Greg Proops
| Greg Proops | |
|---|---|
 Official headshot of Proops | |
| Pseudonym | The Proopster |
| Birth name | Gregory Everett Proops |
| Born | October 3, 1959[1] Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Genres | Improvisational comedy, Observational comedy |
| Spouse | Jennifer Canaga (February 14, 1990–present) |
| Notable works and roles | Whose Line Is It Anyway? Whose Line Is It Anyway? (U.S. TV series) Bob the Builder True Jackson, VP Mock the Week |
| Website | http://www.gregproops.com |
Gregory Everett "Greg" Proops (born October 3, 1959)[1] is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his work as an improvisational comedian on the UK and U.S. versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?. He also performed on Drew Carey's Green Screen Show and played Max Madigan on the Nickelodeon sitcom True Jackson, VP.[2][3]
Early life
Proops was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and raised in San Carlos, California, a suburb south of San Francisco, attending San Carlos High School.[4][5] He attended the College of San Mateo and spearheaded the comedy duo "Proops & Brakeman". Later, he took courses in improvisation and acting at San Francisco State University though he never finished college.[6]
Career
Improv comedy
After college, he joined an improv group with Mike McShane. Both Proops and McShane impressed producers Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson, who put them on their show, Whose Line Is It Anyway?. He frequently instigated jokes and running gags concerning various idiosyncrasies and differences between British English and American English (e.g. "lift" vs. "elevator"), and would frequently banter with Clive Anderson on these matters (among others). He lived in London for four years when he was doing the show and lists McShane and Colin Mochrie as among his best friends.
Proops also appeared in every episode of the short-lived Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, where the performers would play improv games (some of which were taken from the show's main influence Whose Line Is It Anyway?) in front of a massive green screen. Later animators would draw on the background and other props.
In April 2011, a new series Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza premiered on GSN featuring Greg along with others from Whose Line is it Anyway?.
In November 2011, Greg did a week on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas with the Lewis Black Comedy Cruise Tour. He performed the entire week of stand-up with other artists, which included a live, one-hour podcast in front of his entire audience.
In July 2012, Greg also started appearing in the new improvisation show on ABC called "Trust Us With Your Life". He will appear in several of the show's episodes in season 1.
Film and television
Proops has performed his stand-up act across Britain, mainland Europe, Australia and New Zealand. However, he remains best known for appearances on both the US and UK versions of Whose Line is it Anyway?. His other credits include hosting Space Cadets, a mid-1990s science-fiction comedy game show on Channel 4 in the UK, which also featured Craig Charles (Dave Lister from Red Dwarf) and Bill Bailey, and appearances on BBC2's Mock the Week. He appeared as a panelist on the 2000 revival of To Tell the Truth. Proops also hosted two game shows: VS. in 1999 and Rendez-View in 2001. He was on Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn on a recurring basis. In 2004 he appeared on Drew Carey's Green Screen Show.[7] He is also a panelist on Chelsea Lately.
In addition to his stand-up and improv acts, Proops has done voice work in various films and TV shows, including the miniseries Stripperella with Pamela Anderson, and in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas alongside co-star Catherine O'Hara. He also provided the voice for the Fode, the Galactic Basic speaking half of the two-headed Pod-Race announcer in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, with Scott Capurro providing the voice for the other, Huttese-speaking half, Beed. Proops provided the voice of Bob in the TV series Bob the Builder for the four seasons of Project Build-It. He has also featured in 2003 film Brother Bear as the voice of one of the Love Bears and also provided the voice as Cryptograf in 2006 film Asterix and the Vikings.
Proops appeared as an extra in the music video for the 1987 song "Into the Night" by Frehley's Comet.
Proops also voiced the film director Quentin Hitchberg in one episode of Dennis and Gnasher.
In 2007 he started his own web show, The Greg Proops Experiment, on online humour site Super Deluxe, which consists of Proops ranting about current events.
In 2008, he was in Cyxork 7.[8]
On 28 August 2008, Greg returned to his UK improvisation roots as he guest starred on Mock the Week having first appeared as a guest in 2006. He was one of the two guest stars for that week along with Scottish comedian Fred MacAulay.
Proops has a recurring role on Nickelodeon's True Jackson, VP. He plays Max Madigan, Mad Style's CEO.
Greg appeared on "A Good Opportunity", the season premiere of the second season of the HBO sitcom Flight of the Conchords.
