CollegeHumor
Encyclopedia
CollegeHumor is a comedy website
owned by InterActiveCorp and based in New York City
. The site features daily original comedy videos and articles created by its in-house writing and production team, in addition to user-submitted videos, pictures, articles and links. In early 2009, CollegeHumor's editorial staff wrote and starred in their own TV show, The CollegeHumor Show
, on MTV
. CollegeHumor is operated by CHMedia, a New York company that also owns Defunker, Sports Pickle, and Jest (formerly Today's Big Thing (also owned by IAC)).
CHMedia is also a partner of the website BustedTees, an online clothing website.
Many of its staff also operate the sister website, Dorkly, centering on video games and video game parodies in the vein of College Humor.
and with help from web developer, Jakob Lodwick. Abramson and Van Veen were high school friends from Baltimore, Maryland. Site traffic averages over 7 million monthly unique visitors, according to Quantcast direct measurement.
According to Fox News, "[We wanted to start] an advertisement-based business," Abramson said,
"because at the time the advertising market was pretty hot and we’d seen other people develop Web sites that were popular making a lot of money." Their aim was to create a humor site that would appeal to the advertiser-friendly college-aged demographic.
CollegeHumor, along with its parent company, Connected Ventures, was acquired by Barry Diller
's InterActiveCorp in August 2006.
In recent years, CollegeHumor has become known for its original comedy content. The site has been nominated for the Webby Award in the humor category, and many of their individual videos have been nominated for and/or won Webby Awards. Recent winners include "Pixar Intro Parody" for Best Animation, "Web Site Story" for Best Individual Short or Episode, and "Jake and Amir" for Best Series. Their shorts "Awkward Rap" and "Hand Vagina" were nominated for the Webby Award for Best Comedy: Individual Short or Episode in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
, David Wain
, Paul Scheer
, Amir Blumenfeld
, Justin Johnson
, Judah Friedlander
. Streeter Seidell
curates the articles and edits the website's front page.
CollegeHumor's original videos average 20 million views per month on the site. In addition, their videos are collected on the CollegeHumor YouTube Channel, which currently has 2,013,518 subscribers.
CH Original Sketches, Animations, and Music
Hardly Working
Jake and Amir
Full Benefits
Bleep Bloop
TV RPG
POV
Prank War
CH Live
The All-Nighter
IRL Files
Very Mary-Kate
Hello, My Name Is...
Nerd Alert
Troopers
Past Series
, a scripted comedy that premiered on MTV
on February 8, 2009. The half-hour comedy was written by and starred nine actual CollegeHumor.com editorial staff members (Ricky Van Veen, Jake Hurwitz, Amir Blumenfeld
, Dan Gurewitch, Patrick Cassels, Sarah Schneider, Streeter Seidell
, Sam Reich and Jeff Rubin), who played fictionalized versions of themselves.
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
owned by InterActiveCorp and based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The site features daily original comedy videos and articles created by its in-house writing and production team, in addition to user-submitted videos, pictures, articles and links. In early 2009, CollegeHumor's editorial staff wrote and starred in their own TV show, The CollegeHumor Show
The CollegeHumor Show
The CollegeHumor Show was an American comedy that premiered on MTV on February 8, 2009 and also aired on MuchMusic. The show is a scripted sitcom with sketch comedy elements. It is written by and stars nine actual CollegeHumor editorial staff members, who play fictionalized versions of themselves...
, on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. CollegeHumor is operated by CHMedia, a New York company that also owns Defunker, Sports Pickle, and Jest (formerly Today's Big Thing (also owned by IAC)).
CHMedia is also a partner of the website BustedTees, an online clothing website.
Many of its staff also operate the sister website, Dorkly, centering on video games and video game parodies in the vein of College Humor.
History
The site was created in 1999 by Josh Abramson and Ricky Van VeenRicky Van Veen
Ricky Van Veen is the co-founder of CollegeHumor, a popular comedy brand/website, and CEO of Notional, a television production company born out of CollegeHumor. Van Veen created the site as a student at Wake Forest and it quickly became a mainstay. Van Veen's site was earning between $5–10 million...
and with help from web developer, Jakob Lodwick. Abramson and Van Veen were high school friends from Baltimore, Maryland. Site traffic averages over 7 million monthly unique visitors, according to Quantcast direct measurement.
