'Adam Carolla' (b.
May 27,
1964) is an
American comedian,
comedy writer,
radio personality,
television personality and
actor. Carolla achieved fame for several broadcast stints: Co-host of the radio show ''
Loveline'', from 1995 to 2005 (and its television incarnation on
MTV from 1996 to 2000); co-creator and co-star of the television program ''
The Man Show'' (1999-2004); co-creator and performer on the television program ''
Crank Yankers'' (2002-present).
Carolla currently hosts ''
The Adam Carolla Show'' (see
section below), a weekday morning radio program broadcast from Los Angeles and syndicated in eleven west-coast markets.
[1]
In
2006, Carolla completed work on ''
The Hammer'', an
independent film that he co-wrote and co-produced. He plays the lead role in the film, opposite
Heather Juergensen. The film premiered at the
2007 Tribeca Film Festival, and its release is anticipated later in the year.
[2][3]
Early life
Carolla was born in
Pennsylvania to an
Italian American father and a
Hungarian American mother.
Adam grew up in
North Hollywood,
California, located in the
San Fernando Valley. His family is often a topic on his radio show claiming his parents were disinterested and still have no interest in his life. He describes his family as good people, fair and honest but says often they were opposed to anything that involved getting off the couch and doing something. He also says his family was incredibly cheap; Carolla would get small amounts of money, usually coins for his
birthday instead of gifts and he did not go to any
funerals growing up.
[4]
After his parents
divorced, Carolla split time with his mother and father.
Carolla attended
Colfax Elementary School,
Walter Reed Junior High, and
North Hollywood High School, where in the latter of which he was voted class clown and was the
captain of his
football team. Carolla played
Pop Warner football for many years, and said being involved in it saved him from a chaotic home life.
[5] On ''The Adam Carolla Show'', Carolla said he was recruited to play football at
Marshall University, but he was not interested in college.
Carolla never received good grades, graduating with a 1.75
grade point average. He majored in ceramics.
[6] He never received his high school diploma because he owed the library $19.95 for a copy of ''We The People'' (ISBN 0-385-41903-1).
[7] Because of this, he also did not participate in his high school graduation ceremony, but he said on ''Loveline'' that no one had ever asked him to produce his diploma.
[8]
Because of North Hollywood High School’s location, Carolla went to high school with several people who eventually became famous.
Pornstar Christy Canyon went to his high school,
[9], as did
Molly Ringwald’s sister, Beth Ringwald, to whom Carolla lost his virginity.
[10] [11]
Carolla frequently tells stories of pranks he and his friends pulled during and after high school. He began living on his own at the age of 18 in an apartment that eventually included uncaged rabbits. He briefly attended
Los Angeles Valley College, a
junior college, where he was placed on academic probation before dropping out to work in a series of jobs, including a
carpet cleaner
[12],
carpenter,
traffic school instructor
[13], metal worker and
boxing instructor. In his 20s, he dated a
British woman who was a
stripper.
[14] [15] He also taught himself how to ride a unicycle, which he has ridden during an episode of ''
Too Late With Adam Carolla'' and as a guest on ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live''.
Comedic style
Carolla is considered to be an accomplished
satirist and
comedian in several formats. He has co-created, written for, and featured in several
talk radio programs,
television series, and films.
After Carolla had established himself as a comedic pundit on ''
Loveline'', he frequently joked that his role on radio was "philosopher-warrior". Promotional posters and billboards introducing his
self-titled radio show in early 2006 carried the caption "Adam Carolla: American Genius".
[16]
Carolla frequently jokes about his own laziness and apathy, despite consistently meeting expectations in a professional manner. Carolla frequently offers salient advice to callers regarding good professional practices, while ironically referring to his own self-perceived apathy. For example, he has almost never been late for his live appearances on the radio; however, he claims he consistently arrives within sixty seconds of going on-air.
