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Andrew Wantuck

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Andrew Wantuck
Andrew Wantuck holding the Fed Ex trophy at the 2023 American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe.
NBC Sports 2022
Birth nameAndrew Scott Wantuck
Born (1979-11-18) November 18, 1979 (age 44)
Newark, New York, U.S.
Medium
EducationArizona State University
Years active2002–present
Genres
Websitegopherproductions.com

Andrew Wantuck is an American showrunner, producer, director, and president of Gopher Productions. He is best known for his work with NBC Sports, Golf Channel, and Comedy Central. He has been a producer on notable shows such as Tosh.0 (2010–2017), The Jim Jefferies Show (2017–2020), The Conor Moore Show[1] (2020–2023), Golf Road Trippin’ with James Davis[2] and Better Off with Hally Leadbetter.[3] (2023–2024)

Early life and education

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Andrew Wantuck was born in Newark, New York, and grew up in Farmington Hills, Michigan, after his family relocated there during elementary school. Wantuck attended North Farmington High School and later pursued his higher education at Arizona State University (ASU). He graduated from the WP Carey School of Business. During his time at ASU, Wantuck attempted to walk-on to the Arizona State Sun Devils men's golf team, was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and was actively involved in improv and sketch comedy. He was a member and director of Barren Mind Improv and The Farce Side Comedy Hour. Wantuck and his fellow performers, including Jessica Makinson, Nic Wegener, and Ithamar Enriquez, received support from ASU to participate in the 1999 Chicago Improv Festival hosted by Charna Halpern, where they studied under Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizen's Brigade. Notable alumni of ASU's The Farce Side Comedy Hour include David Spade,[4] Jonathan Kimmel,[5] and Jimmy Kimmel.[6]

Career

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Andrew Wantuck's career in the entertainment industry began as the director of marketing at The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, California. He also contributed to the Easy Reader newspaper, where he published a weekly column called "Comedy Corner," featuring interviews with prominent comedians such as George Carlin, Mort Sahl,[7] Gabriel Iglesias,[8] Kathleen Madigan,[9] Ray Romano,[10] Ian Bagg,[11] Sebastian Maniscalco,[12] Joe Rogan, Jo Koy,[13] and Tom Segura.[14]

In 2010, Wantuck started working as a producer for Viacom on the Comedy Central show Tosh.0, where he spent seven years. Following that, he served as a co-executive producer for three seasons on The Jim Jefferies Show on Comedy Central. In 2020, Wantuck became a showrunner for NBC Sports, Golf Channel, and GolfPass. Through his production company, Gopher Productions and VP of Content, Fran Solomita, they created and produced shows with GolfPass. These include The Conor Moore Show, Road Trippin’ with James Davis, and On Tour On Course featuring Jim Jefferies, Brian Regan, and Ron White. In 2023, Wantuck created and produced Better Off with Hally Leadbetter, for NBC's GolfPass. The show gained immediate attention with its sketch The All Female Country Club, which went viral on multiple social platforms.[15]

Super Bowl Commercial

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Scott Zabielski, along with Andrew Wantuck, produced "Middle Seat" for the 2015 Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest. The spot starring David Hoffman and Michelle LaRue was produced for ~$2,000[16] and wound up winning the one million grand prize. "Middle Seat" is considered one of the top 20 best Super Bowl commercials of all time by The Sporting News[17] and the number one 30-second spot in 2015 by USA Today's Ad Meter.[18]

Personal life

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As of 2022, Andrew Wantuck is married, has two children, a rescue dog and currently resides in Sherman Oaks, California. Wantuck supports Big Brothers Big Sisters of Big Sky, Montana by booking the comedy show at their annual charity event.[19] He also supports the Mary Angela DiGiovanni Disaster Preparedness Fund through The University of Michigan.

