Wyatt Cenac

{{Infobox person

|name = Wyatt Cenac

|image = Wyatt Cenac Earth launch Shankbone.jpg

|caption = Cenac in 2010 at Earth book launch

|birth_name = Wyatt John Foster Cenac Jr.

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1976|4|19}}

|birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S.

|alma_mater = University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

|occupation = {{hlist|Actor| comedian|writer|producer}}

|yearsactive = 1995–present

|website = {{url|www.wyattcenac.com}}

}}

Wyatt John Foster Cenac Jr. ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|aɪ|.|ə|t|_|s|ᵻ|ˈ|n|æ|k}} {{respell|WY|ət|_|sin|AK}}; born April 19, 1976) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer.{{Cite news| title=Comedy Central Wins Three Big Primetime Emmy Awards for Long-Time Favorites 'The Daily Show' and 'South Park | url=http://news.viacom.com/press-release/awards/comedy-centralr-wins-three-big-primetime-emmyr-awards-long-time-favorites-daily | work=Viacom | date=September 21, 2009 | access-date=June 11, 2010}} He was a correspondent and writer for The Daily Show from 2008 to 2012.{{Cite news| author=Margaret Lyons | title=Wyatt Cenac Is Leaving The Daily Show | url=http://www.vulture.com/2012/11/wyatt-cenac-is-leaving-the-daily-show.html | work=Vulture | date=November 26, 2012 | access-date=November 26, 2012}} He starred in the TBS series People of Earth and in Barry Jenkins's first feature Medicine for Melancholy. He also hosted and produced the HBO series Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas.

Early life

Cenac was born in New York on April 19, 1976, at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan and spent his early years in the Bronx.{{Cite web|author=Julie Seabaugh|title=Wyatt Cenac: Permanent Trainsition|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/06/wyatt-cenac-permanent-trainsition-1.html|work=Paste Magazine|date=June 28, 2016|access-date=October 6, 2017}} His father, Wyatt Cenac Sr., was a cab driver born in Saint Mark Parish, Grenada, in 1944. When Cenac was five, his father was shot and killed in his cab by a teenage passenger in Harlem. Cenac moved with his mother (Patricia Hampton), a New York native, and Trinidadian stepfather to Dallas, Texas, in 1981.{{Cite web|author=Andy Beta|title=Wyatt Cenac Skewers Brooklyn's Preciousness in Netflix Comedy Special|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/wyatt-cenac-skewers-brooklyns-preciousness-in-netflix-comedy-special-1413824020|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=October 20, 2014|access-date=April 28, 2016}}{{Cite web| author=Kristin Iversen|title=The People in Your Neighborhood: Wyatt Cenac|url=http://www.bkmag.com/2014/09/02/the-people-in-your-neighborhood-wyatt-cenac|work=Brooklyn Magazine|date=September 2, 2014|access-date=October 6, 2017}} He spent his summers with his maternal grandmother in Crown Heights, Brooklyn in an apartment on President Street.{{Cite news|author=Wyatt Cenac|title=Comedian Wyatt Cenac Drinks Mint Juleps, Is Sorry He Doesn't Eat More Vegetables|url=http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/05/comedia_wyatt_cenac_is_sorry_h.html|work=New York|date=May 13, 2011|access-date=April 28, 2016}}

While in elementary school, he became friends with comic book writer Brian K. Vaughan,{{YouTube|id=oUjsAfjmAnw#at=327}} who also introduced him to comic books. He graduated from the Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas{{Cite news| author=Robert Wilonsky | title=Tonight on The Daily Show, Jesuit Grad Wyatt Cenac Becomes Part of "The Best F*&#ing News Team Ever"|url=http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/06/tonight_jesuit_grad_wyatt_cena.php|work= The Dallas Observer – Unfair Park| date=June 25, 2008|access-date=June 11, 2010}} and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill{{cite web|last1=Maron|first1=Marc|title=WTF Episode 622 Interview with Wyatt Cenac|website=iTunes|date=May 25, 2023 |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast/id329875043?i=347780568&mt=2}} before moving to Los Angeles. As of October 2014, Cenac lives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn,{{Cite news|author=Jim Farber|title=Comic Wyatt Cenac sends up a gentrified Brooklyn in new Netflix special and album|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/comic-wyatt-cenac-stars-brooklyn-netflix-article-1.1974495|work=Daily News|location=New York|date=October 19, 2014|access-date=April 28, 2016}} and previously lived in Prospect Heights during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Cenac is the nephew of the Hon. Mr. Justice Dunbar Cenac, Registry of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. His father was the cousin of former deputy prime minister of Grenada Bernard Coard, who was imprisoned for 25 years following the American invasion of Grenada in October 1983. Cenac's paternal thrice-great-grandfather Cherebin Cenac was an officer from Agen, France, on a French battleship during the Napoleonic Wars who settled in Soufrière, Saint Lucia. Cherebin's youngest child, Francis (1830–1892), later emigrated to Grenada.

