| Theo Von | |
| Birth Date: | 19 March 1980 |
| Birth Name: | Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski III |
| Birth Place: | Covington, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Medium: | Stand-up, podcast, television, film |
| Active: | 2000–present |
| Education: | University of New Orleans (BA) |
| Genre: | Observational comedy, surreal humor |
| Subject: | Human behavior, human sexuality, American politics |
Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski III (born March 19, 1980), known professionally as Theo Von, is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, actor, influencer, and former reality television personality. He is the host of the This Past Weekend podcast.[1] [2]
Kurnatowski was born on March 19, 1980, in Covington, Louisiana, to Gina Capitani and Roland Theodor Achilles von Kurnatowski (1912–1996).[3] [4] [5] His mother was born and raised in Wyoming, Illinois, where Theo spent part of his childhood.[6] His father was a native of Bluefields, Nicaragua, who later settled in New Orleans.[7] [8] His grandfather was a Polish missionary who settled in Cabo Gracias a Dios; he is descended from the Kurnatowski szlachta in Poland.[9] [10] Von describes himself as Polish-Nicaraguan.[11]
Von's father was 67 when he was born (Von rounds the age to 70 years for his comedic material); he died of cancer in 1996 when Von was 16.[12] He grew up in Covington, Louisiana, with his older brother and two younger sisters and was legally emancipated at 14.[13] He grew up in circumstances he describes as "low-income", stating that most of his "frame of reference" came from "poor people".[14] [15]
Von later moved to Mandeville, Louisiana and graduated from Mandeville High School.[16] He attended Louisiana State University for a time, where he wrote for The Reveille.[15] [17] He also attended the Loyola University New Orleans, University of Arizona, College of Charleston, and Santa Monica College.[18] Von received his undergraduate degree in Urban Planning in 2011 from the University of New Orleans.[19] [20] [21]
Von appeared on MTV's in 2000 at age nineteen. He was recruited to the show while studying at Louisiana State University.[22]
Von was on four seasons of MTV's reality game show The Challenge (formerly known as Real World/Road Rules Challenge), a combined spinoff of MTV's The Real World and Road Rules. He was a part of the cast of Battle of the Seasons (2002), The Gauntlet (2003–2004), Battle of the Sexes II (2004–2005), and Fresh Meat (2006). Von was runner-up in 2002, and was the winner of the following two seasons.[23]
In 2006, Von competed on season 4 of Last Comic Standing, winning the online competition.[24]
In mid-2008, Von was a member of the Comedy Central sketch/competition show Reality Bites Back. He won the show, beating fellow comedians, including Amy Schumer, Bert Kreischer, and Tiffany Haddish.
Beginning in 2011, Von took over as host of the Yahoo! online TV recap show Primetime in No Time.[25] [26] He hosted the TBS hidden camera show Deal With It (executive produced by Howie Mandel) for its run of three seasons (2013–2014). During this period, Von began appearing in cameo acting roles on select television shows, including Inside Amy Schumer and Why? with Hannibal Buress. He has said that he was not more interested in acting earlier on — despite having opportunities to do pilots and sitcoms — because he was not very enthused about the projects offered at the time and because they often conflicted with his touring and podcasting schedules.
In the spring of 2018, Von's three-episode scripted comedy show Man Up was released on Comedy Central, in which he attempted to improve the 'spiraling' lives of male comics.[27] In August 2019, Von announced that he had been cast in the big-budget film The Tomorrow War (at the time known as Ghost Draft), and had been recruited for the project by its lead actor, Chris Pratt; a few weeks later, Von announced on his podcast that he had dropped out of the movie due to the time commitment required.[28]
Von began performing stand-up comedy in Louisiana. At age 23, after his tenure on MTV, he decided to move to Los Angeles and professionally pursue a career in comedy.[29] According to Von, he had difficulty as an entertainer in Hollywood, as talent agents viewed him as a former reality TV star and were thus skeptical about giving him work as a comedian. He has since related that it has taken years to shake this image and establish himself as a comedian.
Von achieved one of his first major comedic accomplishments a few years later, in 2006, when he won the title of Fan Favorite on the online competition aligned with the fourth season of Last Comic Standing. Around this time, Von began touring his set nationally. He also took part in five international tours for the USO (which included performing at Guantanamo Bay).[30]
In 2009, Von popularized "prank texting" (sending a text message to random phone numbers to incite conversations), and began his "prank texting" blog, which was picked up as a column by CollegeHumor a year later.
On June 1, 2012, Von was the featured comedian in an episode of Comedy Central's The Half Hour, now known as Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents. He also promoted his comedy on The Arsenio Hall Show, Hello Ross, Chelsea Lately, Watch What Happens Live, @midnight, and This Is Not Happening, among other television shows. In 2016, Netflix released Von's debut hour-long comedy special No Offense. The show was taped at the Civic Theatre in New Orleans, Louisiana.[31] In the summer of 2019, Von embarked on a three-month national tour called The Dark Arts Tour.[32]
As of 2016,[33] Von hosts a podcast, This Past Weekend, and was a former co-host of the podcast King and The Sting (and Wing) with Brendan Schaub and Chris D'elia. He has been a recurring guest on many comedians' podcasts, including The Joe Rogan Experience, Joey Diaz's The Church of What's Happening Now, The Fighter and the Kid, Bobby Lee's TigerBelly, and The Adam Carolla Show.