Television credits

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Year Show Network Title
2010–2017 Tosh.0 Comedy Central Producer
2017–2020 The Jim Jefferies Show Comedy Central Co-Executive Producer
2020–2023 The Conor Moore Show Golf Channel / GolfPass Executive Producer / Showrunner
2021 Golf Road Trippin with James Davis Peacock / GolfPass Executive Producer / Showrunner
2022–2023 On Tour On Course GolfPass Executive Producer / Showrunner
2023–2024 Better Off with Hally Leadbetter Peacock / GolfPass Executive Producer / Showrunner

References

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  1. ^ NBC Sports/GolfPass hires Gopher Productions to produce The Conor Moore Show. https://www.golfpass.com/watch/the-conor-moore-show
  2. ^ NBC Sports/GolfPass hires Gopher Productions to produce Golf Road Trippin' with James Davis. https://www.golfpass.com/watch/golf-road-trippin Golf Road Trippin’ with James Davis
  3. ^ NBC Sports/GolfPass hires Gopher Productions to produce Better Off with Hally Leadbetter. https://www.golfpass.com/watch/better-off-with-hally-leadbetter
  4. ^ Spade performed standup at the university's long-running sketch comedy show, Farce Side Comedy Hour. David Spade
  5. ^ Kimmel is an alumnus of Arizona State University's long-running Farce Side Comedy Hour troupe. He also directed, performed and wrote for the show. Jonathan Kimmel
  6. ^ Transferred to Arizona State University – Jimmy Kimmel
  7. ^ Mort Sahl interview Comedy Corner 3/11/09. https://web.archive.org/web/20190623124740/https://comedyandmagicclub.com/page.cfm?id=1661
  8. ^ Gabriel Iglesias interview Comedy Corner 4/21/09. https://web.archive.org/web/20200930150409/https://comedyandmagicclub.com/page.cfm?id=1651
  9. ^ Kathleen Madigan interview Comedy Corner 4/08/10. https://web.archive.org/web/20190622224903/https://comedyandmagicclub.com/page.cfm?id=1636
  10. ^ Ray Romano interview Comedy Corner 2/21/09. https://web.archive.org/web/20190624043030/https://comedyandmagicclub.com/page.cfm?id=1640
  11. ^ Ian Bagg interview Comedy Corner 7/06/10. https://web.archive.org/web/20190624132309/https://comedyandmagicclub.com/page.cfm?id=1658
  12. ^ Sebastian Maniscalco interview Comedy Corner 8/20/10. https://web.archive.org/web/20190624080752/https://comedyandmagicclub.com/page.cfm?id=1622
  13. ^ Jo Koy interview Comedy Corner 11/10/09. https://web.archive.org/web/20190623222926/https://comedyandmagicclub.com/page.cfm?id=1642
  14. ^ Tom Segura interview Comedy Corner 7/21/09. https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033143/http://comedyandmagicclub.com/page.cfm?id=1655
  15. ^ Hilarious Video Parodying Golf From a Woman's Perspective Is Going Viral GABRIELLE HERZIGMAY 13, 2023 3:32 pm EDT. https://www.si.com/golf/news/hilarious-video-parodying-golf-from-womans-perspective-going-viral-hally-leadbetter
  16. ^ Doritos winner gets $1 million from $2,000 budget by Aaron Smith February 2, 2015: 1:30 pm ET. https://money.cnn.com/2015/02/02/media/super-bowl-doritos/
  17. ^ The Sporting News ranks the best Super Bowl Commercials of all-time Joe Rivera 02-04-2020. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/best-super-bowl-commercials-all-time/1ttnmkx36u7n819sokhs8l0d1y
  18. ^ USA Today's 2015 Ad Meter Results. https://admeter.usatoday.com/results/2015
  19. ^ Andrew Wantuck hosts a comedic line-up that includes James Davis, Chris Fairbanks, and Forrest Shaw. https://www.scribd.com/document/513614086/BBBS-of-Big-Sky-Country-Hosts-Comedy-Cocktails#
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