Lewis Black

Lewis Black was born on August 30, 1948, in Washington, D.C.,{{cite web |title= About Lewis: Who is Lewis Black? |work= Lewis Black Official Website |access-date= March 4, 2015 |url= https://www.lewisblack.com/about-lewis }} the elder son of Jeannette Black (née Kaplan; 1918–2022), a teacher, and Samuel Black (1918–2019), an artist and mechanical engineer.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/11/Lewis-Black.html |title=Lewis Black Biography (1948–) |publisher=Filmreference.com |access-date=November 1, 2010}} He had a younger brother, Ronald, who died of cancer in 1997 at the age of 47.{{Cite news|last=Cavna|first=Michael|date=September 20, 2012|title=Lewis Black: The angry comic|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/lewis-black-the-angry-comic/2012/09/19/7adac31c-ec00-11e1-9ddc-340d5efb1e9c_story.html|access-date=February 12, 2022|issn=0190-8286}}

He is Jewish and was raised in a middle-class Jewish family in the Burnt Mills neighborhood of Silver Spring, Maryland.{{cite news |title =Lewis Black Is One Angry Comic|date =November 5, 2006 |url =https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lewis-black-is-one-angry-comic/|access-date =December 13, 2006 | publisher=CBS News}} His grandparents emigrated from Chornyi Ostriv in Ukraine and Białystok in Poland and his paternal grandfather was originally named Leib Blech, later changed to Louis Black.Stated on Finding Your Roots, May 4, 2021 Black graduated from Springbrook High School in 1966.{{cite news |title= On Stage: A Comic Comes Home |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= May 19, 2007 |page= C12 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/410189285/ }}

Black recounts in his book Nothing's Sacred that he scored highly on the math section of his SAT exam and later applied to Yale, Princeton, Brown, Amherst, Williams and Georgetown. Every college he applied to except Georgetown rejected him, but by that point he had decided he did not want to go there, so he attended the University of Maryland, College Park for one year before transferring to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There, he studied playwriting and was a brother of Pi Lambda Phi International fraternity and a member of Student Congress.{{cite news|title=Arts – Back in Black|first=Nick |last=Parker |date=February 7, 2002 |newspaper=Daily Tar Heel|location=University of North Carolina |url=http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/02/07/3c6289dbc0b6c?in_archive=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030220174555/http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/02/07/3c6289dbc0b6c?in_archive=1 |archive-date=February 20, 2003}} After graduating in 1970, Black moved to Colorado Springs with a group of performers based in Chapel Hill, purchased an old log cabin theater and attempted to establish a theater company. Calling themselves the Homestead Arts Theatre, the group performed regionally at parks, schools, and prisons, but were unable to open the theater due to code violations.{{Cite web|url=https://magazine.wfu.edu/2020/01/22/aha/|title=Improv Hippies|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305150116/https://magazine.wfu.edu/2020/01/22/aha/|date=January 22, 2020 |archive-date=March 5, 2020 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |first=Steve |last=Rabey |date=August 17, 2008 |title=Lewis Black: Between Blasphemy and Belief |newspaper=The Gazette |url=https://gazette.com/news/lewis-black-between-blasphemy-and-belief/article_fba1b256-7b45-5480-acd1-456ac8479959.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223214854/https://gazette.com/news/lewis-black-between-blasphemy-and-belief/article_fba1b256-7b45-5480-acd1-456ac8479959.html |archive-date=February 23, 2024 |url-status=live}} He eventually returned to Washington where he worked at the Appalachian Regional Commission, wrote plays, and performed stand-up comedy at the Brickskeler in Dupont Circle.