According to Fox News, "[We wanted to start] an advertisement-based business," Abramson said,
"because at the time the advertising market was pretty hot and we’d seen other people develop Web sites that were popular making a lot of money." Their aim was to create a humor site that would appeal to the advertiser-friendly college-aged demographic.
CollegeHumor, along with its parent company, Connected Ventures, was acquired by Barry Diller
Barry Diller
Barry Charles Diller is the Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp and the media executive responsible for the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting.-Early life:...
's InterActiveCorp in August 2006.
In recent years, CollegeHumor has become known for its original comedy content. The site has been nominated for the Webby Award in the humor category, and many of their individual videos have been nominated for and/or won Webby Awards. Recent winners include "Pixar Intro Parody" for Best Animation, "Web Site Story" for Best Individual Short or Episode, and "Jake and Amir" for Best Series. Their shorts "Awkward Rap" and "Hand Vagina" were nominated for the Webby Award for Best Comedy: Individual Short or Episode in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
Videos
CollegeHumor produces original comedy videos under the CH Originals (formerly known as CHTV) banner. In addition, the site hosts a large collection of user-submitted viral videos, encompassing home movies, bizarre sports highlights, sketches, and the like. These videos can be viewed 1 month before released in their website.Pictures
CollegeHumor's Pictures section features user-submitted photographs. Like the site's videos, CollegeHumor's pictures are of a humorous or bizarre nature. CollegeHumor also occasionally holds photo-based contests for its users. CollegeHumor also provides a hottest/cutest college girl contest almost every day throughout the year.Articles
CollegeHumor posts original writing from its staff and users, including humorous essays, comics, interviews and weekly columns on sports, video games, college life and dating. Contributing writers to the site have included notable comedians Christian FinneganChristian Finnegan
Fletcher Christian Finnegan , better known as Christian Finnegan, is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in New York City.-Early life:Finnegan was born in Albany, New York...
, David Wain
David Wain
David Benjamin Wain is an American comedian, writer, actor and director. He is most widely known for the feature films Role Models and Wet Hot American Summer, the 1990s' sketch comedy series The State and for producing/directing/writing the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital...
, Paul Scheer
Paul Scheer
Paul Christian Scheer is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He co-created and starred in MTV's sketch comedy series Human Giant and currently co-stars as Andre on the FX comedy The League. He also currently stars as Trent Hauser on the Adult Swim show NTSF:SD:SUV:: which he created...
, Amir Blumenfeld
Amir Blumenfeld
Amir Schmuel Blumenfeld is an Israeli-American writer, comedian, actor, and television host.Blumenfeld was born in Afula, Israel. He is literate in Hebrew and displayed his bilingual talents on episodes of Jake and Amir. He is a graduate of Milken Community High School and the University of...
, Justin Johnson
Justin Johnson (filmmaker)
Justin Johnson is a filmmaker, videographer, and video blogger based in Brooklyn, New York. Johnson began experimenting videoblogging in December, 2003 and launched Vidblogs.com in 2004....
, Judah Friedlander
Judah Friedlander
Judah Friedlander is an American actor and comedian, known for his trademark trucker hats, oversized glasses and unkempt appearance, which he retains in many of his screen roles.-Early life:...
. Streeter Seidell
Streeter Seidell
Streeter Seidell is an American comedian, writer, actor, and TV host. Seidell first gained popularity as part of the cast of CollegeHumor’s online skits, although he has written and edited the site’s front page before then...
curates the articles and edits the website's front page.
CH Originals
CH Originals is CollegeHumor's original comedy video section, featuring sketches and short films written and produced by the CollegeHumor staff. The site releases over ten new videos per week. CH Originals videos include sketch comedy, film and television parodies, animation, and music videos. In addition to stand-alone viral comedy shorts or "one-offs", which are usually shot on location and feature hired actors, CH Originals also produces a number of series—notably "Hardly Working", "Jake and Amir", and "Nerd Alert"—which are shot in the CH office and star the CH staff members themselves.CollegeHumor's original videos average 20 million views per month on the site. In addition, their videos are collected on the CollegeHumor YouTube Channel, which currently has 2,013,518 subscribers.
