John Hodgman

John Hodgman in 2006

John Kellogg Hodgman^[1] (born June 1971) is an American author and humorist who is best known for his personification of a PC in Apple's "Get a Mac" advertising campaign and his correspondent work on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

His written work has been published in The Paris Review, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Wired and The New York Times Magazine, for which he is editor of the humor section. He is also a contributor to Public Radio International’s This American Life, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Wiretap. His first book, The Areas of My Expertise, for which he also performs the audio narration, was published in 2005.

In addition, Hodgman is the is the founder of, and master of ceremonies for, The Little Gray Book Lectures in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The lectures have been on hiatus "for the foreseeable future," however, as of August 2007. (Originally reported as lasting until "at least Jan. 1, 2007" due to Hodgman's many new projects, according to a notification posted on littlegreybooks.com as early as September 2006.)

Biography

Hodgman was born and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts and attended Heath School and Brookline High School. Hodgman studied clarinet performance at the All Newton Music School in West Newton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale University in 1994.[1] Before gaining fame as a writer, Hodgman worked as a literary agent at Writers House in New York City, where he represented Darin Strauss, David Grand, Deborah Digges, and actor Bruce Campbell, among others. Hodgman has used his experience as an agent in his column “Ask a Former Professional Literary Agent” at McSweeney's Internet Tendency.

Television appearances

The Daily Show

Hodgman appeared on The Daily Show on November 16, 2005 to promote his book, The Areas of My Expertise. Stewart described the book as “very funny” and said that the section on hobo names in particular was written with “a certain kind of genius.” Hodgman has returned to the Daily Show several times for "Resident Expert" interview segments with Stewart. Unlike other correspondents, who are frequently re-branded with titles using the “Senior [Descriptive Word or Topic] Correspondent” format, Hodgman retains the simple title “Resident Expert," thus implying that he can speak expertly on anything. As of 2007, The Daily Show’s website lists Hodgman as an official contributor.

Daily Show appearances

On January 16, 2006, Hodgman appeared as an “expert” on Iranian nuclear ambitions.
On January 31, 2006, he appeared on the show for a third time as an “expert” to discuss the retirement of Alan Greenspan.
On March 8, 2006, he appeared in a report about India-Pakistan relations.
On March 20, 2006, he posed as an expert on the potential effects of global warming.
On April 25, 2006 he appeared as a judge for the U.S. Army’s essay contest.
On July 19, 2006 Hodgman appeared as an expert on net neutrality, in a segment which made joking references to his appearances in the Get a Mac campaign (see below) and lampooning Senator Ted Stevens's "series of tubes" statement.
On August 24, 2006 Hodgman explained the addition of new planets to the solar system. He provided a mnemonic device for remembering the names of all the planets: "My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizza Cars 2003 UB313 (Xena) AKA (Also Known As) Lesbian", and explained that he thinks of a planet as something "you can beam down to", is inhabited by green women, and would be eaten by Galactus.
On November 2, 2006 he appeared as the resident expert on Diebold Election Systems electronic voting machines.
On December 4, 2006 he appeared as a potential presidential candidate.
On January 17, 2007 he appeared as an expert on American Idol. It was also "revealed" that John himself was discovered on a Bravo "TV Expert" search program.
On January 30, 2007 he appeared as the resident expert concerning the dates of Primaries.
On February 14, 2007 he appeared as the resident sexual-pert, discussing various aspects of love.
On March 7, 2007 he appeared as the resident expert on Human Growth Hormone abuse.
On March 28, 2007 he appeared as the resident expert on Presidential executive privilege.
On May 1, 2007 he appeared as the resident expert on the history and function of the World Bank.
On May 17, 2007 he appeared as "The President Whisperer".
On June 11, 2007 he appeared as an expert on mixed martial arts.
On June 28, 2007 he appeared as an expert on immigration.
On July 31, 2007 he appeared as an expert on presidential candidates' appearances.
On September 11, 2007 he appeared as an expert on success.
On October 4, 2007 he appeared as a financial expert.
On October 18, 2007 he appeared as an expert on authenticating art.