He earned an MFA degree at the Yale School of Drama in 1977, and was married for ten months when he was 26 years old.{{cite book|last=Black|first=Lewis|title=Nothing's Sacred|year=2005|publisher=Simon Spotlight Entertainment|isbn=0-689-87647-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/nothingssacred00blac_0/page/201 201]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/nothingssacred00blac_0/page/201}}

Black's career began in theater as a playwright; however, he has stated that he was always doing stand-up "on the side." He served as the playwright-in-residence and associate artistic director of Steve Olsen's West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theatre Bar in Hell's Kitchen in New York City, where he collaborated with composer and lyricist Rusty Magee and artistic director Rand Foerster on hundreds of one-act plays{{cn|date=October 2023}} from 1981 to 1989. Also with Rusty Magee, Black wrote the musical The Czar of Rock and Roll, which premiered at Houston's Alley Theatre in 1990. Black's stand-up comedy began as an opening act for the plays; he was also the master of ceremonies. After a management change at the theater, Black left and began working as a comedian, as well as finding bit parts in television and films.

Black lists his comedic influences as George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin, Bob Newhart and Shelley Berman.{{cite news |last=Gillette |first=Amelie |author-link=Amelie Gillette |date=June 7, 2006 |title=Interview: Lewis Black |url=https://www.avclub.com/lewis-black-1798209497 |newspaper=The A.V. Club |publisher=The Onion |access-date=June 23, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707005744/http://origin.avclub.com/content/node/49217 |archive-date=July 7, 2007 }}

In 1994, Black appeared on A&E's An Evening at the Improv.{{Cite episode | title = Andrew Stevens, Lewis Black, Suzy Soro, and more! | series = A&E's An Evening at the Improv |date= 1994 | season = 15 | number = 17 }}

In 1998, Black starred in his first comedy special on the series Comedy Central Presents. He starred in two additional episodes of the series in 2000 and 2002. He starred in another special for the network in 2002, titled Taxed Beyond Belief. In 2004 and 2005, Black hosted the World Stupidity Awards ceremony at Montreal's Just for Laughs comedy festival. In 2004, he had an HBO stand-up special titled Black on Broadway. Black hosted Comedy Central's Last Laugh '07, which aired on December 2, 2007, along with Dave Attell and D.L. Hughley.

In 2006, Black performed at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. for an HBO special, Red, White, and Screwed. It aired in June and a DVD was released in October. When explaining his choice of venue, Black said that "some asshole" was paid to count the number of times the word "fuck" was said in his previous HBO special, Black On Broadway, and that the original location, the Kennedy Center, wanted him to cut back on its use. Black was told the number was 42, when actually it was approximately 78.{{Citation |title=Lewis Black - Too Many F--ks | date=December 3, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dft394fh5Yo |language=en |access-date=August 7, 2022}}

Black received a 2007 Grammy Award for "Best Comedy Album" for his album The Carnegie Hall Performance.{{cite web|url=http://www.grammy.com/Grammy_Awards/49th_show/list.aspx#20 |title=Grammy Awards |publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |date=September 30, 2006 |access-date=November 1, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20061220160454/http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/49th_Show/list.aspx |archive-date=December 20, 2006 }} He hosted the Comedy Central television series The Root of All Evil in 2008. The show pitted two people or pop-culture topics against each other as a panel of comedians argued, in the style of a court trial, which is more evil, e.g., "Paris Hilton vs. Dick Cheney" and "Internet Porn vs. YouTube". After hearing arguments from both sides, Black, acting as judge, made the final decision as to which is more evil.{{cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/10/04/comedy-central-gets-angry-with-lewis-black |title=Comedy Central Gets Angry With Lewis Black |author=IGN Staff |website=IGN |date=October 4, 2007 |access-date=2025-04-20}} In 2008, Black hosted History of the Joke with Lewis Black,{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=57883&display_order=3&mini_id=57887 |title=About 'History of the Joke'|publisher= History Channel| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225042037/http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=57883&display_order=3&mini_id=57887 |archive-date=February 25, 2009}} a 2-hour comedy-documentary on The History Channel.

Comedy Central's "Stand-Up Month" in 2008 featured specials originally presented on HBO by Black, along with programs featuring Dane Cook and Chris Rock. That year, as part of Comedy Central's "Stand-Up Month", Black's routine finished at #5 on "Stand-Up Showdown 2008", a viewer-based countdown of the top Comedy Central Presents routine. In 2009, Black filmed two shows at the Fillmore Theater in Detroit, Michigan. These were the basis for the concert film Stark Raving Black, which appeared in theaters for a limited time in October, and was released on video the next year.{{cite web|url=http://www.lewisblack.com/news.aspx |title=News |publisher=Lewisblack.com |access-date=November 1, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101031162146/http://lewisblack.com/news.aspx |archive-date=October 31, 2010 }} At the end of 2009, Black returned to the History Channel to host Surviving the Holidays with Lewis Black, in which he discussed the year-end pressures of Thanksgiving, Channukah, Christmas, and New Year's.

