Dana Gould Biography

Dana John Gould (born August 24, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian and comedy writer who has been featured on HBO, Showtime, and Comedy Central.

Career

Raised in Hopedale, Massachusetts, Dana began performing comedy onstage at age 17. After high school, he studied communications and theatre at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, but after a year moved to San Francisco to pursue a career in comedy. It was there he, along with fellow comedian Alex Reid, founded the San Francisco Comedy Condo in 1986.

Gould wrote and performed on The Ben Stiller Show; one such sketch features Gould as Otto, Cupid's twisted brother, whose arrows convince a young man to fall madly in love with an elderly woman. Another series of sketches features a heavily disguised Gould as Wilford Brimley advertising "Grady's Oats" (a parody of Brimley's Quaker Oats advertisements). In one, he speaks of his Uncle Ray's hobby of dressing in a pink taffeta gown and filling his panties with oatmeal; in another, he brandishes a revolver through the window at children. He also appeared in an episode of MADtv as Newt Gingrich and on one episode of Seinfeld ("The Junk Mail") as "Fragile" Frankie Merman, Jerry's childhood friend (aka "The Summer George"). He co-created and was executive producer on the MTV series Super Adventure Team. In addition Gould's stand up material was featured in Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties.

In 1998, Gould appeared in the episode "Supermarket Story" of the sitcom The King of Queens. For seven years he wrote for The Simpsons, one episode of which he provided the voice of Don Knotts as Barney Fife (an impression that originated in his standup routine). He left the show in late 2006 in order to focus on his own screenwriting, though he served as co-executive producer on seasons 14 through 18.

Gould had a featured cameo in the 2003 film Girls Will Be Girls, in which he played a hit-and-run victim who admits to his alcohol problem after having a desperate one-night stand with aging C-list actress Evie Harris, the other driver in the car accident. He was also featured in the film The Aristocrats, where, among other commentary, he presents an Amish version of the eponymous joke. His short films, Last Man On Earth, Break On Through With J.F.K., A Night On Java Island, and Soul Mates are also available for download on his site. Except for the latter, all feature Gould in acting roles. 2009 saw the release of his new stand up special, "Let Me Put My Thoughts In You" on Shout Factory.

Gould provided the voice for the title character in the U.S. versions of the Gex video game series and the UK version of the first game. Gould, with his frequent writing partner Rob Cohen, wrote the majority of the jokes for the games.

He was a regular contributor to the Adam Carolla radio show where he did impressions of Huell Howser. He appears occasionally on The Adam Carolla Show podcast. The first episode of Gould's own podcast, The Dana Gould Hour, was made available on iTunes on January 31, 2012. Recurring guests include comedians like Eddie Pepitone, and each episode revolves around a singular theme. Currently, a new episode of The Dana Gould Hour is released about every two months.

In 2010, he appeared in live action on the Family Guy episode, "Brian Writes a Bestseller".

In 2013, Gould appeared with Melinda Hill and Scott Shriner in an episode of the web series Romantic Encounters. He also frequently performs live shows with comedian Arden Myrin as "The Tinkle Twins."

In 2014, Gould participated as a comedian on Playboy's "Foursome: Walk of Shame" where he joined other comedians in making fun of the program's contestants.

Personal life

Gould was born in Hopedale, Massachusetts, the fifth of six children. He was raised Roman Catholic, and served as an altar boy in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. He currently lives in Los Angeles. In 2000 he married Sue Naegle, former President of HBO Entertainment. The couple separated in 2014. They have three adopted daughters all from China.

Podcast appearances

• WTF with Marc Maron podcast Episode 93 on July 26, 2010
• The Nerdist Podcast episode 140 on November 11, 2011
• Gould returned to WTF with Marc Maron for a live episode on episode 463 on January 20, 2014.
• In February 2012, Gould started his own (sort of) monthly podcast called The Dana Gould Hour.
• Gould appeared on the "The Nerdist Podcast" episode 316 (named Celebrity Turnstile) for the opening 10 minutes on February 1, 2013.
• Janet Varney's JV Club on September 3, 2015 in episode 169.
• You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes on April 27, 2012.
• Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend on December 3, 2015.
• Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor podcast on December 15, 2015.
• Planet of the Apes episode of Damn Dirty Geeks on April 3, 2015.
• EvilGeeks.com's "Transmissions From the Evil Lair" podcast on September 26, 2016.
• Guys We F****d on September 30, 2016.
• Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast on October 24, 2016.
• Radio Free GOP with Mike Murphy on October 25, 2016.
• The Fighter and the Kid: Episode 205 on November 9, 2016

Discography

• "Funhouse" (Stand Up! Records) [Record / CD: 1998]
• "Let Me Put My Thoughts In You" (Shout! Factory) [DVD / CD: 2009; Record 2014]
• "I Know It's Wrong" (New Wave Dynamics) [CD: 2013]

Filmography

The Simpsons episodes

The following is a list of episodes Gould wrote during his tenure at The Simpsons.

• "Homer the Moe"
• "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge"
• "C.E. D'oh"
• "The President Wore Pearls"
• "Goo Goo Gai Pan" (under the name Lawrence Talbot)
• "Bart Has Two Mommies"
• "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"

He also made an acting appearance in the Season 16 episode "Pranksta Rap" and the season 28 episode "The Town".

Family Guy episodes

Gould guest starred in the episode "Brian Writes a Bestseller" as himself, during a live-action segment.

Films

• My Fellow Americans - Sandwich Guy
• Mystery Men - Squeegee Man
• The Love Bug - Rupert
• Southbound