Career

File:Wyatt Cenac 2010.jpg

Having previously worked for three years as a writer on King of the Hill, Cenac garnered public attention in The Doomed Planet comedy sketch in which he did an impression of then-senator Barack Obama, discussing possible campaign posters.{{cite video |people=Wyatt Cenac; David Guy Levy |title=Barack Obama: Campaign Posters |url=http://thedoomedplanet.com/view.cfm?id=33&format=youTube |medium=video |format=.swf |publisher=The Doomed Planet |date=January 29, 2007 |access-date=June 11, 2010}}

In June 2008, Cenac was hired as a correspondent and writer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. After making several comedic appearances along with other correspondents, Cenac filed his first field report on July 21, 2008; titled "Baruch Obama," the report discussed Jewish voters' opinions of Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama.{{cite video |people=Wyatt Cenac; Jeremy Ring |title=Baruch Obama |url=http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=177061 |medium=.swf |format=video |publisher=Comedy Central The Daily Show |date=July 21, 2008|access-date=June 11, 2010}} He continued to integrate satirical Black-oriented material in his Daily Show segments, including "Rapper or Republican"{{cite video |people=Wyatt Cenac; Jon Stewart; Jason Jones |title=Rapper or Republican |url=http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=178008 |medium=.swf |format=video |publisher=Comedy Central The Daily Show|date=July 29, 2008 |access-date=June 11, 2010}} until his final Daily Show appearance on December 13, 2012. In a July 2015 appearance on WTF with Marc Maron, Cenac said that his departure from The Daily Show had stemmed in part from a heated argument he had with Jon Stewart over a June 2011 Daily Show bit about Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain.{{cite web|work=Vulture.com|url=http://www.vulture.com/2015/07/jon-stewart-told-wyatt-cenac-to-fck-off.html|title=Jon Stewart Told Wyatt Cenac to 'F*ck Off' When He Was Challenged About Race|first=E. Alex|last=Jung|date=July 23, 2015}}{{cite podcast|url=http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_622_-_wyatt_cenac|title=Episode 622 – Wyatt Cenac|date=July 23, 2015|work=WTF with Marc Maron}} Despite this, he appeared on Stewart's final episode of Daily Show.{{cite web|url=http://www.bustle.com/articles/102768-wyatt-cenac-visits-jon-stewart-on-his-last-daily-show-theyre-good|title=Wyatt Cenac Visits Jon Stewart On His Last 'Daily Show' & They're "Good"|first=Kelsea|last=Stahler|date=August 7, 2015 }}

In October 2009, he worked with rapper Slim Thug on the music video "Still a Boss", a parody of how the recession is affecting the rap community. Cenac costarred in Medicine for Melancholy, an independent drama by Barry Jenkins released in 2008 that includes issues of African American identity and gentrification in San Francisco.{{cite web|author=Pam Grady |title=Medicine for Melancholy |url=http://fest08.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=54 |publisher=San Francisco International Film Festival |year=2007 |access-date=June 11, 2010}}{{cite web|author=A.O. Scott |title=A Short-Term Affair Leads to Big Questions |url=http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/movies/30mela.html |work=The New York Times |year=2009 |access-date=March 22, 2012}} Cenac's other film roles include supporting parts in Sleepwalk with Me and Hits, as well as a lead role in 2016's Jacqueline Argentine and 2017's festival hit, Fits and Starts.