In April 2011, Von began his first podcast, The Comedy Sideshow. Taped at the Improv Comedy Club in Hollywood, Von interviewed comedians and other entertainers. The show had 23 episodes, the last of which premiered in November of that year.[34]
In 2015, Von started a weekly podcast with filmmaker/journalist Matthew Cole Weiss called Allegedly with Theo Von & Matthew Cole Weiss. The two friends, whose styles and presentation contrasted, competed to see who had better "alleged" tales of celebrities, hilarity, trauma, dating, success, and failure from their years living in Hollywood. The podcast lasted three years and had a total of 123 episodes.[35]
Von began a new podcast in December 2016, This Past Weekend. This long-form video podcast features storytelling, answering fan voicemails, and guest interviews.[36] He released his 200th episode in May 2019.
In December 2018, Von and fellow podcaster/comedian Brendan Schaub started a podcast called King and The Sting. At the podcast's release, it debuted at number 1 on the iTunes Podcast charts in the US and also reached the top charts in the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, and Australia.[37]
In January 2022, Schaub and Von added a third host, Chris D'Elia, to King and The Sting, renaming it King and The Sting and Wing.[38] During this time Von began taking breaks from the podcast, allowing guest-hosts to fill in. On November 4, 2022, King and The Sting and Wing was officially renamed The Golden Hour, with Workaholics actor Erik Griffin replacing Von.[39]
In September 2023, Von publicly accused Kast Media and its CEO Colin Thomson of non-payment, after pro wrestling personality and podcaster Jim Cornette had made similar claims about Kast and Thomson in July. Corresponding accusations were also made by Jason Ellis, Brendan Schaub, Bryan Callen, Whitney Cummings, and Alyx Weiss, each of whom stated they were owed money by Kast Media, including several six-figure and seven-figure shortages. It was reported that Kast Media was in the process of being acquired by PodcastOne and that in lieu of full payment, Thomson offered creators partial compensation combined with stock options. Amid the news, LiveOne and PodcastOne stock dropped considerably and the company no longer planned to officially hire Thomson.[40] [41] [42] [43] [44]
In August 2024, Von interviewed U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and former U.S. president Donald Trump.[45] [46] In October 2024, he interviewed U.S. Senator and Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance.[47]
Von has lived in Nashville, Tennessee since September 2020, after purchasing the home of former Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason.[48] Von had an older half-brother, Roland von Kurnatowski Jr., the owner of Tipitina's and founder of the Tipitina's Foundation; he died in 2019 after an accidental shooting, aged 68.[49] Von also has one older brother who is two years his senior, two younger sisters, Rolanda and Whittier[50] and an older half-sister, Joan, who is an artist.[51]
| Year | Title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Contestant | ||
| 2002 | Contestant | ||
| 2003–04 | Contestant | ||
| 2004–05 | Contestant | ||
| 2005 | Battle of the Network Reality Stars | Contestant | |
| 2006 | Contestant | ||
| 2006 | Last Comic Standing | Won the title of "Last Comic Downloaded" (most downloads for online clips) | |
| 2008 | America's Prom Queen | Panelist | |
| 2008 | Live at Gotham | Season 3 | |
| 2008 | Reality f*cks Back | Contestant | |
| 2012–14 | Primetime in No Time | Host; replaced former host Frank Nicotero | |
| 2012 | The Half Hour | ||
| 2013–14 | Deal With It | Host | |
| 2016 | Acting Out | Himself | |
| 2017 | The Joe Rogan Experience #925 | Guest | |
| 2018 | The Joe Rogan Experience #1118 | Guest | |
| 2018 | The Joe Rogan Experience #1141 | Guest | |
| 2019 | Hot Ones | Guest | |
| 2019 | Impaulsive | Guest | |
| 2019 | The Joe Rogan Experience #1225 | Guest | |
| 2019 | Kill Tony #423[52] | Guest | |
| 2021 | The Joe Rogan Experience #1731 | Guest | |
| 2022 | The Joe Rogan Experience #1847 | Guest | |
| 2022 | Kill Tony #569[53] | Guest | |
| 2023 | Full Send Podcast | Guest | |
| 2023 | The Joe Rogan Experience #1994 | Guest | |
| 2023 | Kill Tony #615[54] | Guest | |
| 2024 | Get Down with Sean and Marley #17 | Guest | |
| 2024 | The Joe Rogan Experience #2226 | Guest |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | InAPPropriate Comedy | Mountain Climber | Film[55] | |
| 2013 | Inside Amy Schumer | Director | Episode: "A Porn Star Is Born" | |
| 2015 | Why? with Hannibal Buress | Alex | ||
| 2024 | Sweet Dreams | Garvey | Film |
Selected work