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Draft:Alex Schmidt

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Alex Schmidt
Born (1988-03-21) March 21, 1988 (age 36)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSyracuse University
Occupation(s)podcaster, writer, humorist, video creator
Known forJeopardy! winner, emoji creator, video creator, The New Yorker, The Onion, 1900HotDog.com
Notable workSecretly Incredibly Fascinating, Kurt Vonneguys, "Hilarious Helmet History", The Cracked Podcast
Websitealexschmidty.com

Alex Schmidt is an American podcaster, writer, humorist, and emoji creator. He created and co-hosts the podcast "Secretly Incredibly Fascinating"[1] on the Maximum Fun podcast network.[2] He also co-hosts the independent "Kurt Vonneguys" podcast. Schmidt writes humor pieces for The New Yorker[3] and for 1-900-HOTDOG,[4] and wrote for The Onion, as well as making comedy videos and podcasts as a staff member of Cracked.com. Schmidt also proposed the creation of the bison emoji[5] on the emoji keyboard.

Early life

[edit]

Schmidt grew up in the Chicago region, and watched Jeopardy! each day after school.[6] He attended Glenbard South High School and was active in its music program.[7] He is a fan of Portillo's Hot Dogs and the Kane County Cougars baseball team[8]. Schmidt attended Syracuse University, and spent summers working as a tram tour guide at Brookfield Zoo.

Career

[edit]

During college, Schmidt interned at the website CollegeHumor.com.[9] He also participated in the Syracuse University improv group "Zamboni Revolution".[10] After graduation, Schmidt continued writing for CollegeHumor, and worked for its sister website Jest.com. Schmidt's script writing won the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater's LA Pilot Discovery Competition. He also contributed writing to The Onion, BBC America, Funny Or Die, Cracked.com, and The American Bystander.

In 2016, Schmidt and collaborator Michael Swaim created the "Kurt Vonneguys" podcast,[11] covering each book by the author Kurt Vonnegut. The show went on hiatus before returning in 2021 with new episodes about new Vonnegut media.[12]

In 2014, Schmidt joined the staff of Cracked.com, after freelancing for years. He hosted numerous YouTube series for Cracked.com, including "New Guy Weekly" and "Hilarious Helmet History". "Hilarious Helmet History" has been viewed more than 15 million times on YouTube. In July 2017, Jack O'Brien departed Cracked.com and named Schmidt the new host of "The Cracked Podcast". Schmidt remained host for almost 150 episodes, and toured the show in Los Angeles, Chicago, Saint Paul, Minnesota, and London. Schmidt was fired by new corporate owner Literally Media in June 2020, making him the second and final host of "The Cracked Podcast" on the Earwolf podcast network. Schmidt currently writes humor pieces for 1-900-HOTDOG,[13] a website featuring former Cracked.com writers such as Robert Brockway and Sean "Seanbaby" Reiley. He has also written for "Some More News"[14][15][16], collaborating again with other former Cracked employees.

In 2020, Schmidt created "Secretly Incredibly Fascinating",[17] a nonfiction comedy podcast about seemingly ordinary things. Episodes air weekly on Mondays, with a range of guests from comedy and podcasting. Schmidt also hosted a live episode of the podcast at Caveat in New York City[18] and toured the podcast at the 2024 London Podcast Festival.[19] The show's theme song is "Unbroken Unshaven" by The Budos Band. "Secretly Incredibly Fascinating" garnered critical praise from Podcast Brunch Club,[20] The A.V. Club,[21] Upworthy,[22] the editors of Apple Podcasts,[23] and critics at The New York Times.[24] In 2023, "Secretly Incredibly Fascinating" joined the Maximum Fun podcast network[25] and made Katie Goldin its weekly co-host.[26] Schmidt and Goldin also created a podcast miniseries recapping the television show The Inspectors for Maximum Fun's listener fundraising drives.