List of Series
Soap BoxCH Original Sketches, Animations, and Music
- One-off comedy sketches, cartoons and music videos written and produced by the in-house staff. Written by Dan Gurewitch, Amir Blumenfeld, David Young, Sarah Schneider, Patrick Cassels and Jake Hurwitz (amongst others), these sketches are designed to be more "viral" in nature than the site's other comedy content.
Hardly Working
- Sketches written by and starring the CH editorial staff, filmed in their NYC office. These videos usually depict the fictionalized odd activities and events that take place in the office on a daily basis.
Jake and Amir
Jake and Amir
Jake and Amir is a web series starring CollegeHumor writers Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld from New York. They play humorous versions of themselves; Jake is generally depicted as a "regular guy", and Amir as his annoying and obsessive co-worker, the pair acting as a comic double act...
- A series of short sketches about two CH writers, Jake Hurwitz and Amir BlumenfeldAmir BlumenfeldAmir Schmuel Blumenfeld is an Israeli-American writer, comedian, actor, and television host.Blumenfeld was born in Afula, Israel. He is literate in Hebrew and displayed his bilingual talents on episodes of Jake and Amir. He is a graduate of Milken Community High School and the University of...
, the two often act out the odd couple actDouble actA double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
. The show depicts Jake as a regular guy constantly annoyed by Amir's idiotic antics; who sincerely just wants to be good friends with Jake. - Jake and Amir is one of the most popular shows on College Humor. Along with taking home a Webby Award, the fanbase of the series is enormous.
Full Benefits
Full Benefits
Full Benefits is a web series starring CollegeHumor writers Sarah Schneider and David Young. They play two co-workers who got into a relationship after having a "one-night stand". Things get awkward and complicated as they try and hide their relationship at work...
- A series of sketches written by and starring Sarah Schneider and David Young about two coworkers and their attempts to keep their relationship hidden. Each episode usually begins with them waking up in the same bed after having one of their numerous one night stands.
Bleep Bloop
- A video-game-based talk show hosted by Jeff Rubin and Patrick Cassels, featuring various guests. Many comedians are featured on the show. Some of the most memorable are Pete Holmes, Jamie Lee, Christian Finnegan, and pro skater Billy Rohan.
TV RPG
- An animated parody of popular TV series using the likeness of retro-style RPG (role-playing games).
POV
- Sketches shot from the point-of-view of the main character, often voiced by Vincent Peone, CollegeHumor's cinematographer. These sketches are known for realism and relatablity (in a humorous manner) and are among CH's most popular videos. In most POV videos the phrase "How is that even possible?" is often said as a running gag.
- Perhaps one of the most sought-after shows from CollegeHumor, many commenters clamor for more POV shows.
Prank War
- A series that documents the escalating pranks that are played between CH staffers Streeter SeidellStreeter SeidellStreeter Seidell is an American comedian, writer, actor, and TV host. Seidell first gained popularity as part of the cast of CollegeHumor’s online skits, although he has written and edited the site’s front page before then...
and Amir Blumenfeld. Prank War gained national notoriety after Amir staged a public marriage proposal to Streeter's girlfriend on his behalf. The incident was known as “The Yankee Prankee" and was later featured on VH1VH1VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's "40 Greatest Pranks Part 2". Seidell and Blumenfeld have appeared twice on Jimmy Kimmel Live to discuss their pranks.
CH Live
- Excerpts from stand-up comedy performances from CH's monthly live show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City.
The All-Nighter
- An annual event started in 2007 in which the CH staff shoots and posts 12 videos in one night between 9 pm and 9 am. While doing so, they communicate with fans via Twitter and UStream.
IRL Files
- Stories about a never-seen narrator who gets involved in wacky situations.
Very Mary-Kate
Very Mary-Kate
Very Mary-Kate is a web series written by Elaine Carroll and directed by Sam Reich. The series consists of 45 episodes, as of January 20, 2011, of approximately 90 seconds each, featuring writer and comedienne Elaine Carroll as Mary-Kate Olsen...