Early comedy career
Carolla claims that his goal from youth was to write comedy. He did not envision working on-air on the radio, or on-camera in movies and television. In his spare time he worked on his comedy skills, training with
The Groundlings and attempting
stand-up, but he didn't believe either of these were a good fit for him (though he did perform sketch comedy with
ACME Comedy Theater for a few years). He had spent his young adulthood working as a
carpenter,
construction laborer, and
boxing instructor; it was during this time he grew fond of listening to
talk radio. In his late twenties he heard an ad on the radio seeking a boxing instructor to train
Jimmy Kimmel, who at the time was a radio personality on the
KROQ morning show
Kevin and Bean as Jimmy the Sports Guy. Carolla met Kimmel at the radio station and the two became best friends. Carolla asked Jimmy how he could get into radio, Jimmy replied that he should come up with a character. Carolla eventually joined the show's cast as "Mr. Birchum", the ornery and
misanthropic Vietnam-veteran shop teacher.
Radio
Loveline
Carolla was offered the job of co-hosting ''
Loveline'' with
physician Dr. Drew Pinsky in 1995, replacing
Riki Rachtman. Pinsky selected Carolla personally, after hearing Carolla's earlier radio work. ''Loveline'' is a
syndicated radio program produced by
Westwood One, and was also a television show on
MTV for four years. On ''Loveline'', Carolla often gave extended commentary about matters having little to do with the official subject matter of the show. Common topics included: Carolla's dislike of the negative effects of religious zealotry, criticism of celebrities, and complaints about politically-originated policies that make little sense, such as junior colleges, traffic/parking enforcement as pure revenue-generation, superfluous red left-turn arrows, and other "wastes" such as the abundance of police officers available to serve traffic citations while none seem to be available for important issues like counter-terrorism, and incessant radio weather and traffic reports. ("How many traffic reports have you listened to? Thousands. How many times have you actually changed your route based on a traffic report? That's right! Never!") His impassioned criticisms and observational humor became a central characteristic of the show.
During his time on ''Loveline'', Carolla gradually drew an increasing fanbase to the program. Carolla, on ''Loveline'' after earlier attempts at traditional stand-up comedy, eschewed traditional stand-up methods, such as scripted comedic "bits". Carolla has claimed that he has no "act", referring to himself as a "comedy factory, as opposed to a comedy warehouse", distinguishing himself from comics who prepare material. Carolla preferred to use his time on the airwaves -- and the subject matter of ''Loveline'' as an inspirational springboard -- to launch into rants in a similar fashion to
Dennis Miller. Carolla's presentation of his views frequently fits the description of
black comedy. While Carolla distinguishes himself as being self-educated, he frequently refers to his formal education in abysmal, self-deprecating terms. He attributes his layman's perspective to his unconventional upbringing, often claiming it has left him as an -- albeit successful -- adult with "NO self-esteem, as opposed to LOW self-esteem". Carolla claims to have genuinely forgotten several of his own past jokes, insights and innovations that have caught on with fans, attributing his forgetfulness to his "no self-esteem". Carolla has commented on radio that on several occasions, fans have recited back to him his own ideas from past broadcasts, and he genuinely does not recognize them as being his own.
''Loveline'' expanded into its largest number of radio markets while Carolla was co-host. During his final shows, the fanbase that he had cultivated was, in his own words, larger than he expected. Carolla often claimed that he had no idea of the effect he had had on his audience, saying frequently that, among the small staff in the ''Loveline'' broadcast studio, "no one cares"; he repeatedly drew attention to the apathy of his co-workers -- with extended, comedic complaints about the staff, including Pinsky (they both stated they had become very close during their work together). Once it was announced that he was leaving ''Loveline'' after its 10 most successful years, Carolla became the subject of large online petitions to keep him on ''Loveline''. He wrote in response, on fan website
The Loveline Companion, that he was deeply moved by the large number of fans and the depth of their dedication. He repeated these sentiments on-air during his last few ''Loveline'' broadcasts, consciously breaking from his black-humor comedic tone to thank his fans in earnest, explaining that the opportunity for his own morning radio show similar to
Howard Stern's was an opportunity he could not pass up. He expressed that in retrospect, he didn't view ''Loveline'' as a job, and that he would have continued on ''Loveline'' if his schedule would allow it; however, he made it clear that it would not.