Schmidt is a popular video creator on TikTok. His videos have been viewed more than 100 million times, led by a viral post about grocery store self-checkout thefts[27] and a viral post about Delaware license plate numbering.[28] Schmidt also creates videos for Instagram Reels, featured by Laughing Squid and People Magazine and other major media.[29][30][31]

Jeopardy! Contestant

[edit]

Schmidt appeared as a contestant on Season 35 of Jeopardy!. He won four games[32], and a total $94,880 in prize money.[33] Schmidt is a lifelong Jeopardy! fan, and in middle school he carried a book about the show around with him in his backpack.[34]

Bison Emoji

[edit]

In 2019, Schmidt submitted a proposal to Unicode to add a bison emoji to its keyboard.[35] Unicode accepted the proposal in 2020. Schmidt documented the experience in a podcast miniseries called "1 Way To Make An Emoji".[36]

Personal life

[edit]

Schmidt lives in Beacon, New York with his wife and their cats. Schmidt often wears a Hudson Valley Renegades or Kane County Cougars baseball hat in his videos on Tiktok.

In "1 Way To Make An Emoji", Schmidt said the bison emoji project was partly motivated by the loss of his father and a wish to honor his memory.

References

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  1. ^ "Ten Podcasts That Will Make You Smarter". Lifehacker. 28 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Secretly Incredibly Fascinating". 26 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Contributors: Alex Schmidt". The New Yorker.
  4. ^ "Alex Schmidt, Author at 1900HOTDOG".
  5. ^ "Emojipedia (Bison)".
  6. ^ "Tink*: Interview with Alex Schmidt". 8 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Student quartet hits romantic high note". Chicago Tribune. 12 February 2006.
  8. ^ Lyttle, Zoey (4 March 2024). "Butter Looks Different Based on Where You Live in America — Here's Why". People.
  9. ^ "Tumblr blog: CollegeHumor stuff to date".
  10. ^ "Improv comedy group revolts against conventional material". The Daily Orange. 11 October 2006.
  11. ^ "Kurt Vonneguys".
  12. ^ "Kurt Vonneguys".
  13. ^ "About 1900HOTDOG".
  14. ^ "We Need To Talk About Hungary" (video). youtube.com. SOME MORE NEWS. 9 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Is Democracy In Wisconsin In Peril?" (video). youtube.com. SOME MORE NEWS. 29 March 2023.
  16. ^ "The Oversaturated Hell of the Marvel Cinematic Universe" (video). youtube.com. SOME MORE NEWS. 4 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Secretly Incredibly Fascinating".
  18. ^ "Secretly Incredibly Fascinating (Live): Raccoons". 24 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Kings Place: Secretly Incredibly Fascinating at the London Podcast Festival". Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  20. ^ "Podcast Brunch Club".
  21. ^ "The U.S. Postal Service is awesome, and Secretly Incredibly Fascinating aims to prove it". The A.V. Club. 17 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Upworthy's Favorite Podcasts". Upworthy.
  23. ^ "Apple Podcasts New and Noteworthy list - December 2022".
  24. ^ Dibdin, Emma (28 June 2022). "6 Podcasts to Make You Feel Good". The New York Times.
  25. ^ "January 30th Newsletter: New show! New staff!". 30 January 2023.
  26. ^ Dessau, Bruce (18 June 2024). "First Names Announced For London Podcast Festival 2024". Beyond the Joke.
  27. ^ "@alexschmidty on TikTok: "basically everybody on earth is stealing from self checkouts — and that includes you 💸 #money #groceryshopping #selfcheckout #accident"". TikTok. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  28. ^ "@alexschmidty on TikTok: "Delaware license plate culture 🚗 #funfacts #delaware #licenseplates #us #cars #carculture #eastcoast #auctions @SecretlyIncrediblyFascinating"". TikTok. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  29. ^ "Why Stops Signs Are Octagon Shaped". Laughing Squid. 15 June 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  30. ^ "The Early New York City Origins of the Classic Slipping on a Banana Peel Comedy Trope". Laughing Squid. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  31. ^ "Butter Looks Different Based on Where You Live in America — Here's Why (Exclusive)". People Magazine. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  32. ^ Dorn, Lori (2 June 2024). "The Early New York City Origins of the Classic Slipping on a Banana Peel Comedy Trope". Laughing Squid.
  33. ^ "J! Archive - Alex Schmidt".
  34. ^ "Tink*: Interview with Alex Schmidt". 8 June 2021.
  35. ^ "Emojipedia (Bison)".
  36. ^ "1 Way To Make An Emoji".
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