Kristen Schaal
Kristen Joy Schaal (/ʃɑːl/;[1] born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, voice actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on Bob's Burgers and Mabel Pines on Gravity Falls, as well as for playing Mel on Flight of the Conchords, Hurshe Heartshe on The Heart, She Holler and Carol Pilbasian on The Last Man on Earth. She provides several voices for BoJack Horseman, most notably for the character of Sarah Lynn, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. Other roles include Amanda Simmons on The Hotwives of Orlando, Hazel Wassername on 30 Rock, Victoria Best on WordGirl, Trixie in the Toy Story franchise, and Anne on Wilfred. She was an occasional commentator on The Daily Show from 2008 to 2016. She voiced Sayrna in the 2019 EA video game, Anthem.
Kristen Schaal | |
|---|---|
 Schaal at the 2016 WonderCon in Los Angeles, California | |
| Born | Kristen Joy Schaal January 24, 1978 Longmont, Colorado, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Northwestern University |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1999–present |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 1 |
| Comedy career | |
| Medium | |
| Genres | |
Early life
Schaal was born in Longmont, Colorado, to a Lutheran family of Dutch ancestry.[2] She was raised on her family's cattle ranch, in a rural area near Boulder, Colorado.[2] Her father is a construction worker and her mother is a secretary.[3]
Schaal attended Skyline High School where she graduated in 1996. She has a brother, David, who is three years older.[3] She graduated from Northwestern University and then moved to New York in 2000 to pursue a comedy career. In 2005, she had her first break when she was included in the New York article "The Ten Funniest New Yorkers You've Never Heard Of".[4]
Career
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Live comedy
In 2006, Schaal performed at the 2006 HBO US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, where she won the award for "Best Alternative Comedian". She was also the winner of the second annual Andy Kaufman Award (hosted by the New York Comedy Festival), Best Female Stand-up at the 2006 Nightlife Awards in New York City, and "Best Female Stand Up Comedian" at the 2007 ECNY Awards.[5] At the 2008 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, she won the Barry Award for her show Kristen Schaal As You Have Probably Never Seen Her Before, tying with Nina Conti.[6] Also in 2006, Schaal appeared on the first season of the Comedy Central show Live at Gotham.[7] She co-hosts the weekly variety show Hot Tub in Los Angeles, which was voted "Best Variety Show of 2005" by Time-Out New York's readers poll. She also performs at the Peoples Improv Theater on the improv team, "Big Black Car", which was awarded best improv troupe of 2005 at the Emerging Comics of New York Awards. She is a founding member of the theatre company The Striking Viking Story Pirates, which adapts stories by children into sketches and songs.
Schaal performed live at the Edinburgh Fringe 2007 in Scotland, where she was one of six acts (chosen from over two hundred American productions at the Fringe) requested to perform at the US Consul General-sponsored "Fringe USA" Showcase.
On her return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2008, Schaal was nominated for the If.comedy award for Kristen Schaal And Kurt Braunohler: Double Down Hearts.[8]
Schaal has also performed at the Royal Albert Hall, London, as part of The Secret Policeman's Ball 2008 in aid of Amnesty International, and at the Bonnaroo 2009 music festival. In 2010, Schaal appeared as a stand-up comic on John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show and at the Solid Sound Festival at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
Film, TV and radio
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Schaal appeared on HBO's Flight of the Conchords as the stalker-fan Mel, a role which earned her an EWwy nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2009. She was also a credited consultant and writer for Season 11 of South Park, appeared on the BBC's Never Mind the Buzzcocks and played the boss in Fuse's mockumentary The Intern. She made her first appearance as a "special commentator" on Comedy Central's The Daily Show on March 13, 2008, often presented in recurring appearances as its news team's "Senior Women's Issues Correspondent". On April 13, 2008, she made an appearance on Good News Week during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and in October 2008 she appeared in Amnesty International's The Secret Policeman's Ball 2008. She also appeared on an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver about sexual education, talking about abstinence and non-abstinence only education.