The Adam Carolla Show
On
August 4,
2005, Carolla announced that he would leave ''Loveline'' to pursue a position in morning radio, replacing
Howard Stern -- much to Stern's approval -- in a number of West Coast markets. Adam's last night on ''Loveline'' was
November 3,
2005, to allow him to have time to prepare for his morning debut at the beginning of 2006. He stated that he would love to continue to do Loveline, which seemed to fly by while doing it, but the show would not be a possibility. On
October 25,
Infinity Broadcasting officially announced that it would be replacing Stern with Carolla on several radio stations in the
western United States.
On
January 3,
2006, Carolla began his new morning radio show, ''
The Adam Carolla Show'', on stations in Los Angeles (where the show is based), San Francisco, Palm Springs, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, Seattle, Las Vegas, Oakland, Reno, Burbank, Fresno and Sacramento.
The show's staff was modified slightly during its first year. At the start of 2007, it saw its largest staff change; the three primary on-air personalities would be Carolla himself,
Teresa Strasser, and the newly added
Danny Bonaduce.
As of June, 2007, the show has seen an overall increase in ratings in its primary market of Los Angeles.
Over the course of the year Adam Carolla has seen a change in the affiliates that carry his show. This list of affiliates and cities are
[17]:
KLSX 97.1 - Los Angeles, CA (Last of the FREE FM Affiliates)
KUFO 101.1 - Portland, OR
KXTE 107.5 - Las Vegas, NV
KWOD 106.5 - Sacramento, CA
KNDD 107.7 - Seattle, WA
KRZQ 100.9 - Reno, NV
KFRR 104.1 - Fresno, CA
KMRJ 99.5 - Palm Springs, CA
WZAN AM970 - Portland, ME (The only affiliate east of the Mississippi, Tape Delayed 7pm-10pm replaced Tom Leykis' slot)
KTMB 99.1 - Boise, ID
KSEK 99.1 - Pittsburg, KS (Time of broadcast unverifiable)
KYCY AM1550 - San Francisco, CA
The following are fomer affiliates:
KPLN 103.7 - San Diego, CA
KZON 101.5 - Phoenix, AZ
Television
Carolla began his first original television series with ''
The Man Show'', along with partner and close friend
Jimmy Kimmel, on
Comedy Central from 1999 to 2003. He left ''The Man Show'' at the same time as Kimmel, after having been reportedly offered $50,000 per episode to stay on. Carolla has continued his work with Kimmel as a writer and regular guest on ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live''. With partner
Daniel Kellison, they are the heads of
Jackhole Productions and created another television show named ''
Crank Yankers'' for Comedy Central, which revived the Mr. Birchum character.
Carolla has also done
voiceovers for
cartoons, including
Commander Nebula on the
Disney animated series ''
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'',
Death on ''
Family Guy'' (replacing
Norm MacDonald who only did one episode) and
Spanky Ham on ''
Drawn Together''.
From August 2005 to November 2005, Carolla hosted the
talk show ''
Too Late with Adam Carolla'' on Comedy Central.
Also in 2005, Carolla was featured in a home remodeling program called ''
The Adam Carolla Project'' where he and a crew of old friends renovated his childhood home. The 12 episodes aired on the cable channel TLC (The Learning Channel) from October through December 2005.
In 2006, he appeared on the special summer series
Gameshow Marathon as a celebrity panelist on the
Match Game episode.
In August of 2007, Carolla guest hosted
Jim Rome Is Burning.
Film
In 2006, Carolla finished work on ''
The Hammer'', a semi-autobiographical
independent film in which he stars opposite
Heather Juergensen. The film made its
world premiere at the 2007
Tribeca Film Festival in
New York City and shortly thereafter received a very positive review in Variety.