In 2011, Black filmed two shows at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota.{{cite news |first=Jen |last=Boyles |date=May 4, 2011 |title=Lewis Black rants about Michele Bachmann, Farmville, Twitter |website=City Pages |url=http://blogs.citypages.com/dressingroom/2011/05/lewis_black_at_state_theatre.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507074108/http://blogs.citypages.com/dressingroom/2011/05/lewis_black_at_state_theatre.php |archive-date=May 7, 2011 |url-status=dead}} The shows were used for Black's comedy special In God We Rust. The special premiered on Epix HD.{{cite web |url= http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2012/02/28/epix-seeing-black-in-2012-lewis-blacks-in-god-we-rust-premieres-march-17-86503/20120228epix01/ |title= Breaking News |date= February 28, 2012 |work= The Futon Critic }} An extended and uncensored version of the special was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 11, 2011.{{cite press release|url=http://www.comedycentral.com/press/press_releases/2012/082012-lewis-black-in-god-we-rust-ntp-cd-dvd.jhtml|title=IN BLACK WE TRUST! LEWIS BLACK RETURNS TO COMEDY CENTRAL... |date=2012-08-20 |publisher=Comedy Central |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924021846/http://www.comedycentral.com/press/press_releases/2012/082012-lewis-black-in-god-we-rust-ntp-cd-dvd.jhtml |archive-date=2012-09-24}}

In August 2013, Black recorded his ninth stand-up special Old Yeller: Live at the Borgata. Deadline reported that Black and the company that was releasing the stand-up special, Image Entertainment, would later air it in the form of pay-per-view and VOD, making it the first comedy special to air simultaneously on all cable, satellite and telco platforms.{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2013/07/lewis-black-old-yeller-standup-special-august-24-552752/|title=Distributors Play Nice For Lewis Black Stand-Up Special|date=July 30, 2013|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=January 20, 2014}}

In October 2020, Black released his fourteenth stand-up special, Thanks for Risking Your Life, live at the Four Winds New Buffalo casino.{{Cite web |title=Lewis Black Is Still Pissed Off |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/comedian-lewis-black-special-thanks-for-risking-your-life-interview/ |first= Ashwin |last=Rodrigues |access-date=February 1, 2021|website=Vice |date=October 6, 2020 |language=en}} The special was filmed at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown and reflects that in material.{{Cite web|date=September 22, 2020|title=Lewis Black set to unveil new special 'Thanks For Risking Your Life'|url=https://vanyaland.com/2020/09/22/lewis-black-set-to-unveil-new-special-thanks-for-risking-your-life/|access-date=February 1, 2021|website=Vanyaland|language=en-US}}

File:Black, Lewis (USGov).jpg

Black appeared in episode 25 "Aria" (1991) of Law and Order as porn director Franklin Frome, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Obscene" (2004) as a shock jock, and in The Big Bang Theory episode "The Jiminy Conjecture" (2009) as Professor Crawley, an entomologist. He also released his autobiography, Nothing's Sacred, in 2005. Since November 9, 2005, Black has been making appearances in small segments on The Weather Channel. In December 2005, he appeared in an animated holiday special The Happy Elf, as the voice of the extremely tightly wound elf, Norbert.

In the film Accepted, a film about high school graduates who create a college when they fail to get accepted into any, he played Dean Ben Lewis of the school "South Harmon Institute of Technology". He also appeared in the 2006 films Man of the Year and Unaccompanied Minors. Black hosted Comedy Central's Last Laugh '06, which aired on December 10, 2006.

Black was the voice of "Manobrain" during the third season of the Cartoon Network series Duck Dodgers. He was the inventor of a diet pill which was stolen while he was in college. He blamed the theft on his college friend Dr. I. Q. Hi, not realizing that the actual thief was Duck Dodgers. The theft set Manobrain on the path of evil.