Her other film and television credits include Kate and Leopold, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Snake 'n' Bacon, Norbit, Get Him to the Greek, Conviction, Cheap Seats, Freak Show, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, Adam and Steve, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, Delirious, Australian show Good News Week, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Education of Max Bickford, Comedy Central's Contest Searchlight, Ugly Betty, How I Met Your Mother, MTV's Human Giant and Mad Men. She was also a contributor to the sketch/music series The Nighttime Clap on the Fuse music network. She also appeared on Fuse's original comedy series The P.A. Schaal appeared in two TV pilots written and directed by Jersey City comedian Dan McNamara -- The Calderons and Redeeming Rainbow, both of which were screened as official selections at the 2006 and 2007 New York Television Festivals. She was also in television commercials for Wendy's, RadioShack, Starburst and Zaxby's. She made an appearance, in April 2008, on the IFC sketch comedy show The Whitest Kids U' Know. On April 3, 2009 she taped an episode of Comedy Central Presents.[9] In 2010, she added her voice to the PBS Kids GO! series WordGirl as Victoria Best, a child prodigy whose parents taught her to be the best at everything that she does.[10] Schaal voiced 13-year-old Mabel Pines on Disney Channel's hit TV series Gravity Falls.[11][12] She currently voices the character Louise on the FOX Network series Bob's Burgers.[13]
She also stars in A. D. Miles' MyDamnChannel.com series Horrible People. In October 2008, Schaal appeared in an episode of Spicks and Specks. On June 10, 2009, Schaal broadcast her first radio show, High Five!!, on Sirius XM Radio's 'RawDog' channel with co-host Kurt Braunohler.[14] She played Gertha Teeth in the 2009 movie The Vampire's Assistant. Schaal stars in her own web series, Penelope Princess of Pets, one episode of which doubled as the video for the New Pornographers' "Mutiny, I Promise You".[15] She voiced Trixie the Triceratops in Toy Story 3 and Pumpkin Witch and Palace Witch in Shrek Forever After.[16] She was also in the music video for Joey Ramone's "New York City". She also guest starred in the Modern Family episode "Fifteen Percent", as well as the music video for "Conversation 16" by The National. Schaal guest starred on the MC Frontalot album Solved. She was featured with Kurt Braunohler on the Radiolab episode "Loops".[17] Schaal was in a commercial for the Xperia Play version of Minecraft.
Schaal guest starred on The Simpsons May 8, 2011 episode "Homer Scissorhands" in which she plays Taffy, a love interest of Milhouse. She is incorrectly listed in the credits as "Kristen Schall". This prompted Simpsons writers to issue her a unique apology on the next week's episode in which Bart's chalkboard joke in the intro to the show states "It's Kristen Schaal, not Kristen Schall." Schaal also appeared in a music video for "Weird Al" Yankovic's 2014 song "Tacky", a parody of Pharrell Williams's "Happy".
In 2013, Schaal guest starred in the two part episode "Sea Tunt" of Archer, lending her voice to a character named Tiffy.[18][19]
In 2014, Schaal co-starred alongside Casey Wilson, Danielle Schneider, Tymberlee Hill, Andrea Savage, and Angela Kinsey in the first season of the Hulu original series The Hotwives of Orlando.[20] She co-starred alongside Will Forte in the FOX comedy The Last Man on Earth, which premiered on March 1, 2015.[21]
Schaal also voices the character Sarah Lynn in the Netflix original animated series BoJack Horseman.[22] In 2017, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for her performance as Sarah Lynn.
Schaal appeared in A Walk in the Woods (2015) as hiker Mary Ellen.[23]
In 2016, Schaal was a panelist on episode 1 of the British comedy show The Big Fat Quiz of Everything, a spinoff of The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.
In 2017, Schaal was on Episode 49 of Good One: A Podcast About Jokes called "Kristen Schaal and Her Singing, Dancing Bird".[24][25]
Books
Schaal wrote a book of humor, The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex, with her husband, former Daily Show writer Rich Blomquist. It was published in July 2010 by Chronicle Books.[26] She originally intended for them to write the book under pseudonyms, "because I don't want anyone to imagine me doing those things,"[27] but realized it would be harder to promote the book without using their real names.
