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Neil Hamburger

{{short description|Standup comedian character}}

{{Distinguish|Neil Burger}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}

{{Infobox character

| name = Neil Hamburger

| image = Gregg Turkington as Neil Hamburger (24682397750).jpg

| caption = Turkington performing as Hamburger in 2016

| occupation = {{hlist|Standup comedian|singer}}

| creator = Gregg Turkington

| portrayer = Gregg Turkington

| first = Great Phone Calls Featuring Neil Hamburger (1992)

| lbl31 = Genres

| data31 = {{hlist|Anti-comedy|popular music}}

| lbl32 = Website

| data32 = {{URL|americasfunnyman.com}}

}}

Neil Hamburger is a standup comedian and singer character created and portrayed by American entertainer Gregg Turkington. Distinguished for his misanthropic jokes and anti-comedy style,{{cite news |first=Brian |last=Logan |work=The Guardian |title=Neil Hamburger: Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/aug/20/neil-hamburger-edinburgh-review |date=August 20, 2010}} Turkington has released a number of albums as Hamburger and has appeared as the character in various films, television shows, and other media. In 2015, the act inspired the feature-length film Entertainment, which stars Turkington as a "variant" of the character.{{Cite news|last=Ratliff|first=Ben|author-link=Ben Ratliff|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/21/movies/for-gregg-turkingtons-character-theres-no-success-like-failure.html |title=For Gregg Turkington's Character, There's No Success Like Failure |date=November 21, 2015 |work=The New York Times|language=en |access-date=June 20, 2018}}

Turkington developed the character in the 1990s and originally envisioned the concept as a "weird recording project". It originated from a prank call that had appeared on the album Great Phone Calls Featuring Neil Hamburger (1992). He followed the LP with three more albums issued on Drag City Records before he began receiving offers to perform as the character for live shows.{{cite web |author-link=Cris Kirkwood|author1=The Cris Kirkwood Podcast |title=7: Gregg Turkington AKA Neil Hamburger|url=https://soundcloud.com/criskirkwoodpodcast/gregg-turkington-fin |website=SoundCloud |access-date=October 18, 2018 |time=27:14–30:00 |format=Audio |date=2015}} His albums Neil Hamburger Sings Country Winners (2009) and First of Dismay (2014) feature original songs and cover versions backed by "The Too Good For Neil Hamburger Band".{{cite web |last1=Colburn |first1=Randall |title=Neil Hamburger – First of Dismay |url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2014/08/album-review-neil-hamburger-first-of-dismay/ |website=Consequence of Sound |date=August 8, 2014}}

Style

Hamburger's standup act consists largely of intentionally stilted and abrasive question/answer jokes about celebrity targets.{{cite news |last=Logan |first=Brian |date=2019-06-21 |title=Bad jokes? They're outright evil from this anti-comedian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jun/21/neil-hamburger-no-one-loves-a-hater-anti-comedy |work=The Guardian |access-date=2025-04-11}} One profile described him as a "a glum, middle-aged, tuxedo-clad man, with greasy comb-over hair, awkwardly sized glasses and a rasp magnified by a ghost lodging in his throat he perpetually pauses to clear—as if he's working up a world record-tying loogie."{{cite magazine |last=Gillespie |first=Blake |date=2012-03-26 |title=Everyone's a Critic |url=https://submergemag.com/comedy/everyones-a-crtic/ |magazine=Submerge |access-date=2025-04-11}} Another characterized him as a "blowhard, old-school comedian" who is "regularly berating his increasingly agitated audiences."{{cite magazine |last=David |first=Hays |date=2010-08-15 |title=Neil Hamburger: Hot February Night |url=https://www.undertheradarmag.com/reviews/hot_february_night |magazine=Under the Radar |access-date=2025-04-11}}

Vulture wrote of his stage presence:

{{blockquote|text=Most distinctive are his vocal stylings. In between attempts to clear his throat that sound as if he's gargling with a gallon of phlegm, he delivers riddles in a querulous yowl, spacing out each word as if to abrade his audience's eardrums: "Why ... Why ... Why does Madonna feed her baby Alpo brand dog food? ... Because that's what comes out of her breasts." Actually, that's one of his more conventionally offensive jokes. Many of them don't even have recognizable punchlines. Hecklers, meanwhile, are met with protracted tongue-lashings...{{cite web |last=Edelstein |first=David |date=2015-11-15 |title=Entertainment, the Tale of Comedian Neil Hamburger, Shocks for No Good Reason |url=https://www.vulture.com/2015/11/review-entertainment-shocks-for-no-good-reason.html |website=Vulture |access-date=2025-04-28}}}}

The confrontational aspects of Hamburger's act have drawn comparisons to Tony Clifton.{{cite web |last=Sekerka |first=John |title=Laughline |website=hour.ca |url=http://www.hour.ca/stage/stage.aspx?iIDArticle=7305 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208221054/http://www.hour.ca/stage/stage.aspx?iIDArticle=7305 |date=2005-09-29 |archive-date=2008-12-08 |access-date=2025-04-11}}

Career

{{BLP sources section|date=October 2018}}

Turkington's first Neil Hamburger recordings were self-recorded, imagining an unfunny, poorly recorded self-released stand-up comedy act. Turkington used recordings of audience laughter that were intentionally out of sync with his jokes, to replicate the private pressing albums by outsider artists that he enjoyed. These early recordings found a cult audience, which led to record label Drag City issuing his album America's Funnyman in 1996. Several more albums were issued on the record label.

