Chris Knutson | |
---|---|
Born | 1982 or 1983 (age 40–41) [1] |
Occupation | Stand-up comedian |
Years active | 2006-present |
Known for | Valley Meadows |
Chris Knutson is an American stand-up comedian from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is known for his work as half of the comedy-rap duo Valley Meadows. Patrick Strait of City Pages said that "Knutson has established himself as one of the most consistently funny performers" in the Midwest. [2]
Knutson has released three albums on Stand Up! Records, most recently 2021's Rewound.
Knutson began performing improv comedy in 2006, [3] [1] and stand-up in 2009. [4] He won Acme Comedy Company's "Funniest Person in the Twin Cities" contest in 2010. [5] [6] [7] His comedy style is sometimes experimental, veering away from traditional first-person stand-up to blend in sketchwork or perform as a character, often one who does not realize he is bad at stand-up. [8] He has toured nationally [9] [10] [11] and performed at comedy festivals including 10,000 Laughs [12] [13] and Gilda's LaughFest. [14] Vincent Terrace, reviewing the series in his book Internet Comedy Television Series, 1997-2015, felt that "the characterizations are a bit rough" but called the series "an interesting idea about two friends just trying to get by." [15]
Knutson formed Valley Meadows in 2008 with Zach Coulter. [12] The duo perform in character as substitute teacher Gary Shinchenshenzenski and MC Tom Johnson, [16] [17] who try to become rap stars in a foolish attempt to earn respect, with songs about unlikely topics such as ice cream, karate, and Paul Reiser. [18] The duo also starred in an online video series, Valley Meadows, in 2014, which Knutson wrote. [15] The syndicated newspaper column In Focus praised the series as "capable of going anywhere". [19] [20] [21] [22] The webseries was nominated for four awards at the 2015 Los Angeles Web Series Festival: Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Lead Actor (for Knutson), and Outstanding Guest Actor (for Dan Susmilch). [23] [24] In 2012, laughspin.com nominated Valley Meadows for its Readers Choice Award for Best Musical Comedy Act. [25] [4] Vincent Terrace, reviewing the series in his book Internet Comedy Television Series, 1997-2015, felt that "the characterizations are a bit rough" but called the series "an interesting idea about two friends just trying to get by." [15]
Knutson was also a founding member of sketch comedy group The Turkeys. [26] [3] [27]
Knutson and his wife had a son in 2014, and fatherhood quickly become a main topic of his comedy. [28] A stop-motion video Knutson made of his son's teddy bear meeting the baby for the first time went viral, receiving more than 2 million views on YouTube [4] and national coverage on ABC News, [29] the Associated Press, and other news media. [30] Another video series, Baby Cop, followed in 2014–15. [31]
Knutson has released three albums on Stand Up! Records. His solo stand-up album Rewound was recorded at Sisyphus Brewing in Minneapolis in 2015 [2] [32] and released in 2021. Valley Meadows released a self-titled album in 2012. [16] [33] Jake Austen of Roctober magazine called it "white-guy rap absurdity [that's] amusing even if the form is flawed." [34] Knutson was also part of the Stand Up!-released group album Nerd Alert!, a compilation of Minnesota comics riffing on science fiction and other geek-friendly topics. [35] Austen called Nerd Alert! "a product of [Minneapolis'] impressive comedy scene [that] is something that town can be very proud of." [34]
Chris Knutson | |
---|---|
Born | 1982 or 1983 (age 40–41) [1] |
Occupation | Stand-up comedian |
Years active | 2006-present |
Known for | Valley Meadows |
Chris Knutson is an American stand-up comedian from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is known for his work as half of the comedy-rap duo Valley Meadows. Patrick Strait of City Pages said that "Knutson has established himself as one of the most consistently funny performers" in the Midwest. [2]
Knutson has released three albums on Stand Up! Records, most recently 2021's Rewound.
Knutson began performing improv comedy in 2006, [3] [1] and stand-up in 2009. [4] He won Acme Comedy Company's "Funniest Person in the Twin Cities" contest in 2010. [5] [6] [7] His comedy style is sometimes experimental, veering away from traditional first-person stand-up to blend in sketchwork or perform as a character, often one who does not realize he is bad at stand-up. [8] He has toured nationally [9] [10] [11] and performed at comedy festivals including 10,000 Laughs [12] [13] and Gilda's LaughFest. [14] Vincent Terrace, reviewing the series in his book Internet Comedy Television Series, 1997-2015, felt that "the characterizations are a bit rough" but called the series "an interesting idea about two friends just trying to get by." [15]
Knutson formed Valley Meadows in 2008 with Zach Coulter. [12] The duo perform in character as substitute teacher Gary Shinchenshenzenski and MC Tom Johnson, [16] [17] who try to become rap stars in a foolish attempt to earn respect, with songs about unlikely topics such as ice cream, karate, and Paul Reiser. [18] The duo also starred in an online video series, Valley Meadows, in 2014, which Knutson wrote. [15] The syndicated newspaper column In Focus praised the series as "capable of going anywhere". [19] [20] [21] [22] The webseries was nominated for four awards at the 2015 Los Angeles Web Series Festival: Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Lead Actor (for Knutson), and Outstanding Guest Actor (for Dan Susmilch). [23] [24] In 2012, laughspin.com nominated Valley Meadows for its Readers Choice Award for Best Musical Comedy Act. [25] [4] Vincent Terrace, reviewing the series in his book Internet Comedy Television Series, 1997-2015, felt that "the characterizations are a bit rough" but called the series "an interesting idea about two friends just trying to get by." [15]
Knutson was also a founding member of sketch comedy group The Turkeys. [26] [3] [27]
Knutson and his wife had a son in 2014, and fatherhood quickly become a main topic of his comedy. [28] A stop-motion video Knutson made of his son's teddy bear meeting the baby for the first time went viral, receiving more than 2 million views on YouTube [4] and national coverage on ABC News, [29] the Associated Press, and other news media. [30] Another video series, Baby Cop, followed in 2014–15. [31]
Knutson has released three albums on Stand Up! Records. His solo stand-up album Rewound was recorded at Sisyphus Brewing in Minneapolis in 2015 [2] [32] and released in 2021. Valley Meadows released a self-titled album in 2012. [16] [33] Jake Austen of Roctober magazine called it "white-guy rap absurdity [that's] amusing even if the form is flawed." [34] Knutson was also part of the Stand Up!-released group album Nerd Alert!, a compilation of Minnesota comics riffing on science fiction and other geek-friendly topics. [35] Austen called Nerd Alert! "a product of [Minneapolis'] impressive comedy scene [that] is something that town can be very proud of." [34]