Personal life
Schaal has been married to former Daily Show staff writer Rich Blomquist since 2012.[26][28] On February 11, 2018, Schaal announced on Instagram that she had given birth to a daughter named Ruby.[29]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Ntune: The Life of a Boyband | Melissa Colby | Short |
| 2001, 2002 | The Education of Max Bickford | Valerie Holmes | 3 episodes |
| 2004 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Abby | Episode: "Brotherhood" |
| 2005 | Cheap Seats: Without Ron Parker | Emily | Episode: "Dog Show/World Beard and Mustache Championship" |
| 2006 | Six Degrees | Gail | 2 episodes |
| Conviction | Allie Rubinoff | Episode: "Madness" | |
| Ugly Betty | Nancy | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| Freak Show | Various voices | 7 episodes | |
| 2007 | Scott Bateman Presents | 2 episodes | |
| Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Alana Binder | Episode: "30" | |
| Human Giant | Girl in Doritos Commercial | Episode: "Lil 9-11" | |
| Mad Men | Nannette | Episode: "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" | |
| How I Met Your Mother | Laura Girard | Episode: "The Platinum Rule" | |
| 2007–09 | Flight of the Conchords | Mel | 21 episodes |
| 2008 | Aqua Teen Hunger Force | Tammy Tangerine (voice) | Episode: "Bible Fruit" |
| The Whitest Kids U'Know | Homeless Woman | Episode: "2.9" | |
| 2008–16 | The Daily Show | Herself (commentator) | 31 episodes |
| 2009 | Xavier: Renegade Angel | Various voices | Episode: "Going Normal" |
| Snake 'n' Bacon | The Green Fairy | Episode: "Pilot"[30] | |
| Comedy Showcase | Tourist | Episode: "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret" | |
| 2010 | Modern Family | Whitney | Episode: "Fifteen Percent" |
| Comedy Lab | Penelope | Episode: "Penelope Princess of Pets" | |
| Fact Checkers Unit | Paula | Episode: "One Groundhog Day Dog" | |
| Scared Shrekless | Sugar the Gingerbread Girl (voice) | Short | |
| 2010–15 | WordGirl | Victoria Best (voice) | 5 episodes |
| 2011 | The Penguins of Madagascar | Muffy, Buffy, and Fluffy (voices) | Episode: "Operation: Neighbor Swap" |
| Soul Quest Overdrive | Tammy (voice) | 5 episodes | |
| 2011, 2012 | American Dad! | Librarian and Girl (voices) | 2 episodes |
| 2011–14 | The Heart, She Holler | Hershe Heartshe | 6 episodes |
| 2011, 2018 | The Simpsons | Taffy and Louise Belcher (voices) | 2 episodes[31] |
| 2011–present | Bob's Burgers | Louise Belcher (voice) | Lead role Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement, Voice Acting in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production |
| 2012, 2013 | 30 Rock | Hazel Wassername | 11 episodes |
| 2012–14 | Adventure Time | Jake Jr. (voice) | 4 episodes |
| 2012–16 | Gravity Falls | Mabel Pines (voice) | Lead role; 40 episodes |
| 2013, 2016 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Herself / Gina Guppies | 2 episodes |
| 2013 | Archer | Tiffy (voice) | 2 episodes |
| Wilfred | Anne | 4 episodes | |
| NTSF:SD:SUV:: | Deborah | Episode: "Trading Faces" | |
| Toy Story of Terror | Trixie (voice) | Short | |
| 2014 | Toy Story That Time Forgot | ||
| The Hotwives of Orlando | Amanda Simmons | Series regular; 7 episodes | |
| Glee | Mary Halloran | Episode: "The Untitled Rachel Berry Project" | |
| 2014–20 | BoJack Horseman | Sarah Lynn, various voices | 14 episodes Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance |
| 2015 | Axe Cop | God (voice) | Episode: "Axe Cop Saves God" |
| The Hotwives of Las Vegas | Amanda Simmons | Episode: "Old Friends, New Enemies" | |
| 2015–18 | The Last Man on Earth | Carol Pilbasian | Main role; 65 episodes Also director: "Gender Friender" |
| 2016 | Wander Over Yonder | Mavis (voice, parody of Mabel Pines) | Episode: "The Cartoon" |
| Brad Neely's Harg Nallin' Sclopio Peepio | Various voices | Episode: "For Sarandon" | |
| Great Minds with Dan Harmon | Amelia Earhart | Episode: "Amelia Earhart" | |
| Transformers: Rescue Bots | Chickadee (voice) | Episode: "Camp Cody" | |
| 2018 | Ask the StoryBots | Biologist | Episode: "How Many Types of Animals Are There?" |
| 2019 | Future Man | Screw | Episode: "Guess Who's Coming to Lunch" |
| What We Do in the Shadows | The Guide | Episode: "The Trial" | |
| Squinters | Tina | 6 episodes | |
| Forky Asks A Question | Trixie (voice) | 2 episodes | |
| 2020 | The Green Beret's Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse | Herself | Episode: "Big Ones" |
| Amphibia | Bella the Bellhop | Episode: "The Planters Check In"[32] |
| Year | Title | Voice role |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Toy Story 3: The Video Game | Trixie |
| 2019 | Anthem | Sayrna |
References
- "StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson: The Science of Sex". Retrieved August 12, 2013. The original Dutch pronunciation would be /sxɑːl/.