Cenac played the voice of Lenny and Michael Johnson in the Nickelodeon animated series Fanboy & Chum Chum.{{Cite web|title=Full cast and crew for Fanboy & Chum Chum (2009) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1299440/fullcredits#cast |work=The Internet Movie Database|year=2010|access-date=June 11, 2010}} Cenac guest-starred on the MC Frontalot album Solved. Cenac's first hour-long comedy special, Comedy Person, premiered May 14, 2011, on Comedy Central.{{Cite news|url=http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2011/may/25/wyatt-cenacs-stand-up-special-comes-to-comedy/|title=Wyatt Cenac's stand-up special comes to Comedy Central|access-date=24 June 2018}}

In October 2014, Netflix released Cenac's second comedy special, Wyatt Cenac: Brooklyn.{{cite web|author=Vikram Murthi |title=Wyatt Cenac's sophomore special intimately explores a thoughtful mind |url=http://www.avclub.com/review/wyatt-cenacs-sophomore-special-intimately-explores-210255 |publisher=theavclub |year=2014 |access-date=November 7, 2014}} This album was nominated at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album.{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/wyatt-cenac|title=Wyatt Cenac|date=May 22, 2018|publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences}} In 2014, he guest-starred in an episode of the Netflix series BoJack Horseman. The following year, he appeared in a filmed segment with fellow comedians Rachel Feinstein and Alex Karpovsky on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.{{cite news|last1=Friedman|first1=Megan|title=John Oliver Has Some Non-Creepy New Catchphrases for Bud Light|url=http://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/news/a28170/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-bud-light/|access-date=May 11, 2015|work=Elle|date=May 4, 2015}} Cenac co-hosted four episodes of The Bugle podcast with Andy Zaltzman in 2016; Zaltzman previously hosted alongside Oliver.{{Cite web|url=http://feeds.thebuglepodcast.com/thebuglefeed|title=The Bugle|website=feeds.thebuglepodcast.com|access-date=25 June 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/comedy/radiotopia-presents-bugle/|title=Radiotopia presents The Bugle • Kings Place|work=Kings Place|access-date=25 June 2018}}

Cenac released his third stand up album Furry Dumb Fighter in 2016 both digitally and on vinyl.{{cite web|url=http://astrecords.bigcartel.com/product/wyatt-cenac-furry-dumb-fighter-2xlp-vinyl|title=Wyatt Cenac – Furry Dumb Fighter – 2xLP vinyl / ASPECIALTHING RECORDS|first=ASPECIALTHING|last=RECORDS|website=astrecords.bigcartel.com}} It was recorded in Madison, WI.{{cite web|url=https://www.wyattcenac.com/comedy-stuffs/|title=Comedy Stuffs|website=Wyatt Cenac}} Cenac reports that the album title is meant to sound like "freedom fighter."{{cite web | title = Just for Laughs: Wyatt Cenac takes his comedy to another level | url = https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/arts/just-for-laughs-wyatt-cenac-takes-his-comedy-to-another-level | last = Brownstein | first = Bill | website = Montreal Gazette | date = 16 July 2015}} The same year he starred in TBS sitcom People of Earth. Cenac played the lead role of Ozzie Graham, a journalist writing about a support group for self-professed alien abductees. The show was cancelled after two seasons.{{cite web|url= http://tvline.com/2018/06/09/people-of-earth-cancelled-no-season-3-tbs/|title=People of Earth Cancelled at TBS, Reversing Season 3 Renewal|website=TVLine|author=Ryan Schwartz|date=June 9, 2018}} In 2017 Cenac released a web-series titled aka Wyatt Cenac{{cite web|url=https://www.topic.com/aka-wyatt-cenac|title=aka Wyatt Cenac|website=topic.com}} about his life as a crime-fighting vigilante in a gentrifying Brooklyn. Cenac's HBO docuseries, Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas, premiered in April 2018.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/john-oliver-wyatt-cenac-hbo-1202591102/|title=Wyatt Cenac to Star in HBO Late-Night Docuseries From Executive Producer John Oliver|first=Joe|last=Otterson|date=October 16, 2017|website=Variety}} A second season began broadcasting on April 5, 2019. On June 7 of that year, the series was cancelled.{{cite web|title='Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas' Canceled by HBO After 2 Seasons|url=https://www.thewrap.com/problem-areas-canceled-2-seasons-host-wyatt-cenac-says/|work=TheWrap|date=June 7, 2019}}

