.org interview
1971 births | Living people | Jewish American actors | Chicagoans
"Michael Ian Black"