Attack of the Show

Lobsters as they appear in The Areas of My Expertise

In February of 2006, Hodgman appeared on Attack of the Show, a tech-related show which runs daily on G4, to share some insight with the host and promote his book The Areas of My Expertise. In this appearance Hodgman recounted the sad tale of the lobster (which he said were actually a small, furry, extinct species, killed and replaced by the creatures we think of as lobsters today) and brought along Jonathan Coulton, a frequent Hodgman collaborator and musical director of the Little Gray Book lectures. Coulton performed a song called Furry Old Lobster. [2]

"Get a Mac" ad campaign

Hodgman appears in the Get a Mac advertising campaign for Apple Inc., which started in May 2006. In the ads he plays an anthropomorphized PC alongside his Mac counterpart, played by actor Justin Long. While he plays the role of a PC in the campaign, Hodgman is actually a diehard Mac user: "I bought the very first Mac, or convinced my father to buy it, in 1984."^[2]

Venue Songs

In 2005, Hodgman played a character named "The Deranged Millionaire" in They Might Be Giants' Venue Songs DVD/CD, narrating in between songs with dialog he co-wrote with the band. He also narrated a number of "Venue Songs"-themed setlists during the band's live shows in 2005, and has introduced the band while in the role of The Deranged Millionaire as recently as May 16, 2007.

Flight of the Conchords

In 2007, Hodgman appeared in the "Bowie" episode of the HBO television series Flight of the Conchords. He played the manager of a musical greeting card company who was considering using one of the band's songs for a greeting card.

Other media appearances

Radio

Hodgman appears on This American Life's CD Stories of Hope and Fear and has contributed segments of the public radio program This American Life:

178 - Superpowers, asking the question, "which is better: flight or invisibility?"
190 - Living the Dream, in which he becomes Bruce Campbell's literary agent.
205 - Plan B, interviewing a professional partier.
226 - Reruns, retelling story about his arrest for breaking into the London Zoo so that he could pet penguins and ultimately be arrested.
232 - The Real Story, disclosing that he rewrites the screenplay to Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in his head.
243 - Later That Same Day, telling story about revisiting Atlantic City to ride the Sling Shot following loss of close family members.
298 - Getting and Spending, living at the Mall of America for seven days (from Hodgman's The Areas of My Expertise).
305 - Holiday Spectacular, discussing the true-life origins of Christmas traditions.
329 - Nice Work If You Can Get It, telling the story of what happens when celebrity hunts you down and finds you.

Hodgman also appeared on the podcast Jordan, Jesse GO! playing "Judge Hodgman" presiding over a mock trial.

Print

Hodgman appears on the cover of the February 2007 edition of Wired Magazine, as a contributor to their "What we don't know about..." articles.
Hodgman oversaw the "True Life Tales" section of the Sunday New York Times Magazine.^[3] The section is currently on hiatus.

Online

- Ze Frank's The Show, at the tail end of the episode discussing the brisk Brooklyn weather.

Bibliography

The Areas of My Expertise (ISBN 0-525-94908-9, 2005)

References

^ Hodgman, John. “Wish Lists.” Open Letters. August 20, 2000.
^ Miliard, Mike. "Sweet Information!", Boston Phoenix, 2006-09-21. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
^ The New York Times Magazine “From the Editors.” September 18, 2005.

External links

This article has been illustrated as part of WikiProject WikiWorld.

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In the media

Story on appearance on Carl Arnheiter's Inside Joke show at UCB Theatre
Abridged Audio book at the iTunes Store
Interview with John Hodgman, Engadget, 2006-10-05
Small biography on Comedy Central
Hodgman’s appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Venue Songs DVD/CD On this DVD by They Might Be Giants, Hodgman plays “The Deranged Millionaire.”
MP3 interview with Hodgman on The Sound of Young America, February 2006
MP3 interview with Hodgman on The Sound of Young America, November 2005
Hodgman’s Appearance on the Jawbone Radio podcast.
Hodgman’s appearance in the new ads “Get a Mac” of Apple, May 2006
Ink Q &A John Hodgman 13 questions answered by Hodgman for Powells.com
Random Rules: John Hodgman Kyle Ryan interview with Hodgman on avclub.com, April 2006
A Believer Nighttime Event Hodgman hosts a literary “variety show” for the PEN World Voices New York Festival of International Literature—includes audio of entire event pen.org, April 2006
So What Do You Do, John Hodgman? Lizzie Skurnick interview with Hodgman on Media Bistro.com, July 2003
The Transom Review, vol.2, iss.7 Intro by Jay Allison, including a link to streaming audio of Hodgman as a college radio host plus transcript of Q &A with Hodgman on Transom.org, June 2002
open letters Two letters published as part of an online publication exploring first-person writing through letters openletters.net, September and October 2000
Photo submission Individuals and reflective surfaces on mirrorproject.com, June 2000
NPR interview

Current correspondents and contributors to The Daily Show
Dan Bakkedahl • Samantha Bee • Lewis Black • John Hodgman • Jason Jones • Aasif Mandvi • Demetri Martin • John Oliver • Rob Riggle • Larry Wilmore

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