He provided the voice of the Deadly Duplicator in four episodes of the Adult Swim show Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law and in the video game based on the show.

Black provided the voice of oxpecker Ted in the My Gym Partner's a Monkey episode, "Hornbill and Ted's Bogus Journey". The character is portrayed in the same fashion as his comedy shows, though without profanity. In addition, the bird's clothes, looks, and mannerisms resemble his.

He also voiced Mr. E/Ricky Owens in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles played a middle-aged man named Vic who is kidnapped by the Kraang and mutated into a spider-like monster called "Spider-Bytez" by Michelangelo.

Black voiced Anger in the Pixar films Inside Out and Inside Out 2.

He also guest starred as the voice of Santa Claus in the SpongeBob SquarePants episodes "Goons on the Moon", "SpongeBob's Road to Christmas" and would reprise the role in spinoff series Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years.

On June 18, 2007, he sat in with Southern rock/Jam band Gov't Mule at the 6th annual Bonnaroo music festival, where he had performed earlier that weekend, for what was to be a quick joke. A member of the audience threw a bottle at Black, which struck him. Black was upset and he encouraged the audience to boo the heckler before leaving the stage in disgust, while shouting obscenities at the heckler. This act was seen in an episode of Lewis Black's Root of All Evil titled "YouTube vs. simply".

On June 29, 2007, Black gave a benefit show at Springbrook High School, his alma mater, in the school's auditorium for 1,100 alumni, faculty, and students. He performed in his usual style, stopping at points to remark how good it felt to use that language on that particular stage. At the end of the show he was given a Springbrook football jersey, and cursed at one teacher for giving him a B and causing him not to graduate first in his class.

In mid-December 2007, Black went with Robin Williams, Kid Rock, Lance Armstrong and Rachel Smith, Miss USA 2007, on a United Service Organizations trip to support the troops in Iraq and Kuwait. The last show was on December 22 at the U.S Naval Station in Rota, Spain. In 2008, Black went on tour to promote his book Me of Little Faith.Eberhart, John Mark (May 29, 2008). [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=KC&p_theme=kc&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=120FA1F66CDAD190&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "LA's the place for BookExpo"]. Kansas City Star (MO), pg. E17. Black did a stand-up tour called "Let Them Eat Cake", with material from that tour being featured on his comedy album Anticipation. Beginning in January 2010, Black embarked on a new tour called "In God We Rust".{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

In 2000, Black and fellow comedian Jim Norton were arrested for their involvement{{clarification needed|date=March 2023}} with "The Naked Teen Voyeur Bus",Trunk, Russell A. [http://www.annecarlini.com/ex_interviews.php?id=587 "Lewis Black: The Carnegie Hall Performance"] (Anne Carlini) website. a specially designed bus with acrylic glass walls containing numerous 18- and 19-year-old topless women. This bus was driven around Manhattan while reports about it were broadcast on the Opie and Anthony radio show. The radio station management did not inform the O&A show that the bus's route was also the route that President Bill Clinton was using that day. Twenty-eight hours after their arrest, Black and Norton were released. Black appeared on The Daily Show the following night where he stated he was exercising his constitutional rights. He then joked that the location of this particular right was unclear, but that it was "between 'all men are created equal' and 'don't shit where you eat.'{{-"}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ajvhzw/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-back-in-black---jail-time|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414023836/http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ajvhzw/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-back-in-black---jail-time|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 14, 2016|title=Back in Black – Jail Time |format=video |date=December 6, 2000| work=The Daily Show}}

• Nothing's Sacred (2005)
• Nothing's Sacred (audio book) (2006)
• Nothing's Sacred (softcover version) (2007)
• Me of Little Faith (2008) (New York: Riverhead Books – Penguin Group) 240 pages, {{ISBN|978-1-59448-994-5}}.
• Me of Little Faith (paperback version with added content) (2009)
• I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas (2010)
• One Slight Hitch (Play,Dramatist Play Service) (2013)

