Michael Ian Black

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Birthday:

12 August 1971, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Birth Name:

Michael Schwartz

Height:

178 cm

Michael Ian Black was born in Chicago, Illinois, but his family moved to Hillsborough, New Jersey, when he was young. His parents divorced when he was 3. When he was 12, his father died during neurological surgery following a mysterious assault.Michael attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts but left before graduation. It was there he met and joined the core group of the comedy group "The State", who had a short run with their own MTV show, The State (1993), before attempting a move to CBS in the mid-1990s; their make-or-break Halloween special fell short of expectations, and a CBS series never came into fruition. Since then Black has appeared as a regular on Comedy Central's Reno 911! (2003) starring Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant and Kerri Kenney.In addition to his regular television appearances, he also performs in the comedy group Stella (2005) with fellow State alumni Michael Showalter and David Wain. Show less «

I honestly believe you can never tell if a relationship is going to last. In my own marriage, which is going on 14 years, I don't think of i...Show more »

I honestly believe you can never tell if a relationship is going to last. In my own marriage, which is going on 14 years, I don't think of it as 'I'm going to be with this person forever.' Instead, I think of more like, 'I'll probably be with this person for the next six weeks. Then I'll re-evaluate.' Show less «

Everybody has something they love to do. Do that thing.

Lordy, lordy, lordy do I love money. It is a character flaw, no doubt, one that springs from a panicked childhood in which I always felt as ...Show more »

Lordy, lordy, lordy do I love money. It is a character flaw, no doubt, one that springs from a panicked childhood in which I always felt as if our family was only a couple missed child support payments from being tossed onto the pitiless streets of our suburban New Jersey town. Show less «

Well, I think my stand-up is often kind of visual. Not like Carrot Top visual, but visual.

Separation is the worst. There's no good way to deal with it, other than to get on the phone and do Skype and try to visit.

Nothing is more satisfying to me than sitting in a dank room, hunched over a single flickering candle like Ebenezer Scrooge, and watching my...Show more »

Nothing is more satisfying to me than sitting in a dank room, hunched over a single flickering candle like Ebenezer Scrooge, and watching my ledgers fill themselves with ink. Show less «

Whenever anyone asks me if I'm from a TV show, I say yes - no matter whether I've ever been on it. It just makes the conversation that much ...Show more »

Whenever anyone asks me if I'm from a TV show, I say yes - no matter whether I've ever been on it. It just makes the conversation that much easier. Show less «

I have a good family and I like to be home with them. The older I get, the lazier I get, and the more content I am to sit at home and eat st...Show more »

I have a good family and I like to be home with them. The older I get, the lazier I get, and the more content I am to sit at home and eat string cheese. Show less «

I actually don't know anyone who wants to be famous for fame's sake, at least not anyone I respect. But you need to have a certain amount of...Show more »

I actually don't know anyone who wants to be famous for fame's sake, at least not anyone I respect. But you need to have a certain amount of power in order to be able to do what you want. Show less «

Let me tell you, the life of a C list celebrity is pretty sweet. If I want to go to an Applebee's, all I have to do is, literally, walk in t...Show more »

Let me tell you, the life of a C list celebrity is pretty sweet. If I want to go to an Applebee's, all I have to do is, literally, walk in the door. They seat me as soon as the other people ahead of me are seated. Show less «

I loved 'Dungeons & Dragons.' Actually, not so much the actual playing as the creation of characters and the opportunity to roll twenty-side...Show more »

I loved 'Dungeons & Dragons.' Actually, not so much the actual playing as the creation of characters and the opportunity to roll twenty-sided dice. I loved those pouches of dice Dungeon Masters would trundle around, loved choosing what I was going to be: warrior, wizard, dwarf, thief. Show less «

I am not a music snob. If anything, my musical taste is bad by any critical standards.

I don't watch that much comedy. I think it's professional jealousy. That and a lack of support for my community.

My tastes in all things lean towards the arty and boring. I like sports documentaries about Scrabble players, bands that play quiet, unassum...Show more »

My tastes in all things lean towards the arty and boring. I like sports documentaries about Scrabble players, bands that play quiet, unassuming music, and TV shows that win awards. In that way, I am an elitist snob. Show less «

I feel like my career has been a series of glowing obituaries.

