Nick Mullen

Nicholas James Mullen (born December 13, 1988) is an American stand-up comedian and podcaster. Active since 2005, he is best known as the creator and co-host of the comedy podcast Cum Town (2016–2022) and its successor, The Adam Friedland Show. He released his first comedy special, The Year of the Dragon, in December 2023. His comedy often focuses on internet culture and is ironic, observational, and self-deprecating.

Career Originally from Gaithersburg, Maryland, he began performing in the Washington–Baltimore Metropolitan Area as a teenager, often at Wiseacres Comedy Club in Virginia. During his early twenties, he was based out of Austin, Texas (and briefly Los Angeles).

A nationally touring stand-up, he was an opener for acts including Dana Gould, Jim Norton, Patrice O'Neal, and Hannibal Buress. That same year, he was named one of the New Faces Unrepped by Montreal's Just for Laughs festival. Other festivals include the 2014 Bentzen Ball in Washington, D.C.

From 2013 to 2015, he wrote a blog under the heteronym Nicole Mullen on Thought Catalog. He also had a prank call podcast called Help Me, I'm Old.

In the mid-2010s, Mullen moved to New York City. During the late 2010s, he was a recurring guest on the Real Ass Podcast, Race Wars (hosted by Kurt Metzger and Sherrod Small), and Legion of Skanks. At this time, his writing credits included Comedy Knockout on TruTV (premiered 2016), Make Me Understand with Jim Norton (2016 IFC television pilot), and 2017's Problematic with Moshe Kasher (Comedy Central).

In 2016, Mullen created the comedy podcast Cum Town, which he co-hosted with fellow comedians Adam Friedland and Stavros Halkias. The show ran through 2022, ending after the departure of Halkias, and earned a cult following that continues to grow.

Subsequently, Mullen and Friedland started a new venture, The Adam Friedland Show. The show began as a podcast co-hosted by Mullen and Friedland, releasing the first episode in June 2022, ahead of the roll-out as long-form comedic talk show in October 2022. The podcast continued to serve as a companion series until its conclusion 2025, Mullen served as the primary producer of the talk show's first season which ran for twenty episodes through December 2024. Mullen departed the show in January 2025, citing new interests and burnout and continues to be credited as a creator and executive producer.

His stand-up special, Nick Mullen: The Year of the Dragon, was released on December 3, 2023, reaching one million views after its first week of release.

Since 2025, Mullen has focused on work as a stand-up comedian, gravitating toward live comedy as opposed to produced content. He tours nationally and occasionally appears as a guest on comedy podcasts. As a comedy writer, he contributed to 2026's The Roast of Kevin Hart (Netflix), among other projects.

Personal life Mullen lives in Brooklyn, New York. He previously lived in Manhattan's Chinatown; some of his comedic anecdotes draw from his experience living there in a windowless tenement.

Political beliefs Mullen has been a vocal supporter of many social democratic political positions on podcasts and interviews throughout his career, including universal health care. In his 2023 stand-up special, Nick Mullen: The Year of the Dragon, he stated, "I believe that health care is a human right. I think everybody should have it: free, easy access." Mullen stated in 2024 on an episode of The Adam Friedland Show Podcast that "I'm not a communist, I want to make that clear." While being pressed by colleague Ari Shaffir on his politics, he clarified, "If you really had to put me in a box, I'm nothing more than just a run-of-the-mill social democrat."

In 2025, Mullen appeared in an Instagram video with Zohran Mamdani to promote the latter's successful campaign in the 2025 New York City Democratic mayoral primary.

Works

Comedy specials

The Year of the Dragon (2023)

Podcasts

Cum Town (2016–2022) The Adam Friedland Show Podcast (2022–2025)

As writer and producer