Kyle Richard Gass is an American musician and actor best known for being a member of Tenacious D, winner of a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance, alongside longtime friend Jack Black. He also co-formed, and performs with, the bands Trainwreck and Kyle Gass Band. Outside of music, Gass makes sporadic appearances as an actor; his appearances include the films Elf and Kung Fu Panda, TV shows such as Friends and Seinfeld and various music videos for bands such as Good Charlotte and I Prevail. He hosted a YouTube channel from 2009 to 2012 called Guitarings alongside fellow Tenacious D guitarist John Konesky.
Gass made his first on-screen appearance in 1988 in a 7-Up Gold commercial, and made his film debut two years later in Brain Dead. He lost as a contestant on the October 5, 1988 episode of the U.S. game show Sale of the Century He was featured in several episodes of the television show Fear of a Punk Planet, which has since been released on DVD. He has also made an appearance as a lawyer in the Good Charlotte video for "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". Along with Black, Gass made a comedic appearance as a hapless airplane mechanic in the Foo Fighters' 1999 video "Learn to Fly." Gass acted in the feature filmJacob's Ladder, which stars Tim Robbins. He also appeared as the 'couch potato' in the film The Cable Guy. He made a cameo appearance in the Seinfeld episode "The Abstinence". Gass appeared in the comedy Elf as an inept author of children's books. He has played small roles in many of Black's films. Gass appeared in season 9 of Friends as a mugger, as the porn director in the 2008 teen film Extreme Movie, Walrus Boy in Wieners, and as the dirty trucker in the men's room in the 2008 film Sex Drive. He starred in the movie Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny alongside Jack Black. Gass had a cameo role as a singing karaoke cowboy in the 2007 movie Wild Hogs. In October 2008, Gass appeared as the character Decatur Doublewide in the film Lower Learning. He auditioned for a role as a demon in the pilot episode of Reaper, directed by Kevin Smith, but he was not hired, to Smith's disappointment. He also appeared in the 22nd episode of the 2nd season of 2 Broke Girls as the special effects guy.
Music career
In Tenacious D, Gass plays lead guitar and sings backing vocals, and also plays the role of Black's comic foil in most of their comedy routines. While appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on November 15, 2006, Gass claimed to have been the youngest graduate of the Juilliard School of Music with a degree in classical guitar studies at the age of 13. Juilliard did not have a guitar program in 1973, but began its graduate level guitar program in 1989 under Sharon Isbin, and its undergraduate program in 2007. Earlier, in an article in the Sunday Times on October 29, 2006, Black stated that Gass was the youngest graduate of Juilliard. On May 13, 2008, Gass was a phone-in guest on the Adam Carolla Show. When Adam Carolla asked him "... And did you go to Juilliard?" Kyle replied "I didn't. I—you know, I made that up as a joke," he continued, "and I thought it would be hilarious, and then I've been hearing about it ever since. Apologies to Juilliard." Gass is featured as a minor character in the 2009 video game Brütal Legend, where he portrays Kage the Kannonier, a self-pitying giant in charge of a mortar cannon. Gass starred in a web show, Guitarings, with John Konesky.