[18] Further details, including plans for the film's release, can be found on
''The Hammer'' official website. In 2003 Carolla had cameo appearance in the film ''
Abby Singer''.
Controversy
The Hawaiian community
On
November 9,
2003 Loveline was canceled by Hawaii affiliate
KPOI after Carolla referred to Hawaiians as "the dumbest people". He also claimed that you could take over the island with a
Bic lighter.
[19]
The Asian American community
Carolla's morning show became the subject of a minor controversy within a few weeks of airing when on
January 24,
2006, Carolla played a segment which spoofed the upcoming
Asian Excellence Awards, which honor
Asian American media accomplishments. The spoof consisted of what sounded like a typical excerpt from an awards show, except that the dialogue of the actors consisted only of the words
ching chong, repeated
over and over. The National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP), The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), and The Center for Asian American Media publicly objected to the spoof, calling it racist.
[20]. They threatened to ask advertisers to withdraw their support from the show if the station did not issue an apology.
[21] On
February 22,
2006, Carolla without fanfare read a brief apology for the segment, in which he said that his show had regrettably
"crossed the line". On
April 26, 2006, Carolla invited the head of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, Guy Aoki, and Teddy Zee, co-chair of the Asian Excellence Awards,
to further explain that when he aired the bit, he had no idea that "ching chong" was a racial slur. Mention of the bit was removed from the official show blog.
[22]
Ann Coulter
On
July 6,
2006 conservative pundit Ann Coulter called ''
The Adam Carolla Show'' an hour and a half after she was scheduled as a featured guest. This was the second time she had been late or absent on the show. On the July 6th show, Carolla amicably greeted Coulter, saying "You're late, baby doll." (A term he uses with legitimate affection, and not condescendingly.) She complained that she had been given the wrong number. Carolla then joked to Coulter, "How did you get the right number? Just dialed randomly--eventually got to our show?". Coulter insisted she was "really tight on time". Carolla then hung up on Coulter, telling her, "All right, well, get lost."
[23] Carolla claimed he did so due to her lack of professionalism, stating that it had nothing to do with her political views, which he stated he was quite open to hearing. Carolla frequently and publicly chides media personalities whom he considers "blowhards".
During the week of
June 25,
2007 on ''The Adam Carolla Show'', Carolla mused -- during a news segment discussing Coulter's recent controversial statements regarding
John Edwards -- that he himself had, to his surprise, become a "cult hero" for hanging up on her on his radio program one year earlier. Carolla joked that his "cult hero" status was probably more due to the public's dislike of Coulter than it was owed to public approval of himself.
Personal life
Carolla married his longtime girlfriend Lynette Paradise on
September 28,
2002. Lynette gave birth (via
cesarean section) to their first children, twins Natalia and Santino "Sonny" Carolla on
June 7,
2006.
[24].
Carolla is a car enthusiast, owning a
BMW M3 E30-generation model, an E46-generation M3,
Datsun 510, Audi,
Jaguar sports coupe,
MINI Cooper S,
Nissan 350Z,
Aston Martin,
Lamborghini 350GT, and a
Ferrari.
Earnings
Carolla has historically been very candid about his income for his work in the
entertainment industry. He frequently pressures guests to be similarly forthcoming about their income, especially other entertainers (most commonly, models and other professionals whose income depends on their looks).
On the
April 10,
2007 broadcast of ''
The Adam Carolla Show'', Carolla read his entire
2006 Social Security Earnings History, which includes all reported
taxable income he had earned throughout his life, through
2005. He repeated the list on
The Howard Stern Show on
April 26,
2007. Since
2000, Carolla has, on-air, referred to himself as "''literally'' a millionaire" (with
hyperbolic emphasis on the word "literally"). He has used his income history to illustrate to listeners the benefits of being self-motivated and making improved life choices. His
2006 report (including annual reported earnings through
2005) was as follows.