- A series that revolves around the life of Mary-Kate Olsen (played by Elaine Carroll), a rich young woman who is heir to Woody Allen, and her sensible body guard.
Hello, My Name Is...
- A series starring Pat Cassels and Josh Ruben. Josh is placed in prosthetic and make-up by their make-up artist Hannah. From the prosthetic, he spontaneously creates a character which Pat then interviews.
Nerd Alert
- The newest of the CollegeHumor series, it is performed in the style of a talk show hosted by Jeff Rubin and Brian Murphy (Editor of dorkly.com). They discuss all variety of nerdy matters and end with a surprise guest.
Troopers
Troopers (Web Series)
Troopers is a web series starring Aubrey Plaza, Sam Reich, Josh Ruben, and Luke Sholl. The series pays homage to a familiar Star Wars premise, focusing on the lives of the Storm Troopers. The protagonists, Rich and Larry, are two inept soldiers doing their daily best to keep the Dread Cruiser up...
- A series that parodies of Sci-Fi movies and shows, particularly Star WarsStar WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
. Shorts mostly focus on a pair of storm trooper like soldiers, Larry and Rich, and the humorous problems that arise from working for an evil interstellar empire aboard a small, moon-sized, planet-destroying space station. Features Aubrey Plaza in a guest role.
Past Series
- Previously, CH Originals produced The Michael Showalter ShowalterThe Michael Showalter ShowalterThe Michael Showalter Showalter was an internet video series starring by Michael Showalter that was hosted on the website, CollegeHumor. The show lasted for one season of ten episodes that all aired from 2007 to 2008. The series was a chat show hosted by Showalter. Each episode features a guest,...
, a Charlie RoseCharlie RoseCharles Peete "Charlie" Rose, Jr. is an American television talk show host and journalist. Since 1991 he has hosted Charlie Rose, an interview show distributed nationally by PBS since 1993...
-style comedic interview series hosted by Michael ShowalterMichael ShowalterMichael English Showalter is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is a member of the sketch comedy trio Stella. Showalter first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's The State, which aired from 1993 to 1995...
and featuring guests such as Paul RuddPaul RuddPaul Stephen Rudd is an American actor and screenwriter. He has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My...
, Andy SambergAndy SambergDavid Andrew "Andy" Samberg is an American actor, comedian, rapper and writer best known as a member of the comedy group The Lonely Island and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live...
, David CrossDavid CrossDavid Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...
, Zach GalifianakisZach GalifianakisZachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
, and Michael CeraMichael CeraMichael Austin Cera is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Arrested Development, Youth in Revolt, Superbad, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Juno. Cera received the 2008 Canadian Comedy Award for best male performance for his work in Superbad.-Early...
. They also gained notoriety for "Street Fighter: The Later Years", which was nominated for "Best Series" by YouTube's Video Awards.
The CollegeHumor Show
On December 17, 2008, CollegeHumor.com announced The CollegeHumor ShowThe CollegeHumor Show
The CollegeHumor Show was an American comedy that premiered on MTV on February 8, 2009 and also aired on MuchMusic. The show is a scripted sitcom with sketch comedy elements. It is written by and stars nine actual CollegeHumor editorial staff members, who play fictionalized versions of themselves...
, a scripted comedy that premiered on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
on February 8, 2009. The half-hour comedy was written by and starred nine actual CollegeHumor.com editorial staff members (Ricky Van Veen, Jake Hurwitz, Amir Blumenfeld
Amir Blumenfeld
Amir Schmuel Blumenfeld is an Israeli-American writer, comedian, actor, and television host.Blumenfeld was born in Afula, Israel. He is literate in Hebrew and displayed his bilingual talents on episodes of Jake and Amir. He is a graduate of Milken Community High School and the University of...
, Dan Gurewitch, Patrick Cassels, Sarah Schneider, Streeter Seidell
Streeter Seidell
Streeter Seidell is an American comedian, writer, actor, and TV host. Seidell first gained popularity as part of the cast of CollegeHumor’s online skits, although he has written and edited the site’s front page before then...
, Sam Reich and Jeff Rubin), who played fictionalized versions of themselves.
External links
- CollegeHumor
- CollegeHumor at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- CHTV: CollegeHumor Original Videos at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....