Pete Holmes
An eager spiritual seeker who laughs helplessly at his own jokes.
5 specials · 2013–2026
Start with Nice Try, The Devil, the most honored (2013 · 60 min · Comedy Central)
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Pete Holmes is a tall, loud man who is constantly delighted by his own thoughts. He rarely walks through a bit in a straight line. He prefers to make an observation, crack himself up, step away from the mic stand while folding over in laughter, and then lean back in to over-explain why the premise works. He adopts a high, squeaky register to mock his own anxiety, then drops into a booming broadcaster voice to deliver the punchline.
Specials
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Pete Holmes brings his energetic dorkiness to a cozy Minneapolis stage.
Netflix · 65 min
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An hour of enthusiastic physical silliness from Chicago's Vic Theatre.
HBO · 57 min
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An aggressively positive hour of absurd tangents and rapture anxiety.
Comedy Central · 60 min
On stage
He occupies a specific space in the Los Angeles comedy ecosystem as a deeply therapized over-sharer. Because he has hosted the interview podcast You Made It Weird since 2011, much of his audience arrives at theaters already familiar with his neuroses and his spiritual habits. His crowds treat his shows like a long-running conversation, showing up ready to listen to him work out his latest psychological hurdle.
The material swings between cosmic spirituality and absolute minutiae. In one breath, he will parse the teachings of Ram Dass. In the next, he will spend five minutes screaming about the humiliation of being asked to take your shoes off in someone else’s house. He is at his best when he lets his wholesome, youth-pastor persona slip, deploying a surprisingly filthy tangent just to watch the room react. His weaker moments arrive when the self-analysis overtakes the joke, turning a routine into an earnest monologue.
Raised as an evangelical Christian before losing his religion and his marriage in his twenties, he uses his standup to continuously rebuild his worldview out loud.
Turning points
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Launch of You Made It Weird
Holmes founded his signature podcast originally on the Nerdist network, popularizing in-depth, two-hour philosophical discussions on religion, comedy, and sexuality.
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2013–2014
Conan O'Brien Produces TBS Talk Show
Backed by Conan O'Brien, Holmes hosted The Pete Holmes Show on TBS for two seasons airing directly after Conan.
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2015–2017
Creation of HBO Series Crashing
Drawing from his real-life divorce and early struggles as a comedian in New York, Holmes pitched Crashing to Judd Apatow, who directed the pilot and executive produced the three-season HBO series.
At a glance
- Born
- , Boston, Massachusetts
- On stage
- since 2001
- Style
- observational, improvisational, sketch, blue comedy, surrealhumor, satire
- Breakout
- Impregnated with Wonder
- Influences
- Weird Al Yankovic, Brian Regan, Sinbad, Steve Martin, Conan O'Brien, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Farley, Dane Cook, Ray Romano
- Topics
- Elsewhere
- Website, Wikipedia
Fans also like
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John MulaneyMulaney is a longtime scene peer who helped Holmes through his real-life divorce and made guest appearances on Crashing and You Made It Weird.
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Paul F. TompkinsTompkins shares Holmes's articulate, joyful, and whimsical approach to alternative standup and comedy podcasting.
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Eugene Mirman
Mirman emerged in the same alternative standup ecosystem and shares Holmes's affinity for playful silliness and conceptual humor.
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Brian Regan
Regan is a primary comedic hero of Holmes whose clean-cut, physical, and highly expressive standup style directly shaped Holmes's performance energy.
Podcasts
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You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes · host
A long-form comedy interview show where Holmes and fellow comedians, creators, and thinkers delve into comedy, sexuality, and spirituality.
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We Made It Weird · co-host
A weekly Friday spin-off conversation where Pete and his wife Valerie discuss life, spirituality, and personal weirdness.
Also on screen
- 2013–2014
- The Pete Holmes Show
- Don't Think Twice
- 2017–2019
- Crashing
- The Secret Life of Pets 2
- How We Roll
A clip to start with
A clip of Pete Holmes