He is a frequent guest on Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld which airs on the Fox News Channel at 3 AM EST. He joins the show via satellite. Greg is also a frequent guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He also plays Ben, Illeana Douglas’ agent on her webshow Easy to Assemble.[9][10]
He hosted a show named Head Games, a Science Channel game show which debuted on Oct. 17th, 2009. As host, he showed clips of somewhat wacky science experiments and asked the contestants to guess the outcome.
Since October, 2010 Greg started hosting an online TV news show called "Odd News" on Yahoo!, where he reports, in less than 4 minutes, odd but real world news in a commentary, satiric style.
Star Wars
Greg has been involved with the Star Wars franchise as well. He played the role of Fode in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. He would later work with the Expanded Universe, reprising his role as Fode in the video game Star Wars Episode I: Racer and the video game adaptation of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and he guest-starred on two episodes of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars ("The Mandalore Plot" and "Voyage of Temptation") as Tal Merrick. When Greg was in Whose Line Is It Anyway? he occasionally used one of Fode's lines, "I don't care what universe you're from, that's gotta hurt."
Radio/Podcast
Proops hosts a bi-weekly radio program, and a nightclub-atmosphere talk show at the Largo in Hollywood, and played the title role in BBC Radio 4's sci-fi comedy series Seymour the Fractal Cat.
He was a frequent guest on Marc Maron's radio show, The Marc Maron Show.
He presented Bits from Last Week's Radio on BBC Radio 1 from Jan 1995-July 1996.
He did voice work for the BBC Radio 2 series Flight of the Conchords, first broadcast in September 2005.
Greg Proops was also part of the cast for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack and movie back in 1993. His name is listed under "Cast" in the original version of the soundtrack's booklet. He provided the vocal work for the Harlequin Demon, the Devil, and the Sax Player.
Greg currently hosts a podcast, The Smartest Man In The World,[11] in which he talks about current events, celebrity culture, Satchel Paige and his personal life in front of a live audience.
Video games
Proops provides voice-over work as Howard “Buckshot” Holmes, a game show announcer along with John DiMaggio for the Nintendo Wii game, MadWorld. Both Dimaggio and Proops play as comical announcers on a brutal game show set in the future. Proops also provided the voice of Fargus, a pyromantic court jester for the PlayStation Pandemonium game series.
Comedy albums
- Back in the UK (1997)
- Houston, We Have a Problem (2007)
- Joke Book (2007)
- Elsewhere (2009)
- Greg Proops Digs In! (2010)
Personal life
Proops married artist Jennifer Canaga on Valentine's Day in 1990. He resides with her in Los Angeles and London. They have no children. According to an interview featuring Proops, he decided he didn't want any kids when he was twenty-three. He does, however, have nieces and nephews, and he became an uncle when he was eight.
For several years, Greg upheld the idea that he owned an ocelot. However, on March 25, 2009, in a written interview, he stated that he doesn't actually own one:
"Oh, I say I have an ocelot and it’s a joke, but I’ve had so many news programs in this country say, 'So what’s it like, having an ocelot?” And I’ll say, “It’s marvelous just to see them run free. When feeding time comes and they’re mewling, it just warms your heart.' People will really believe anything. You may have noticed this. It’s not just me. Look around."[12]
References
- ^ a b "Greg Proops Biography (1959-)". Filmreference.com. 1959-10-03. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
- ^ "greg proops :: actor, standup comedian, voice talent, writer, improv artist". gregproops.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
- ^ McNamara, Mary (2008-11-08). "True Jackson, VP". The LA Times. Archived from the original on 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
- ^ The Adam Carolla Show (podcast), 2011-08-03 show with Greg Proops, 59 minute mark
- ^ Proops, Greg. "Guest Column By Greg Proops: The Quest to Underachieve". Saturday Night Magazine (U.S.). Retrieved 5 August 2011.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0698681/
- ^ "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show". Whose-line.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
- ^ "IMDB Cyxork 7". IMDB. 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
- ^ "EpisodeGuide: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson". EpisodeGuide.com and TV Guide.com. 2009-04-12. Archived from the original on 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
- ^ "IMDB Easy to Assemble". IMDB. 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
- ^ "The Smartest Man in the World podcast".
- ^ Wolinsky, David (2009-03-25). "Greg Proops dispels 4 Greg Proops misconceptions". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
External links
- 1959 births
- Living people
- American game show hosts
- American stand-up comedians
- American television actors
- American voice actors
- American video game actors
- Actors from Arizona
- Actors from California
- People from Phoenix, Arizona
- People from San Carlos, California
- People from San Francisco, California
- San Francisco State University alumni
- American podcasters