My absolute favorite growing up was 'Super Friends.' The assemblage of so many mighty heroes in one place was, to me, mind-blowing. It was S...Show more »

My absolute favorite growing up was 'Super Friends.' The assemblage of so many mighty heroes in one place was, to me, mind-blowing. It was Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman, and then sometimes Hawkman and some other, lesser heroes. Show less «

All the work that I do, whether or not it ends up being commercially successful or not, feels like the most important thing to me while I'm ...Show more »

All the work that I do, whether or not it ends up being commercially successful or not, feels like the most important thing to me while I'm doing it. I try to take something away from every project, and so they all feel like milestones for one reason or another. Show less «

The thing that I think is the most important is taking moments to express your appreciation to your partner. A thank you or a quick kiss can...Show more »

The thing that I think is the most important is taking moments to express your appreciation to your partner. A thank you or a quick kiss can go a long way toward affirming your relationship and commitment to each other. That's not hard to do even when you're juggling insane careers and three kids. Show less «

Your harshest critic is always going to be yourself. Don't ignore that critic but don't give it more attention than it deserves.

There is no word for feeling nostalgic about the future, but that's what a parent's tears often are, a nostalgia for something that has not ...Show more »

There is no word for feeling nostalgic about the future, but that's what a parent's tears often are, a nostalgia for something that has not yet occurred. They are the pain of hope, the helplessness of hope, and finally, the surrender to hope. Show less «

I am a poker player, but I am not a good poker player. My favorite game is seven card stud, but I'll play hi/lo, Hold 'em, Razz, etc.

I take it for what it is, and sometimes the criticism is actually useful and constructive and actually informs what I do, but most of the ti...Show more »

I take it for what it is, and sometimes the criticism is actually useful and constructive and actually informs what I do, but most of the time, it's sort of mindless, or they're receiving something on a different frequency than I was sending it. Show less «

People recognize me, but they don't know where from. Today I was in the elevator and somebody asked me if I worked for his company.

Best strategy for a first date is to ask her questions. Just keeping asking her questions about herself. Her life, her job, her friends, her...Show more »

Best strategy for a first date is to ask her questions. Just keeping asking her questions about herself. Her life, her job, her friends, her taste in movies and music and everything. People mostly just want to talk about themselves, so let her do that. Show less «

I don't think I was awake for much of my childhood. I did a lot of napping. This might have been a defensive measure against encroaching dep...Show more »

I don't think I was awake for much of my childhood. I did a lot of napping. This might have been a defensive measure against encroaching depression. Until about the age of eleven or twelve, I had zero interests other than trying to steal gumballs from supermarket gumball machines. Show less «

Many, many people can write books. I just happen to be one of them.

At this point, I feel fairly comfortable in terms of performance. I think having a sketch background actually helps a lot. Because my backgr...Show more »

At this point, I feel fairly comfortable in terms of performance. I think having a sketch background actually helps a lot. Because my background is acting, and stand-up, in a lot of ways, is acting. Show less «

I think people hate me pretty much across the board, which is nice. I mean, it's a pretty evenhanded loathing among a certain amount of the ...Show more »

I think people hate me pretty much across the board, which is nice. I mean, it's a pretty evenhanded loathing among a certain amount of the critical population, which used to be about 80 percent. So now I've gotten to the point where I just don't worry about it that much. It used to be very upsetting, now it's only mildly upsetting. Show less «

There's this misconception that comedy and music go together. They don't. Comedians can't compete with rock stars; they're just not on the s...Show more »

There's this misconception that comedy and music go together. They don't. Comedians can't compete with rock stars; they're just not on the same level. Rock stars will always be cooler. They will always get more girls. Show less «

I definitely script things out. I definitely write things down and try to write jokes. Often, they're terrible. I often write terrible, terr...Show more »

I definitely script things out. I definitely write things down and try to write jokes. Often, they're terrible. I often write terrible, terrible jokes. Show less «

Wish I could, through my own financial prestidigitation, transform a dollar bill into two, or two million. It is an awesome and mysterious s...Show more »

Wish I could, through my own financial prestidigitation, transform a dollar bill into two, or two million. It is an awesome and mysterious skill. Show less «

My first real break was when my college sketch troupe, The State, was asked to contribute pieces for a new MTV show called 'You Wrote It, Yo...Show more »

My first real break was when my college sketch troupe, The State, was asked to contribute pieces for a new MTV show called 'You Wrote It, You Watch It.' Show less «

Most of the time, you don't win anything on reality shows. You're booted off, or maybe you win $50,000, or $100,000, which isn't really life...Show more »

Most of the time, you don't win anything on reality shows. You're booted off, or maybe you win $50,000, or $100,000, which isn't really life-changing. I don't know that it's worth it. Show less «

Corporations do a lot of things well, but not run nations, for obvious reasons.

If you get an idea, you might as well stick with it until somebody calls you on it.