Paul F. Tompkins

Paul Francis Tompkins (born September 12, 1968) later renamed Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins.

He has numerous appearances on podcasts, including his 200-plus appearances on Comedy Bang! Bang! He has been the host of the Fusion Channel talk show No, You Shut Up!, The Dead Authors Podcast, the online Made Man interview series Speakeasy with Paul F. Tompkins, the Earwolf podcast Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins, and The Pod F. Tompkast, which was ranked #1 by Rolling Stone on their list of "The 10 Best Comedy Podcasts of the Moment" in 2011. He is a main cast member of the Superego podcast and was a regular player on Thrilling Adventure Hour podcast, which ended in 2015. He is hosting the podcasts Threedom and The Neighborhood Listen as well as the independent podcast Stay F. Homekins.

Tompkins voiced Mr. Peanutbutter, an anthropomorphic yellow , on the Netflix animated series BoJack Horseman from 2014 to 2020. He has appeared in drama films like There Will Be Blood and The Informant!. In 2021, he had a recurring role on the sitcom Rutherford Falls.

In December 2014, Paste named his Twitter one of "The 75 Best Twitter Accounts of 2014", ranking it at #70.

Early life and education Tompkins was born on September 12, 1968, in Philadelphia. He is the fifth of six children. He attended Bishop McDevitt High School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania.

Career Early work In 1986, Tompkins first performed comedy at 17 years of age at The Comedy Works in Philadelphia (a club now located in Bristol, Pennsylvania), where he performed as half of a sketch comedy duo with Rick Roman. Tompkins attended Temple University; he dropped out and left for Los Angeles, California, in 1994.

Tompkins met actor Jay Johnston in L.A. through their mutual friend, actor and director Adam McKay. McKay and Tompkins had become friends in Philadelphia, where they had both started to perform stand-up at around the same time. McKay later moved to Chicago and met Johnston; Johnston moved to L.A. at around the same time as Tompkins and McKay introduced the two. His shows often consist of extended riffs and long anecdotes.

Tompkins is known for his style of dress during his live comedic performances, always performing in suit and tie, his look has been described by some in the press as "dapper". Tompkins has described his look as "foppish" and "just this side of Cedric the Entertainer." His show has featured such guests as Fiona Apple, Jack Black, Dave Foley, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Aimee Mann, and Weird Al Yankovic. The show began podcasting in January 2011; in October of that same year the show's podcasts moved to the Nerdist Industries podcast network created by Chris Hardwick. Tompkins is a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCB) Los Angeles. His comedy album Impersonal was recorded live at the UCB Theatre. He also performs monthly at the "Dead Authors" show at UCB Theatre in support of the nonprofit organization 826LA; Tompkins plays the role of H.G. Wells who serves as the host of the show. and prefers to perform in independent venues, rather than conventional comedy clubs. Starting in 2009 he embarked on his "Tompkins 300" tour. Tompkins had been preparing for his one-hour Comedy Central special You Should Have Told Me at the Laughing Skull Lounge theatre in Atlanta, Georgia—a small theatre that seats about 74 people. In order to fill the seats for the recording of his special, Tompkins required about 280 people in the audience over the course of four nights for the recording of his show. Tompkins decided to announce on Twitter that he needed 300 people to fill the seats each night. Facebook groups were subsequently started in other North American cities In 2011 he said that the Facebook 300 groups had become his main method of booking comedy shows. He also appeared in the RiffTrax live broadcast of House on Haunted Hill.

Acting and writing Tompkins wrote for and performed on Mr. Show with Bob and David from 1995 to 1998; the show's writers, including Tompkins, were nominated for an Emmy Award in 1998 for "Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program".

Tompkins has appeared on television programs including NewsRadio, Frasier, Weeds, The Sarah Silverman Program, Pushing Daisies, Community, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Tompkins has expressed in interviews that he dislikes writing (particularly writing for others), preferring instead to perform in front of a camera.

