Hannibal Buress


Hannibal Amir Buress is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He has co-starred on Adult Swim's The Eric Andre Show since 2012 and was featured on Comedy Central's Broad City from 2014 to 2019.

Early life

Hannibal Amir Buress was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 4, 1983, the son of teacher Margaret. He was raised in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. He was named after Carthaginian General Hannibal Barca, and has told stories in his stand-up act about his name causing women to turn him down because of its association with fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter. After attending Steinmetz College Prep, he attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale for four years but didn't graduate. While there he became friends with hip hop artist Open Mike Eagle, his RA at the time.

Career

Buress began his stand-up career at an open mic in 2002. He has been featured in The Awkward Comedy Show special on Comedy Central, and alongside comics Baron Vaughn, Eric Andre, Marina Franklin, and Victor Varnado, and on the FX sitcom Louie. He currently co-stars as Eric Andre's sidekick on The Eric Andre Show on Adult Swim. In July 2010, Buress made Variety magazine's "Ten Comics to Watch in 2010" list.
His first stand-up comedy album My Name is Hannibal was released on July 27, 2010.
Buress was a writer on Saturday Night Live from 2009 to 2010. He left having had only one of his sketches aired. In September 2010, he began writing for the fifth season of the NBC comedy series 30 Rock. He quit after six months, although he continued to portray various characters on the show for 9 episodes between 2010-2012 such as "Gus", "Homeless Guy" and "Bum".
He released his second album, Animal Furnace, in 2012, which also aired as a special on Comedy Central. The album received positive reviews.
His stand-up comedy has been featured on Comedy Central programs such as Live at Gotham and John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show. He has also performed on several late night talkshows such as The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Lopez Tonight, Russell Howard's Good News, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, and Conan. Additionally, he performed a set at the 2012 Secret Policeman's Ball at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
An hourlong Comedy Central show, Hannibal Buress Live from Chicago, aired on March 29, 2014.
He used to host a weekly stand-up comedy show at The Knitting Factory on Sunday evenings in Brooklyn, New York. In October 2016, Buress began a podcast called Handsome Rambler.
Buress played Coach Wilson in the 2017 Marvel movie . He paid a lookalike to attend the film's premiere in his place because he was busy with the film Tag. He got in contact with the lookalike when he did a video for the MTV Movie Awards.
On February 8, 2020, he appeared on The Bob Ross Challenge, painting for the first time, coming up with the art nickname 7.
He had a comedy special for Cornell University via Zoom on April 17 at 9 pm exclusive to the students.
On April 30, 2020, he released a single called Judge Judy, paying homage to the series of the same name after Judy announced that she will end the show in 2021.
In 2020, Chelsea Peretti did a collaboration with Buress along with other musicians on the album, which theme is mainly about coffee, called Foam and Flotsam. The EP came out on April 21, 2020, and the full album will release soon.

Bill Cosby routine

On October 16, 2014, at the Philadelphia club The Trocadero, Buress was recorded doing an extended routine about existing rape allegations against comedian Bill Cosby. Buress addressed Cosby's legacy of "talk down" to young black men about their style of dress and lifestyle. Buress criticized the actor's public moralizing by saying, "Yeah, but you raped women, Bill Cosby, so that kind of brings you down a couple notches." The audience appeared to respond to Buress's accusation with incredulity; he encouraged everyone to search for "Bill Cosby rape" on Google when they got home.
Buress had been doing the same Cosby routine for the previous six months with little response, but the October performance went viral after being posted on Philadelphia magazine's website. A media firestorm ensued, with numerous publications tackling the question of how Cosby had managed to maintain, as Buress called it in his set, a "Teflon image" despite more than a decade of public sexual-abuse accusations.
Comedian Eddie Murphy later referenced Buress's role in the allegations coming to light while impersonating Cosby during his 2015 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor acceptance speech, mockingly playing Cosby as threatening Buress' life.

Personal life

Buress is an atheist. After living in New York City, he moved back to his hometown of Chicago in 2017 and settled in its Wicker Park neighborhood.
In December 2017, Buress was arrested in Miami for disorderly intoxication. Bystander footage of the arrest showed Buress mocking the police officers and demanding to know why he was being arrested. The arrest report revealed that Buress was detained because he approached the police officers and would not stop asking them to call an Uber for him. Buress later stated, "I asked the to call me an Uber, and he said, 'No.' He told me to leave the street. I go into this bar to get a phone charger for an Uber. He follows me into the bar, and told me I'm too drunk to go inside. 'If I can't be on the street, where do you want me to be?' I ask him. I was in a state of trying to get home. I don't really believe I was at fault." The case was later dismissed. The Miami New Times reported that the arresting officer has an alleged history of violence and was previously disciplined by internal affairs for an alcohol-fueled assault. This report was cited by Buress as part of a televised stand-up routine at the Olympia Theater in Miami in August 2019. Buress quit drinking after the incident, saying that he wants to "end the messy shit."

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Video games

Discography

Albums

Singles