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Actor · Writer

1968-09-12 · Philadelphia, PA, USA · Male

82 series in the catalog

Paul Francis Tompkins (born September 12, 1968) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He has worked in television on such programs as BoJack Horseman, Mr. Show with Bob and David, Real Time with Bill Maher, and Best Week Ever, later renamed Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins.

He has numerous appearances on podcasts, including his 200-plus appearances on Comedy Bang! Bang! He has been the host of the Fusion Channel talk show No, You Shut Up!, The Dead Authors Podcast, the online Made Man interview series Speakeasy with Paul F. Tompkins, the Earwolf podcast Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins, and The Pod F. Tompkast, which was ranked by Rolling Stone on their list of "The 10 Best Comedy Podcasts of the Moment" in 2011. He is a main cast member of the Superego podcast and was a regular player on Thrilling Adventure Hour podcast, which ended in 2015. He is hosting the podcasts Threedom and The Neighborhood Listen as well as the independent podcast Stay F. Homekins.

Tompkins voiced Mr. Peanutbutter, an anthropomorphic yellow labrador, on the Netflix animated series BoJack Horseman from 2014 to 2020. He has appeared in drama films like There Will Be Blood and The Informant!. In 2021, he had a recurring role on the sitcom Rutherford Falls.

In December 2014, Paste named his Twitter one of "The 75 Best Twitter Accounts of 2014", ranking it at.

Early life and education

Tompkins was born on September 12, 1968, in Philadelphia. He is the fifth of six children. He attended Bishop McDevitt High School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania.

Early work

In 1986, Tompkins first performed comedy at 17 years of age at The Comedy Works in Philadelphia (a club now located in Bristol, Pennsylvania), where he performed as half of a sketch comedy duo with Rick Roman. Tompkins attended Temple University; he dropped out and left for Los Angeles, California, in 1994.

Tompkins met actor Jay Johnston in L.A. through their mutual friend, actor and director Adam McKay. McKay and Tompkins had become friends in Philadelphia, where they had both started to perform stand-up at around the same time. McKay later moved to Chicago and met Johnston; Johnston moved to L.A. at around the same time as Tompkins and McKay introduced the two. Tompkins and Johnston created a live sketch comedy show called "The Skates" that was seen by Bob Odenkirk and David Cross and helped get them hired to work on Mr. Show with Bob and David in 1996.

Live comedic performance

Tompkins's comedy career has included stand-up, sketch comedy and a variety of other live performances.

Tompkins's stand-up comedy performances are of a storytelling and observationalist style. His shows often consist of extended riffs and long anecdotes. Tompkins deals with topics of the bizarre and the absurd—such as a rant about peanut brittle, a discussion about cake versus pie, and smashed coins—in addition to recounting stories about his own life experiences and family. His comedic style has been described as alternative comedy; Tompkins has stated that he is not bothered by the label and that he likes the term.

Tompkins is known for his style of dress during his live comedic performances, always performing in suit and tie, sometimes in pinstripes and with a bowtie; his look has been described by some in the press as "dapper". Tompkins has described his look as "foppish" and "just this side of Cedric the Entertainer."

Tompkins is based in Los Angeles and performs regularly in the city. Since 2002 he has performed a monthly show called The Paul F. Tompkins Show at Largo, an L.A. nightclub and cabaret. His show has featured such guests as Fiona Apple, Jack Black, Dave Foley, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Aimee Mann, and Weird Al Yankovic. Since its inception in 2005, Tompkins has taken part in the Thrilling Adventure Hour, a staged production in the style of old-time radio that is also held monthly at Largo. The show began podcasting in January 2011; in October of that same year the show's podcasts moved to the Nerdist Industries podcast network created by Chris Hardwick. Tompkins is a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCB) Los Angeles. His comedy album Impersonal was recorded live at the UCB Theatre. He also performs monthly at the "Dead Authors" show at UCB Theatre in support of the nonprofit organization 826LA; Tompkins plays the role of H.G. Wells who serves as the host of the show.

Tompkins has toured in the US and Canada and prefers to perform in independent venues, rather than conventional comedy clubs. Starting in 2009 he embarked on his "Tompkins 300" tour. Tompkins had been preparing for his one-hour Comedy Central special You Should Have Told Me at the Laughing Skull Lounge theatre in Atlanta, Georgia—a small theatre that seats about 74 people. In order to fill the seats for the recording of his special, Tompkins required about 280 people in the audience over the course of four nights for the recording of his show. Tompkins decided to announce on Twitter that he needed 300 people to fill the seats each night.

Bob Kerr, a Canadian comedian, saw the Twitter post and asked if Tompkins would like to perform in Toronto. Tompkins advised Kerr that if he was able to get 300 people to state that they would definitely see his show he would come to Toronto. Kerr then started a Facebook group called "I Wanna See Paul F. Tompkins in Toronto" and managed to get 300 people to join. In October of that same year Tompkins performed at The Rivoli night club in Toronto, the same club in which the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall got their start. Facebook groups were subsequently started in other North American cities and in 2010 he stated that he had stopped promoting his shows on the radio. In 2011 he said that the Facebook 300 groups had become his main method of booking comedy shows.

Tompkins wrote and performed in his one-man show, Driven to Drink, which aired on HBO in 1998. He appeared on 6 episodes of Late Night with Conan O'Brien between 1998 and 2008 as well as two episodes of Conan in 2011 and 2012. He has recorded three comedy albums: Impersonal in 2007, Freak Wharf in 2009, and Laboring Under Delusions in 2012. His stand-up appearances on the Comedy Central network include being featured in episodes of Comedy Central Presents in 2003 and 2007, hosting an episode of Live at Gotham in 2009, performing on John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show in 2010, and recording two original one-hour comedy specials—You Should Have Told Me which aired in 2010 and Paul F. Tompkins: Laboring Under Delusions in 2012. He also appeared in the RiffTrax live broadcast of House on Haunted Hill.

Acting and writing

Tompkins wrote for and performed on Mr. Show with Bob and David from 1995 to 1998; the show's writers, including Tompkins, were nominated for an Emmy Award in 1998 for "Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program".

Tompkins's work with Mr. Show's creators Bob Odenkirk and David Cross also led to his recurring role on the Tenacious D TV series. Tompkins played the character of a nightclub manager who is duped into reading Tenacious D's ridiculous introductions during their open mic performances. He revived the role in the comedic band's film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny released in 2006.

Longtime friend Adam McKay consulted Tompkins regarding the screenplay for Talladega Nights. Tompkins also played the MC of a cat show in McKay's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

Tompkins has appeared on television programs including NewsRadio, Frasier, Weeds, The Sarah Silverman Program, Pushing Daisies, Community, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Tompkins played the role of Prescott in Paul Thomas Anderson's film There Will Be Blood (2007); Anderson had previously cast Tompkins in a small role in the 1999 film Magnolia after watching Tompkins perform at Largo. Tompkins also played FBI Agent Anthony D'Angelo in Steven Soderbergh's The Informant! (2009). He has a recurring role in the Canadian TV series The L.A…