- Patterson, John (October 15, 2010). "Kristen Schaal: The toast of American comedy". The Guardian. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- "The Kooky Monster". The Age. Melbourne. March 23, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- Todd, Charlie (September 26, 2005). "The Ten Funniest New Yorkers You've Never Heard Of". New York. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- "4th Annual ECNY Award Winners". ECNY Awards. February 10, 2011. Archived from the original on May 1, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- Kent, Melissa (April 13, 2008). "Top comics grin and share the main prize". The Age. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- Strachan, Alex (October 17, 2009). "Live at Gotham a Prerequisite for the Big Time". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- "Edinburgh Festival If.comedy award shortlist announced". The List. August 20, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- "COMEDY CENTRAL(R) Gets the New Year Rolling with Laughter!". PR Newswire. Bloomberg. January 5, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- Liu, Ed (June 10, 2009). "Scholastic Media Renews "WordGirl" for 26 More Episodes". ToonZone.net. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- "Gravity Falls". Disney Channel Media Net. May 2012. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012.
- "Weirdmaggedon 3: Take Back The Falls". Gravity Falls. Season 2. July 24, 2020. Disney XD.
- "Bob's Burgers Cast". Tvlistings.zap2it.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- Brophy-Warren, Jamin (June 10, 2009). ""Flight of the Conchords" Meets "South Park" on Satellite Radio". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- "Kristen Schaal (COMEDIAN)". The Believer. June 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- Chen, David (October 12, 2009). "Lee Unkrich Announces Kristen Schaal and Blake Clark Cast in Toy Story 3; Toy Story 3D Double Feature To Stay in Theaters". /Film. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- "Kristen Schaal". Radiolab. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- Quintana, Anna (June 13, 2016). "Danger Zone: Here Are 11 of the Best Celebrity Guest Stars to Ever Appear on 'Archer'!". Life & Style. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
- Saraiya, Sonia (April 4, 2013). "Archer: "Sea Tunt: Part I"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
- Sean L. McCarthy (May 22, 2015). "Meet the cast of Hulu's The Hotwives of Las Vegas". The Comics Comic. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- Ryan, Maureen (March 2, 2015). "The Problem With 'Last Man On Earth' No One Is Talking About". The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- Paskin, Willa (August 22, 2014). "The Longest Face". Slate. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
- Bowman, Jordan (September 4, 2015). "What "A Walk in the Woods" Gets Wrong About Thru-Hiking and the Appalachian Trail". The Trek. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- Fox, Jesse David (2017-03-03). "How Kristen Schaal Came to Terms With Being a Stand-up Comedian". Vulture: Devouring Culture. NEW YORK MEDIA LLC. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
Schaal talks about coming to terms with her position in stand-up and the process behind her conceptual bits.
- Fox, Jesse David (27 February 2017). "Kristen Schaal Discusses Her Best Joke". Vulture: Devouring Culture. NEW YORK MEDIA LLC. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
[T]he bit did come to her in a dream, but after that she worked to make it a perfect piece of absurdist comedic deconstruction.
- Schaal, Kristen; Blomquist, Rich (July 28, 2010). The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0811871266.
- Powers, Nicole (December 10, 2008). "Kristen Schaal: Confessions of a Disappointed Hillary Supporter". SuicideGirls. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- Friedlander, Whitney (6 May 2016). "'Daily Show's' Rich Blomquist Signs Overall with Fox TV". Variety. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- Schaal, Kristen (February 11, 2018). "After years of trying and some experimental fertility treatments, Rich and I had a baby! Everyone meet Ruby!". Instagram.
- "Snake'N'Bacon's Cartoon Cabaret". michaelkupperman.com. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
Segments of the book were later animated, first for the Comedy Central show TV Funhouse in early 2001, then for the Adult Swim pilot Snake'N'Bacon in 2009.
- Itzkoff, Dave (May 16, 2011). "Credit Where It's Due: A 'Simpsons' Spelling Lesson". The New York Times. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- Ramos, Dino-Ray (23 June 2020). "Disney Channel Renews 'Amphibia' For Season 3; Kermit The Frog, Jenifer Lewis, George Takei And More To Guest Star On Season 2". Deadline.
External links
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