Adam Carolla's Social Security Earnings History (2006) As Reported by Carolla| Year | Reported Income | Comments by Carolla |
|---|
| 1980 | $232 | McDonalds |
| 1981 | $746 | McDonalds |
| 1982 | $1,093 | carpet cleaner |
| 1983 | $2,289 | |
| 1984 | $9,367 | construction laborer |
| 1985 | $0 | spent the year building a kitchen for his grandmother |
| 1986 | $17,672 | worked with City of Los Angeles doing earthquake rehab |
| 1987 | $2,553 | |
| 1988 | $0 | |
| 1989 | $22,543 | |
| 1990 | $6,312 | |
| 1991 | $0 | |
| 1992 | $3,521 | |
| 1993 | $3,984 | |
| 1994 | $6,442 | began work in radio |
| 1995 | $36,221 | began co-hosting ''Loveline'' mid-year |
| 1996 | $316,424 | first full year as co-host on ''Loveline'' |
| 1997 | $354,661 | |
| 1998 | $543,453 | |
| 1999 | $1,237,903 | first year of ''The Man Show'' |
| 2000 | $1,013,726 | |
| 2001 | over $1,000,000 | (exact amount not specified) |
| 2002 | $2,085,764 | |
| 2003 | over $2,000,000 | (exact amount not specified) |
| 2004 | $1,353,000 | |
| 2005 | $1,661,924 | |
Trivia
★ Carolla has no
middle name, something he views as one of many unfair neglects by his parents. However, while applying for his driver's license, Carolla wrote his middle name as '
Lakers'. This is still reflected on his driver's license.
★ Carolla claims that he never turned in any homework or studied for any tests after the third grade, and often assails the
Los Angeles Unified School District for allowing him to graduate with a C average despite, in Carolla's words, learning nothing in school and barely being able to read. However, he never received the physical copy of his diploma, because he owed twenty-five dollars for an unreturned textbook. On the air, he often tells former teachers who derided and ignored him to "kiss his ass," in relation to his current success, especially a
driver's education teacher who gave him an F. Carolla's other grievances about the LAUSD include allowing his sister to attend an
"hippie school" within his high school, where, according to Carolla, she attended class for three hours a day, smoked in the building, and addressed her teachers by their first names. Carolla claims his sister learned even less than he did in school due to the ineptitude of the LAUSD.
★ He is a part-owner of the Los Angeles restaurant ''Amalfi'' where he is often spotted dining.
[25]
★ Asteroid
4535 Adamcarolla is named in his honor.
[26]
★ On
August 15,
2005, Carolla became a member of the advisory board of
Marijuana Policy Project after devoting nearly an entire episode of ''
Too Late With Adam Carolla'' to talking with ''
Weeds'' star
Kevin Nealon about what they believe to be the absurdities of the war on marijuana.
[27] [28]
★ He loves pies so much that while in high school, he once entered a pie eating contest and deliberately lost so that he could enjoy the entire pie afterwards during the lunch break. Also, when his friend Don threw a pie at an ex-girlfriend, he ate the pieces off the ground despite large chunks of concrete.
[29] Consistent with his stated preference for pie over cake, Carolla served several "wedding pies" during his wedding reception.
★ Adam was the host of an Internet show for the band
KoЯn, for their release of their second album, ''
Life Is Peachy''.
★ Prior to a 2003 episode of the ''Loveline'' radio show, Adam took an
IQ test. He stated that the test reported his IQ to be 91 points. (A median IQ score is 100.) Carolla has stated on-air on several occasions that the test was administered casually and not professionally, and indicated that the results are likely apocryphal. Carolla has used the claim of a 91 IQ on-air in several self-deprecating ironic quips.
References
1. ''The Adam Carolla Show'' official blog, Feb. 2, 2006
External links
★
★
Variety review of "The Hammer"
★
Official Free FM bio
★
Official LoveLine website from Westwood One
★
LovelineArchive.com
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![Don\](images/articles/thumbs/beachrainthumb.jpg "Don\")
