Christopher Titus
Christopher Titus | |
|---|---|
| File:Titus.JPG | |
| Born | October 1, 1964 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Comedian, Actor |
| Spouse | Erin Carden (April 17, 1991-June 6, 2006) |
| Children | Kennie Marie Titus (August 25, 2001) Jett Evan Titus (May 8, 2004) |
| Website | http://www.christophertitus.com |
Christopher Todd Titus (born October 1, 1964, in Castro Valley, California) is an Emmy Award nominated American comedian and actor. He grew up in Newark, California. Titus came to national attention with the eponymous FOX show Titus. He is also a stand-up comedian whose act revolves around his dysfunctional family and shocking life experiences.
Early life
Titus was born in Castro Valley, California to Ken Titus and Juanita C. Holmes. Christopher's parents divorced when he was a young child, and he was raised largely by his father, Ken, a judgmental, chain-smoking, hard drinker who was married six times and divorced five times. His mother, Juanita, suffered from schizophrenia and spent time in and out of mental hospitals. At four he was taken away from his father and given to his grandparents on his mother's side. His father went to kidnap him back and told the local district attorney of his plans without knowing. Rather than arrest him, the attorney gave him legal tactics he could use to get his son back which he used and eventually regained custody of Christopher. When he was 12 he ran away from his father to live with his mother, during which he lived in her garage but he shortly moved back with his father. According to Titus in Norman Rockwell is Bleeding, Juanita was acquitted in 1986 after murdering her second husband who beat her up during Thanksgiving dinner, and committed suicide in 1994 after marrying another abusive man and being sent to therapy for hurling a Duraflame log through the window of a Missouri sheriff's office. This resulted in Titus having a nervous breakdown on his flight a week after her funeral. His father, Ken Titus, died in 2001 of cardiac arrest. Christopher dedicated his entire "Norman Rockwell is Bleeding" special and an episode of his show Titus ("The Pendulum," where Christopher is in a coma following a racecar crash and Ken [played by Stacy Keach] narrates the episode in Christopher's Neutral Space) to his late father.
Titus had problems with alcohol and drugs during adolescence until one day, while intoxicated, he fell into a bonfire at a beach party. In the morning, his friends took him to the hospital, where the doctor told him he would have died if he had inhaled the deadly hot smoke inside of the bonfire. He calls this moment his "epiphany" and began to turn his life around and get into comedy.[1]
He has a younger stepbrother named Dave Scouville.
Comedy
Titus jokes about darkly comedic oddities such as custody battles, mental illness, family suicides, heart attacks, domestic abuse, and the relationship with his judgmental, often cruel father. "I think our collective psychosis is hilarious. With the world moving as fast as it is, if we weren't dysfunctional, we couldn't function," says Titus. He follows an edgy, confrontational format.
Norman Rockwell is Bleeding
After years of experimentation with dark and personal storytelling, he debuted his one-man show "Norman Rockwell is Bleeding" at the Hudson Theater in Los Angeles in 2004. The performance was well received. Already a standout at the 1996, 1997 and 1999 Montreal Just for Laughs Festival, in 2000 Christopher brought his act to the Festival for a sold-out run at the prestigious Centaur Theatre. Norman Rockwell is Bleeding talks mainly about his life as a child, his parents, and his relationships. Titus is the rare comic who seems to write a new 90 minute show every 18 to 24 months. He got this work ethic from his father and George Carlin who called most current working comics "Pussies, for doing the same act for ten years."
Norman Rockwell is Bleeding was released on CD on July 22, 2008 and then DVD in November 2010.
The Fifth Annual End of the World Tour
His special, "The 5th Annual End of the World Tour", premiered on Comedy Central on Sunday, March 18, 2007 at 10:00pm EDT and was later released as a 2-Disc Cd set by Comedy Central Records. In this special Titus talked about life in America since 9/11, becoming a parent, and scandals that had had recent high press coverage.
Love is Evol
Love is Evol deals with his divorce from Erin (renamed "Kate" in the special for legal reasons) and the toll that abusive relationships take on people, among other things. In it, he talks about how his marriage to Erin fell apart, the ensuing divorce, his analyzing of relationships, meeting his new girlfriend's family, and dating again for the first time in twenty years. It was recorded in October 2008 for Comedy Central and aired on February 14, 2009.
Neverlution
Titus' current stand up act is called Neverlution.[2] He debuted it at the Montreal Comedy festival in 2010 to standing ovations. In it, Titus talks about bringing the country back to its former glory, the new generation, and politics. It is expected to air in 2011.
Television
Titus' stand-up television appearances include The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Comedy Central's Premium Blend. He has also hosted Fox's Good Day Live, VH1's Dashboard Dreams and Comedy Central's USO Comedy Tour.
His television guest appearances include UPN's Twilight Zone, CBS's Yes, Dear, Fox's 21 Jump Street, as Damon in Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction (1998 "Mysterious Animals"), NBC's Jenny, and ABC's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. His film credits include co-starring roles in Crash Dive, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, Scar and Remarkable Power.
He has been a frequent guest on The Tonight Show, Politically Incorrect and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Titus was the star, executive producer and co-creator of the Fox sitcom Titus, a dark comedy based on Norman Rockwell is Bleeding, which ran from 2000-2002. Time called Titus "brutal, hilarious and audacious," while Newsday called him "TV's most original comic voice since Seinfeld."
Titus received a Writer's Guild nomination for his work on Titus, and the show received an Emmy nomination.
In 2004, "Norman Rockwell is Bleeding" became his first televised special, premiering on Showtime.
After Titus was cancelled, Titus starred in a futuristic one-hour pilot for NBC called Future Tense. The series was not picked up by NBC. He has had writing/producing deals with NBC, Sony, and Showtime. He recently shot Special Unit, a pilot he created for Comedy Central. Titus described the show as The Shield, with midgets and handicapped actors.
Titus appeared on the show Big Shots, which premiered on ABC September 27, 2007. The filming was interrupted by the 2007-2008 Writers' Guild of America strike and has since been canceled.
Personal life
Titus married his wife Erin Carden on April 17, 1991.[3] Their daughter, Kennie Marie Titus (named after his late father Ken) was born August 25, 2001. Three years later their son Jett Evan Titus was born on May 8, 2004. Titus filed for divorce on June 6, 2006, because of her affairs with two other men.[4]
Titus shares custody of his two children with his ex-wife though has stated that the divorce has been "messy."[5] Titus currently lives with his girlfriend of the last 5 years, Rachel Bradley, in California.
Titus is also the founder of The Insight Youth Project, a non-profit organization that raises money for children from dysfunctional and abusive families.
Discography
- Norman Rockwell is Bleeding (2004) Comedy Central Records
- The Fifth Annual End of The World Tour (2006) Comedy Central Records
- Love Is Evol (2009) Comedy Central Records
References
- ^ Loveline, April 21, 2003
- ^ http://www.christophertitus.com
- ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/18/Christopher-Titus.html
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0864541/bio
- ^ KSAN (FM), February 6th, 2009
External links