After originally conceiving Hamburger to be a studio-only character, Turkington was convinced to perform as the character on stage. His first shows were supporting punk rock band Frenzal Rhomb, who flew Turkington from the United States to Australia especially for the performance.{{cite web |last1=Goldsmith |first1=Stuart |author-link1=Stuart Goldsmith |title=318 – Neil Hamburger (Gregg Turkington) |url=https://www.comedianscomedian.com/318-neil-hamburger-gregg-turkington/ |website=The Comedian's Comedian Podcast |access-date=March 4, 2020 |date=November 29, 2019}} Neil Hamburger would later appear in the music videos for the songs "Ballchef" and "Punisher" from Frenzal Rhomb's 2003 album Sans Souci.

File:Neil Hamburger.jpg, 2004]]

Hamburger was a frequent guest on the Internet talk show Tom Green's House Tonight (2006–2013). In 2006, Hamburger started doing his own show called Poolside Chats with Neil Hamburger on The Channel at Tomgreen.com. Guests on his show have included Tim and Eric, Kyle Gass of Tenacious D, Buzz Osborne of the Melvins, and Bonnie "Prince" Billy.

In 2006, Hamburger had a cameo appearance in the film Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny. Over the next year, he opened for Tenacious D during their Pick of Destiny Tour. However, his performances incited mostly negative reactions, with booing and heckling ensuing in countries such as Ireland and England. His performance at Madison Square Garden was referred to by Sia Michel of The New York Times as likely "the greatest night of his career."{{cite news |last1=Michel |first1=Sia |title=So Good at Being Lousy: It's a Joke, See? No, Really |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/04/arts/music/04tena.html |work=The New York Times |date=December 4, 2006}}

In 2008, Drag City released an album of country and western originals and covers recorded by Hamburger. During the sessions, Hamburger was backed by musicians including Prairie Prince of The Tubes and Todd Rundgren's band, David Gleason, Atom Ellis of Dieselhed and the New Cars, and Rachel Haden from That Dog.

In December 2010, Special Entertainment released an iPhone App called Shaky Advice from Neil Hamburger that functions much like a Magic 8 Ball, with 30 video clips of Hamburger giving comical advice.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

In 2015, the Neil Hamburger act was dramatized for the Rick Alverson film Entertainment. In it, the character is shown repeatedly on- and offstage, as well as the life of a fictional portrayal of the man behind the act separate from the real Gregg Turkington. The film's script was written by Turkington, Alverson, and comedian Tim Heidecker, although the dialogue was improvised.

In 2021, Neil Hamburger won "Best Guest Host" of Tim Heidecker's podcast Office Hours.

Discography

= Albums =

= EPs =

= Appearances =

  • RRRecords – America the Beautiful (compilation) (on "That's My Life") (1994)
  • Planet Pimp Records – Good Tyme Jhambhoree (compilation) (on "Promo Spot #1" and "Promo Spot #2") (1995)
  • Amarillo Records – You Gan't Boar Like an Eabla When you Work with Turkrys (on "Looking for Laughs" and "Great Phone Calls") (1996)
  • Giardia – Muckraker #8 (compilation) (on "Ten Minutes after Checking into the Motel 6") (1997)
  • Tedium House – My Baby Does Good Sculptures (compilation) (on "Comedy Fated from the Stars") (1997)
  • The Phantom Surfers – XXX Party (on "Special Guest Guffaws") (2000)
  • Mark Prindle – Only the Good Die Young: An All-Star Tribute to Mark Prindle (1973–2058) (on "Special Celebrity Endorsement") (2001)
  • Joe Beats – Indie Rock Blues (on "It's Expected I'm Gone / Open Ended Interview") (2005)
  • Comedy Central – Comedy Death-Ray (compilation) (on "Neil Hamburger") (2008)

Filmography

=DVDs=

  • The Show Must Go Off!: Neil Hamburger Live at the Phoenix Greyhound Park (2003)
  • The World's Funnyman (2006)
  • Western Music and Variety (2009)

=Movie appearances=

  • Circuit 8: Volume 8 (as himself) (2001)
  • The Amazing Adventures of Pleaseeasaur (as himself) (2006)
  • Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (as himself) (2006)
  • Coco Lipshitz: Behind the Laughter (as himself) (2009)
  • The Comedy (as himself) (2012)
  • Hamlet A.D.D. (as Osric) (2014)
  • Entertainment (an interpretation of the character) (2015)
  • [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13391556/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 Mr. Bungle: The Night They Came Home] (as himself) (2020)

=Television appearances=

=Music video appearances=

  • "Punisher" (Frenzal Rhomb, 2003)
  • "Ball Chef" (Frenzal Rhomb, 2003)
  • "Conspiracy of the Gods" (Trans Am, 2007)
  • "I'm Alright" (Ugly Kid Joe, 2015)

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Neil Hamburger}}

  • [http://neilhamburger.tvheaven.com/ Neil Hamburger's "Unofficial" Site]
  • {{IMDb name|0877203}}

{{Gregg Turkington}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamburger, Neil}}

Category:Comedy theatre characters

Category:Male characters in theatre

Category:Theatre characters introduced in 1992

Category:Drag City (record label) artists

Category:Alternative Tentacles artists

Category:Fictional comedians