{{columns-list|colwidth=18|

• The White Album (2000)
• Revolver (EP) (2002)
• The End of the Universe (2002)
• Rules of Enragement (2003)
• Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center Blues (2005)
• The Carnegie Hall Performance (2006)
• Anticipation (2008)
• Stark Raving Black (2010)
• The Prophet (2011, unreleased album from 1991)
• In God We Rust (2012)
• Old Yeller (2013)
• The Rant is Due (2017)
• Black to the Future (2017)
• Thanks For Risking Your Life (2020)
• Tragically, I Need You (2023)

}}

• Unleashed (compilation of his four Comedy Central specials plus his appearances on The Daily Show: Indecision 2000) (2002)
• Black on Broadway (2003 HBO Special) (2004)
• A Pair of Lewis Black Shorts (Sidesplitters: The Burt & Dick Story and The Gynecologists) (2006)
• Red, White, and Screwed (2006 HBO Special)
• History of the Joke with Lewis Black (2008 History Channel special)
• Surviving the Holidays with Lewis Black (2009 History Channel special)
• Stark Raving Black (2009)
• In God We Rust (2012 Epix Special)
• Lewis Black: Old Yeller - Live At the Borgata In Atlantic City (2013)
• Black to the Future (2017)
• Thanks for Risking Your Life (2020)

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{wikiquote}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official website|http://lewisblack.com/}}
• [https://twitter.com/thelewisblack Lewis Black] on Twitter
• [https://www.myspace.com/lewisblack Lewis Black] on MySpace
• {{IMDb name|0085400|Lewis Black}}
• {{C-SPAN|1004713}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050426231212/http://www.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/thedailyshowwithjonstewart/ Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]
• [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1645231586692152749&q=innerviews InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse: Lewis Black] (TV Interview)
• [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4580711 Lewis Black Interview] on NPR's Fresh Air (April 7, 2005)
• [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=946717 Lewis Black Interview] on NPR's Talk of the Nation (January 29, 2003)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080925171649/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2008/09/americas_premie.php Lewis Black Interview] with the Village Voice (September 23, 2008)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060627204630/http://www.avclub.com/content/node/49217/1 Onion A.V. Club Interview]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311020234/http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/television/story.html?id=a6194208-4ee7-4738-beb0-223003d6bb03&k=82285 Lewis Black Interview by Maurie Sherman]
• [http://www.standuprecords.com/ Stand Up! Records]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071117102435/http://www.realdetroitweekly.com/article_3467.shtml Lewis Black Interview, Real Detroit Weekly (November 13, 2007)]
• [http://submergemag.com/featured/straight-talk/322/ "Straight Talk" Interview in Submerge Magazine, (Sept. 2008)]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110507074108/http://blogs.citypages.com/dressingroom/2011/05/lewis_black_at_state_theatre.php Lewis Black rants about Michele Bachmann, Farmville, Twitter – Citypages.com 5/4/2011]

{{Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album}}

{{American Comedy Award for Best Male Stand-Up Comic}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Lewis}}

Category:1948 births

Category:20th-century American comedians

Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights

Category:20th-century American Jews

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century American comedians

Category:21st-century American dramatists and playwrights

Category:21st-century American Jews

Category:21st-century American male actors

Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers

Category:American male comedians

Category:American male dramatists and playwrights

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:American male television actors

Category:American male voice actors

Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent

Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent

Category:American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent

Category:American religious skeptics

Category:American secular Jews

Category:American socialists

Category:American stand-up comedians

Category:Audiobook narrators

Category:Comedians from Manhattan

Category:Comedians from Washington, D.C.

Category:David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni

Category:Grammy Award winners

Category:Jewish American comedians

Category:Jewish American male actors

Category:Jewish male comedians

Category:Jewish socialists

Category:Jews from Maryland

Category:Living people

Category:Male actors from Manhattan

Category:Male actors from Washington, D.C.

Category:Maryland socialists

Category:North Carolina socialists

Category:People from Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Category:People from Silver Spring, Maryland

Category:People from White Oak, Maryland

Category:Stand Up! Records artists

Category:University of Maryland, College Park alumni

Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni

Category:Washington, D.C., socialists