Kid Fury
{{Short description|American YouTuber and podcaster}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kid Fury
| image = The Read Podcast Live.jpg
| caption = Fury with co-host Crissle West at a live taping of The Read podcast
| birth_name = Gregory A. Smith
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1987|11|24}}
| birth_place = Miami, Florida
| occupation = {{Hlist|YouTube vlogger|podcaster|comedian|writer}}
| nationality = Jamaican American
| yearsactive = 2009{{ndash}}present
| known for = The Read
}}
Gregory A. Smith (born November 24, 1987), known professionally as Kid Fury, is an American YouTube vlogger, comedian, and writer. He is best known as the co-host of podcast The Read, with Crissle West.
Early life
Kid Fury was born and raised in Miami, Florida, where his parents emigrated from Jamaica. He has two younger brothers. He enjoyed comedy from a young age and especially liked In Living Color, Martin and Moesha.
Career
= YouTube vlogs =
Kid Fury launched a YouTube channel in 2010 where he hosted a vlog series called Furious Thoughts.{{cite news|last1=Moodie-Mills|first1=Danielle|title=#NBCBLK28: Kid Fury: Telling The Furious Truth|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbcblk28/nbcblk-kid-fury-telling-furious-truth-n507206|accessdate=8 August 2016|work=NBC BLK|date=February 24, 2016}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/16/arts/television/kid-fury-of-the-read-from-digital-realm-to-the-stage.html|title=Kid Fury of 'The Read': From Digital Realm to the Stage|last=Smith|first=Jada F.|date=2016-01-15|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-03-14|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} At the time of the launch he also had a comedy blog and created the YouTube account to drive traffic to his blog.{{cite news | last=Finley | first=Taryn |title=We Built This: Kid Fury's Brutal Honesty Is What Will Actually Make America Great | url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bhm-kid-fury_n_5c528719e4b04f8645c78e2a | work=HuffPost | date=February 4, 2019}} His videos featured comedic, unfiltered takes on pop culture and his real life and attracted a large, diverse audience. The New York Observer called him "Black Twitter's Kingmaker", and Ebony's Jamilah Lemieux compared him to Eddie Murphy.{{cite news|last1=Sands|first1=Darren|date=24 July 2013|title=The Kid Stays in the Picture: Kid Fury's Journey From YouTuber to Black Twitter Kingmaker|work=New York Observer|url=http://observer.com/2013/07/the-kids-stay-in-the-picture-kid-furys-journey-from-youtuber-to-black-twitter-kingmaker/|accessdate=8 August 2016}}
Kid Fury moved to New York City in 2012. As of July 2013, his videos had over 10 million views. In 2016, he told NBC: "As a person of color and gay man, it is three times as hard to get opportunities in this industry, so I am doing my best to create my own...I'm building my business instead of waiting for others to give me the keys."
=''The Read''=
{{Main|The Read}}
In 2011, Kid Fury met future collaborator Crissle West, who later moved to New York City in 2013. Chris Morrow approached Fury about doing a podcast with Morrow's then-startup podcasting company, the Loud Speakers Network.{{cite magazine|last1=Locke|first1=Charley|title=Live Tapings Are Helping Make Podcasts A Little Less ... White|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/06/live-podcast-shows/|accessdate=8 August 2016|magazine=Wired|date=June 29, 2016}} Fury asked West to join him and they named the podcast The Read.{{cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-read-podcast-blew-up-2013-12|title=How 2 Friends Started The Most Hilarious Podcast Of The Year By Being Brutally Honest|date=December 16, 2013|work=Business Insider|last1=Lopez|first1=Linette|accessdate=9 July 2016}} {{As of|2019|January}}, The Read was averaging 400,000 listeners per episode.{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Jada F.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/16/arts/television/kid-fury-of-the-read-from-digital-realm-to-the-stage.html?_r=0|title=Kid Fury of 'The Read': From Digital Realm to the Stage|date=15 January 2016|work=The New York Times|accessdate=8 August 2016}}{{cite news|last1=McDonald|first1=Soraya Nadia|title=Q&A: 'The Read's' Kid Fury and Crissle West|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/qanda-the-reads-kid-fury-and-crissle-west/2013/11/14/f2579660-4c79-11e3-ac54-aa84301ced81_story.html|accessdate=8 August 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=14 November 2013}} In 2019, the podcast's television adaptation, The Read with Kid Fury and Crissle West, premiered on Fuse.
= Television work =
In 2016, Kid Fury put on a live version of his show that consisted largely of stand-up comedy, called "Furious Thoughts Live". He also appeared as a supporting character in the second season of Dear White People.{{cite web|url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/05/198440/dear-white-people-season-2-kelsey-lesbian|title=Why This Dear White People Lesbian Narrative Is So Important|last1=Bowen|first1=Sesali|website=www.refinery29.com|publisher=Refinery 29|accessdate=27 November 2018}}
In July 2018, it was announced that Kid Fury was developing a television show for HBO with executive producer Lena Waithe.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/kid-fury-hbo-lena-waithe-1202888458/|title=Kid Fury to Develop HBO Comedy Series With Lena Waithe Producing (EXCLUSIVE)|last1=Otterson|first1=Joe|website=www.variety.com|date=30 July 2018 |publisher=Variety|accessdate=27 November 2018}} The project is described as a "surreal dark comedy" that will follow a gay Black man in his twenties, navigating life in New York City with depression. Kid Fury met producer Chloe Pisello of Avalon Television, who enjoyed the pitch and helped him shop the show around to several networks. Eventually, they signed a deal with HBO.
Kid Fury was a staff writer for the Miami-set HBO Max series Rap Sh!t.{{Cite web |last=Tinubu |first=Aramide A. |title=6 Things We Learned About Issa Rae's 'Rap Sh!t,' Including If It Is Really A City Girls Origin Story [ABFF 2022] |url=https://shadowandact.com/issa-raes-rap-sht-including-if-its-really-a-city-girls-origin-story-abff-2022 |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=Shadow and Act |language=en}} He also appeared in two episodes of the show's first season.
Personal life
Fury is openly gay. In an interview with HuffPost, he stated, "I want people to understand that being black and gay is so different than just being gay...Black women get overlooked in the fight for women all of the time, so there's I think a similar thing that happens in the gay community with black gays."
He is noted for advocating for Missy Elliott to receive MTV's VMA Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award on The Read. Elliott received the award in 2019 and thanked Kid Fury and West for drumming up support during her acceptance speech.{{Cite web|last=McDermott|first=Maeve|title=Did Missy Elliott just give the VMAs' best performance of all time?|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/08/26/vmas-missy-elliott-all-time-best-performance-video-vanguard-award/2127178001/|access-date=2020-05-29|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Ifeanyi|first=K. C.|date=2019-08-27|title=This podcast helped Missy Elliott finally get her MTV VMA Vanguard Award|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90395301/this-podcast-helped-missy-elliott-finally-get-her-mtv-vma-vanguard-award|access-date=2020-07-21|website=Fast Company|language=en-US}}
Accolades
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.thekidfury.com}}
- {{YouTube|u=TheFuryTV}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people
Category:21st-century American screenwriters
Category:American comedy podcasters
Category:American people of Jamaican descent
Category:American radio personalities
Category:Entertainers from Florida
Category:Jamaican screenwriters