Brendon Small
Brendon Small | |
---|---|
Born | Springfield, Illinois | February 15, 1975
Genres | Improvisational comedy, observational comedy, Character comedy, Satire |
Subject(s) | everyday life, manners, social norms, Mass Media, Popular culture |
Notable works and roles | Home Movies (TV series) Metalocalypse Dethklok |
Website | www.brendonsmall.com |
Brendon Small (born February 15, 1975 in Springfield, Illinois) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, composer, and musician. He is best known as the creator of the animated series Home Movies and Metalocalypse.
Early career
Small started learning guitar at 13, and graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1997. During his music studies he concurrently took several writing and comedy classes at Emerson College. After graduating, he began performing stand-up at The Comedy Studio in Harvard Square, where he was spotted by Loren Bouchard, who at the time was casting for the central character for a UPN pilot produced by Tom Snyder Productions which eventually evolved into Home Movies.
Television work
Brendon Small was the co-creator, writer, voice actor, composer and musician for Home Movies, a cartoon initially aired on the UPN television network and then moved to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. The final episode of Home Movies aired on April 4 2004, after running four seasons, although the show is periodically rerun on Adult Swim. In the series, he voiced the show's protagonist, 8-year-old aspiring filmmaker Brendon Small, as well as a number of other characters.
Small lent his voice to a number of other animated shows. He co-starred as Chad in the BET animated sit-com, Hey Monie!, and has voiced many supporting characters in The Venture Bros. Small has also had cameo roles in Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Squidbillies, Reno 911!, Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil, and Frisky Dingo. Small appeared as one of the lead characters of the Adult Swim pilot Let's Fish; the show's pilot premiered on May 13 2007, but no further episodes have been aired.
In April 2005, the Sci Fi Channel announced the upcoming debut of a half-hour animated ensemble comedy show created by Small entitled Barbarian Chronicles. The show, which has yet to be seen, was said to be produced by Small and Worldwide Pants Incorporated.
Small's latest claim to fame is as co-producer, co-writer, composer, and actor for the Adult Swim series Metalocalypse, which premiered on August 6, 2006. The series focuses on a fictional death metal band named Dethklok, and each episode features a song "performed" by the band. In addition to all of the behind-the-scenes work he does for the series, he also provides voice talent for the characters Skwisgaar Skwigelf, Pickles the Drummer, and Nathan Explosion, three of the five members of Dethklok. The song "Thunderhorse" was also featured on the hit video game Guitar Hero II.
He has recently completed the Dethklok album entitled The Dethalbum, in which he collaborates with Gene Hoglan to deliver an authentic melodic death metal sound while simultaneously retaining the light-hearted nature with which Small portrays the heavy metal sub-genre. The album debuted at #21 in the Billboard 200,[1] making it the highest charting death metal album ever.[2]
In November 2007, Small, Hoglan, Mike Keneally and Bryan Beller performed live as Dethklok at twelve US college campuses in support of the Dethalbum. The Adult Swim-sponsored "Dethtour" featured Dethklok supporting …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead.[1] The foursome reunited in June of 2008 for a longer, headlining "Dethtour"
Non-television career
Small posed for a pictorial that appeared in the April 2006 issue of Playgirl magazine, as part of a humor-themed issue. Small posed naked holding a medieval flail and a strategically-placed metal shield that hid his genitals.
Along with comedians Ron Lynch and Craig Anton, Small has hosted the "Tomorrow Show", a weekly live comedy show at the Steve Allen Theatre in Los Angeles.
Brendon Small currently resides in Los Angeles, California with his dog, Ernie.
In the commentaries for Home Movies, he has said that his family is of Lithuanian ancestry.
Selected filmography
Year | Titel | Role | Other notes |
2007 | Let's Fish | Kevin | Actor Executive Producer TV pilot |
2006 | Aqua Teen Hunger Force | Rice Henchmen Newscaster |
Voice Actor Animated Series |
2006 | Frisky Dingo | Brent & Trent | Voice actor Animated series |
2006-present | Metalocalypse | Nathan Explosion Pickles Skwisgaar Skwigelf Charles Ofdensen Additional voices |
Creator Executve Producer Writer Director Animated Series |
2006-present | The Venture Bros | Various characters | Voice actor Animated series |
2006 | Ergo Proxy | Po | Voice actor (English dub) Animated series |
2005-2008 | Squidbillies | Dr. Jerry | Voice actor Composer (1 episode) Animated series |
2005 | Lucy, The Daughter of the Devil | Classmate | Voice actor Musician Animated series |
2004 | Reno 911 | Priest | Actor TV Series |
2003 | Hey Monie | Tschad | Voice actor Animated series |
2000 | New Apartment | New Tenant | Actor Short film |
1999-2004 | Home Movies | Brendon Small Dwayne Walter Various characters |
Creator Writer Producer Voice Actor Animated series |
Discography
- Songs Brendon's Not Allowed To Name -- Free online download, comprised of songs from Home Movies.
- 2006: Home Movies - Bonus Soundtrack CD (released with the Home Movies Season 4 Boxset)
- 2007: Dethklok - The Dethalbum
References
External links
- Official website
- Brendon Small at IMDb
- SCI FI Reveals New Series, including Barbarian Chronicles
- Brendon Small interview (2008)
- Scene Missing Magazine Interviews Brendon Small
- Brendon's Facebook
- Brendon's Myspace
- Interview with Brendon Small at Lambgoat.com
- Interview with Brendon Small at Metalunderground.com
- 1975 births
- Living people
- American comedians
- American voice actors
- Berklee College of Music alumni
- American television producers
- American writers
- American heavy metal bass guitarists
- American heavy metal guitarists
- American heavy metal singers
- American composers
- American male singers
- American rock singers
- Death metal musicians
- American satirists
- American stand-up comedians
- Lithuanian-Americans