Mike Mitchell (actor)

Michael Donovan Mitchell (born October 6, 1982) is an American actor, comedian, and writer best known as a member of The Birthday Boys sketch comedy group. He is also known for his role as Randy Monahan on the Netflix series Love, and Cowan in the Amazon Prime Video film The Tomorrow War. He currently co-hosts the podcast Doughboys (with comedian and writer Nick Wiger), which reviews and discusses chain restaurants.

Mike Mitchell
Mitchell at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Michael Donovan Mitchell

(1982-10-06) October 6, 1982
Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian, writer, podcaster
Years active2010–present

Early life

Mitchell was raised in Quincy, Massachusetts.[1] He briefly attended Thayer Academy before graduating from North Quincy High School. Mitchell attended Ithaca College, graduating in May 2005.

Career

Mitchell started as an improv and sketch comedian at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCB) in Los Angeles.

He went on to write and star in The Birthday Boys for IFC[2] until the show was canceled after two seasons.[3] During this time he also appeared regularly on NBC's Parks and Recreation and IFC's Comedy Bang! Bang! In 2014, Mitchell played a fictionalized version of himself in the short film The Badger's Promise, the directorial debut of friends Harris Wittels and Armen Weitzman.

He was the head writer of Hidden America with Jonah Ray on the Seeso streaming service and played the recurring role of Randy Monahan on the Netflix comedy series Love.

Mitchell played the role of "Cowan" in the 2021 movie The Tomorrow War.[4]

The Birthday Boys

In 2007, at UCB, Mitchell formed the sketch comedy group The Birthday Boys[5] with Jefferson Dutton, Dave Ferguson, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Matt Kowalick, and Chris VanArtsdalen. With the exception of Kowalick, all members of The Birthday Boys graduated from Ithaca College.[6]

Mitchell and The Birthday Boys performed regularly at UCB and the group uploaded original sketches to their YouTube page.[7]

The Birthday Boys gained notoriety within the LA comedy scene, appearing on Comedy Bang! Bang! and called Adam McKay's "favorite sketch group."[8][9] The group met Bob Odenkirk through a show that Odenkirk's wife, Naomi Yomtov, created at UCB. They began collaborating with Odenkirk and were picked up for a sketch show, The Birthday Boys, at IFC, with Odenkirk and Ben Stiller as executive producers.

Mitchell featured frequently in The Birthday Boys sketches. His notable characters include Woosh,[10] Pretty Dad, and September Santa. The series ran for two seasons before being canceled in 2014.

Mitchell still performs sketch comedy with The Birthday Boys and other projects.

Doughboys

Mitchell created the comedy podcast Doughboys with comedy writer Nick Wiger in 2015. Doughboys was named "The One Food Podcast to Start With" by pop culture site Vulture.[11] The co-hosts review chain restaurants with a weekly guest, including Nicole Byer, Haley Joel Osment, Sarah Silverman, and all of the Birthday Boys, among others.[12] Mitchell's fans call him "The Spoonman", "Mitchy Two-Spoons", "Spoon", "The Artist Formerly Known as Spoon", "Night Spoon", "Dorito Kid" and "Mr. Slice" all nicknames he gave himself. His Co-Host, Nick Wiger invites listeners to submit roasts of Mitchell to be read at the beginning of each episode, which often involve pop culture references and puns based on food or physique.[13]

As of early 2018, the podcast is no longer associated with Feral Audio and is now a member of the HeadGum network. Mitchell and Wiger use Patreon to bring exclusive paid Doughboys content to their subscribers beyond the weekly episodes. As of June 2019, the Doughboys Patreon is the 9th most popular podcast Patreon and the 25th most popular Patreon in general.[14]

On the June 13, 2019 episode of Doughboys, Wiger and Jason Mantzoukas offered Mitchell $15,000 if he can get an original song on the Billboard Hot 100 within a year. In 2020, the offer was extended indefinitely.

Filmography

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
2015 Freaks of Nature Slushy Douche
2016 Other People Donnie
2020 Desperados Sweaty Beard
2021 The Tomorrow War Cowan

Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
2011–14 Parks and Recreation Bjorn Lerpiss 6 episodes
2012 MyMusic Guess 3 episodes
2012–16 Comedy Bang! Bang! Mitch / Lonny / Stagehand / Lugger 12 episodes
2013 The Mindy Project Brad Episode: "Music Festival"
2013 The League Police Officer Episode: "Heavy Petting"
2013–14 The Birthday Boys Various Main
2015 W/ Bob and David Virgin / Co-worker 2 episodes
2016 The UCB Show With The Birthday Boys; Episode: "Eat That Pussy"
2016 Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ Mitch Episode: "Make Partner Part 1"
2016 Filthy Preppy Teen$ Security Dave 2 episodes
2016 Tween Fest Rocco 4 episodes
2016 The Simpsons Boston Football Fan (voice) Episode: "The Town"
2016–17 Hidden America with Jonah Ray Chazz Duffy 4 episodes
2016–18 Love Randy Monahan 22 episodes
2017 Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special Jack Sparrow Chorus TV special
2017 Drive Share Episode: "Thanksgiving"
2017 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Kyle Murphy Episode: "The Favor"
2018 Alone Together Jake Episode: "Pilot"
2018 The Late Late Show with James Corden Dennis Episode: "David Duchovny/Henry Winkler/Billy Corgan"
2018 Little Big Awesome Various voices 4 episodes
2019 Craig Fixada America Benjamin Franklin Unknown episodes
2020 Brews Brothers Jack 5 episodes
2021 Kevin Can F**k Himself Bert Episode: "Fixed"
2022 Resident Alien Creepy Boss Episode: "Girls' Night"
2022 Dicktown (voice) Episode: "The Mystery of the Marauding Mascot"
2022-23 Killing It Dean Trovia 3 episodes
2023 Twisted Metal Stu Recurring role

Music videos
Year Title Artist Ref.
2018 "Today Is The Day" EELS [15]
2020 "Are We Alright Again" EELS [16]
2022 "Matilda" PUP [17]

References
  1. Barbuto, Dana (2014-10-08). "TV series with Quincy's Mitchell starts next week". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
  2. Ryan, Kyle (2014-10-17). "Be careful with pubic hair: 6 lessons the Birthday Boys learned from the first season of their show". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
  3. Barsanti, Sam (2015-01-23). "IFC cancels The Birthday Boys". AV Club. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
  4. The Tomorrow War - IMDb, retrieved 2019-12-05
  5. Piccalo, Gina (2010-05-11). "The Birthday Boys' team approach to getting laughs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
  6. "Intercom - The Park School Welcomes Back The Birthday Boys". www.ithaca.edu. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  7. "TheBirthdayBoys - YouTube". YouTube.
  8. "UCB Theatre".
  9. "The Wacky Ding Dongs, episode #54 of Comedy Bang Bang: The Podcast on Earwolf".
  10. Happy Birthday You!. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-11.
  11. Legaspi, Althea (2015-10-05). "The One Podcast to Start With, Across 24 Topics". Vulture. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
  12. "Headgum // Doughboys".
  13. "Doughboys - Morton's the Steakhouse with Tim Kalpakis".
  14. "Doughboys: Patreon Earnings + Statistics + Graphs + Rank".
  15. "EELS - Today Is The Day - Official Video". Retrieved June 28, 2019 – via YouTube.
  16. "EELS - Are We Alright Again - Official Video" – via YouTube.
  17. PUP - Matilda (Official Music Video), retrieved 2022-03-01
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