In August 2021, he signed a deal with Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros. Animation.{{Cite web|last=Schneider|first=Michael|date=2021-08-16|title=Comedian Wyatt Cenac Signs Overall Deal with Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/wyatt-cenac-warner-bros-animation-cartoon-network-studios-deal-1235042298/|access-date=2021-08-17|website=Variety|language=en-US}}

Filmography

=Film=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes
2006 \|Grounds Zero \|Bad Tipper \|Short film
2006 \|The Great Sketch Experiment \|Prisoner \|Sketch: "So You Want to Be a Cop"
2008 \|Medicine for Melancholy \|Micah \|
2008 \|Dating Catwoman \|Catwoman's Boyfriend \|Short film
2012 \|Sleepwalk with Me \|Chris \|
2014 \|Hits \|Babatunde \|
2014 \|Growing Up and Other Lies \|Gunderson \|
2016 \|Jacqueline Argentine \|Director \|
2017 \|Fits and Starts \|David \|
2017 \|I Do... Until I Don't \|Zander \|
2020 \|It Started As a Joke \|self \|Documentary

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

2006

|Grounds Zero

|Bad Tipper

|Short film

2006

|The Great Sketch Experiment

|Prisoner

|Sketch: "So You Want to Be a Cop"

2008

|Medicine for Melancholy

|Micah

2008

|Dating Catwoman

|Catwoman's Boyfriend

|Short film

2012

|Sleepwalk with Me

|Chris

2014

|Hits

|Babatunde

2014

|Growing Up and Other Lies

|Gunderson

2016

|Jacqueline Argentine

|Director

2017

|Fits and Starts

|David

2017

|I Do... Until I Don't

|Zander

2020

|It Started As a Joke

|self

|Documentary

=Television=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes
2004–2008 \|King of the Hill \|Guard/Cameraman/Dr. Stephens/Football Announcer/Tough-Looking Guy \|Wrote two episodes
2007 \|Yacht Rock \|James Ingram \|Episode: "Footloose"
2008–2012 \|The Daily Show \|Himself/Various \|Wrote 570 episodes
2009–2014 \|Fanboy & Chum Chum \|Lenny/Various \|24 episodes
2010 \|Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear \| \|TV special; writer
2011 \|Wyatt Cenac: Comedy Person \|Himself \|Stand-up special; also writer, executive producer
2013 \|The Venture Bros. \|Tommy/Mr. Blunder \|Episode: "What Color Is Your Cleansuit?"
2013 \|The Eric André Show \|Black Scientologist \|Episode: "Chance the Rapper, Mel B. "
2014 \|TripTank \|Bin Laden/Dick \|
2014 \|Maron \|Himself \|Episode: "Boomer Lives"
2014 \|Wyatt Cenac: Brooklyn \|Himself \|Stand-up special; also writer, director, executive producer
2014 \|BoJack Horseman \|Wayne (voice) \|Two episodes
2015 \|Inside Amy Schumer \|Guy Friend No. 1 \|Episode: "I'm Sorry"
2016–2017 \|People of Earth \|Ozzie Graham \|20 episodes
2016 \|Night Train with Wyatt Cenac \|Himself \|6 episodes
2017 \|Archer \|Cliff \|2 episodes
2017 \|Bob's Burgers \|Cool Nick \|1 episode
2017 \|aka Wyatt Cenac \|Himself \|10 episodes web series
2018–2019 \|Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas \|Himself \|20 episodes
2021 \|The Great North \|Colton the Croonin' Cod / Deppy / Dr. Gary \|3 episodes

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

2004–2008

|King of the Hill

|Guard/Cameraman/Dr. Stephens/Football Announcer/Tough-Looking Guy

|Wrote two episodes

2007

|Yacht Rock

|James Ingram