Tompkins later appeared in an episode during the show's 7th season. He was also the voice of one of the thugs in Walt Disney Animation Studios' 2010 animated film Tangled. Tompkins was the voice of Benton Criswell, a character in MTV series Super Adventure Team which featured marionettes in the style of the 1960s British series Thunderbirds; the role was credited under the stage name Francis Mt. Pleasant. He was the voice of a puppet in ads for the Ford Focus.

Tompkins played Mr. Peanutbutter in the 2014 Netflix original animated series BoJack Horseman. Tompkins voices the recurring character, Gladstone Gander, in the reboot series of DuckTales. In 2020, he voiced Dr. Migleemo, a therapist aboard the USS Cerritos in the CBS All Access animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Political and social commentary Tompkins has appeared on several television programs devoted to discussing politics, popular culture, and current events; however, he says he does not consider himself to be a political comic.

Tompkins was a contributor to the "Us People's Weekly Entertainment" segment of The Daily Show in 1998. in 2008, the show was retooled and relaunched as Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins with Tompkins as host. and took part in a panel on Larry King Live in an episode titled "Politics & Humor".

Tompkins has appeared in documentaries such as Jamie Kennedy's Heckler (2007) and Doug Benson's Super High Me (2007). He also appeared in The Bitter Buddha (2013), a documentary about the career of actor and comedian Eddie Pepitone.

Tompkins later became the host of a discussion show called No, You Shut Up! by The Jim Henson Company under its Henson Alternative banner.

Podcasts, webcasts and radio In 2010, Tompkins launched his podcast called The Pod F. Tompkast. The podcast was a mixture of Tompkins discussing various topics, clips from his live show at Largo, and segments where Tompkins voices a variety of celebrities speaking with one another. Comedian Jen Kirkman was a regular contributor on the show.

In May 2012, Tompkins started a weekly web series called Speakeasy. Hosted by the Break Media site MadeMan.com, the series features Tompkins interviewing various guests in the entertainment industry, such as Ty Burrell, Nathan Fillion, Zach Galifianakis, Chris Hardwick, Oscar Nunez, Weird Al Yankovic, and Alison Brie. The interviews are conducted as casual conversations between Tompkins and his guests over cocktails at various bars in the L.A. area. The show's format mixes conversation between the host and guests, and usually includes improv games. Some guests play characters or impersonate certain celebrities, usually for the entirety of the episode; Paul F. Tompkins has impersonated celebrities such as rapper Ice-T, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Buddy Valastro from the reality television series Cake Boss (cakeboss.). Tompkins has also been a regular guest on the radio show and podcast The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Scharpling. The first season ran for 41 episodes throughout the rest of 2020, and season two started in January 2021.

Personal life Tompkins is married to actress Janie Haddad Tompkins, who is best known for voicing the red anthropomorphic cardinal Margaret on Regular Show.

In 2017, Tompkins stated on Twitter that he was once a Catholic, but later went on to become an atheist.

He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and helped canvass for Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martinez during the 2022 Los Angeles elections.

Filmography Film

Television

Discography 2007 – Impersonal (CD; released on Aspecialthing Records) 2007 – Comedy Death-Ray (Compilation released on Comedy Central Records) 2009 – Freak Wharf (CD) (Released on Aspecialthing Records) 2010 – Sir, You Have Fooled Me Twice (EP; released on Aspecialthing Records) 2010 – You Should Have Told Me (DVD; released on Aspecialthing Records) 2012 – Laboring Under Delusions (DVD; released on Comedy Central Records) 2012 – Laboring Under Delusions: Live in Brooklyn (CD; released on Aspecialthing Records) 2021 – Crying and Driving (DVD and CD; released on Aspecialthing Records)

Podcast and radio appearances Tompkins is known for his many podcast appearances, as well as hosting a few of his own. He is often referred to as the mayor of podcasts.