Theo Von
Surreal Southern tall tales spun by an earnestly confused narrator.
3 specials · 2012–2021
Start with No Offense, the breakout (2016 · 65 min · Netflix)
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Theo Von paces the stage like a confused guy at a campfire. He walks slowly, often stopping to stare into the middle distance as if trying to catch a slippery memory. When he speaks, it is usually a surreal non-sequitur about someone he knew. He will describe a neighborhood kid who wore a wooden shirt, or an adult who physically fought a river embankment, delivering the premise with total sincerity. The rhythm is unhurried. He strings together strange adjective pairings to make the bizarre sound completely mundane.
Specials
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A popular podcaster brings his surreal Southern stories to Nashville.
Netflix · 62 min
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Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents
A quick set covering PT Cruisers and texting random strangers.
Comedy Central · 20 min
On stage
Through his podcast This Past Weekend, he reaches an enormous audience, bypassing traditional comedy clubs to play arenas. Yet what he actually does on stage is surprisingly weird. He bridges the gap between rowdy internet culture and pure absurdity. He plays to massive crowds who might expect standard observational standup but instead receive meandering sketches about local oddballs.
The act relies heavily on cadence. Transcribe his punchlines, and they rarely scan as jokes. The laughs come from his earnest, baffled delivery. He forces the room to accept his version of reality, painting his childhood hometown of Covington, Louisiana, as a chaotic, unsupervised world.
When a bit loses the room, it is usually because a story stretches too far past believability, sounding more fabricated than exaggerated. He rescues these wandering moments by dropping his voice and offering a deeply empathetic, oddly profound observation about the person he is mocking. He wears a mullet and presents himself as a simple guy from the bayou, but he steers the rambling with deliberate, unexpected word choices.
Turning points
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Transition from MTV Reality TV to Stand-up
After winning multiple seasons of MTV's The Challenge, Von moved to Los Angeles to pursue comedy full-time, facing years of Hollywood skepticism over his reality TV background.
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First Global Hour Special No Offense
Von released his breakthrough special No Offense on Netflix, cementing his identity as a national headliner after years of club touring and hosting.
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2016–present
Massive Success of This Past Weekend
Von established This Past Weekend, which transformed his comedy career and rose to become one of the top-streamed podcasts in the United States.
At a glance
- Born
- , Covington, Louisiana
- On stage
- since 2003
- Style
- observational, surreal, storytelling
- Breakout
- No Offense
- Topics
- Elsewhere
- Website, Wikipedia, Instagram, YouTube
Fans also like
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Brendan SchaubTheo Von co-created and co-hosted the King and The Sting podcast alongside Schaub, cultivating a large shared comedy fanbase.
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Chris D'EliaD'Elia joined Von and Schaub as co-host on King and the Sting and the Wing, sharing mutual podcast audiences.
Podcasts
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This Past Weekend · host
Weekly long-form interview and monologue podcast where Theo Von converses with guests, shares personal musings, and answers listener hotline calls.
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King and The Sting · co-host
Collaborative banter podcast started with Brendan Schaub, later expanding into King and the Sting and the Wing with Chris D'Elia.
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Allegedly with Theo Von & Matthew Cole Weiss · co-host
A weekly podcast where Theo Von and Matthew Cole Weiss traded contrasting Hollywood stories spanning celebrity encounters, dating, and mishaps.
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The Comedy Sideshow · host
An interview podcast recorded at the Hollywood Improv featuring discussions with comedians and entertainers.
Also on screen
- 2013–2014
- Deal With It
- Man Up
- Sweet Dreams
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- Inside Amy Schumer
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- Why? with Hannibal Buress
A clip to start with
A clip of Theo Von