Gregg Turkington

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Gregg Turkington
Neil Hamburger at 'Crap appa Park' (192121) (cropped).jpg
Turkington in character as Neil Hamburger at the Crap Comedy Festival, Oslo, in 2016
Born (1967-11-25) November 25, 1967 (age 56)
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • musician
  • actor
Years active1983–present
SpouseSimone Turkington
Musical career
Also known as
  • The Goulding Institute
  • Totem Pole of Losers
Origin San Francisco, California, U.S.
Genres
InstrumentVocals
Labels
Website americasfunnyman.com

Gregg Turkington (born November 25, 1967) [1] [2] is an American comedian, entertainer, actor, musician and writer. He is known for his performances as Neil Hamburger, a stand-up comedian persona he developed in the 1990s. Alongside Tim Heidecker, Turkington also stars as a fictionalized version of himself on the comedic web series On Cinema (2011–). In addition, he formed one-half of the band Zip Code Rapists and has collaborated on numerous projects with musicians including Trey Spruance (Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3).

Contents

In the 1990s, Turkington ran an independent label, Amarillo Records, which distributed his original albums and albums of other artists from the San Francisco punk scene. In 2015, he starred as a variant of the Neil Hamburger character for the feature-length drama film Entertainment , directed by Rick Alverson, and subsequently gave his first interviews as himself instead of an assumed persona. [3] Turkington also was a regular voice actor on the Disney XD series Gravity Falls , and had minor roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Ant-Man (2015) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). [4]

Career

Early career

Turkington rose to prominence in the mid-1980s as the publisher of underground zine Breakfast Without Meat which brought punk respectability to "square" musical artists such as Tiny Tim, Jimmy Webb, the 101 Strings, and Richard Harris through feature articles. A frequent contributor to the zine was Derrick Bostrom of the Meat Puppets.

In the 1980s, Turkington also performed in obscure San Francisco bands such as Caroliner, Hello Kitty on Ice and Bean Church, and worked at Subterranean Records, contributing artwork and live recordings to Flipper's Public Flipper Limited Live 1980-1985 album.

In the early 1990s, Turkington operated the Amarillo Records label, which released works by many artists from San Francisco's post-punk avant-garde music scene. He was a member of The Easy Goings, Totem Pole of Losers and the Zip Code Rapists (with John Singer). He collaborated with Trey Spruance of Mr. Bungle in The Three Doctors, Faxed Head (with James Goode, Trey Spruance, and Phil Franklin), Secret Chiefs 3, Colonel Truth (with Brandan Kearney and Rebecca G. Wilson) and The Bon Larvis Band. Many of these bands appeared on 1996's Amarillo Records compilation CD, You Gan’t Boar Like An Eabla When You Work With Turkrys, along with the likes of Sun City Girls, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, U.S. Saucer, Harvey Sid Fisher, Dieselhed, and Church of Satan founder Anton Szandor LaVey. He was also a tour manager for both Link Wray and Mr. Bungle. He contributed lead vocals to two tracks by the Secret Chiefs 3. [5]

In the late 1990s, Turkington had abandoned Amarillo Records and all of his musical projects and moved to Melbourne, Australia, where he lived until 2003. Since then, he has written the book Warm Voices Rearranged: Anagram Record Reviews with fellow Three Doctors alumnus Brandan Kearney, also of World of Pooh, Caroliner, and Archipelago Brewing Co. He was a contributing editor to the British version of Maxim in 2005 and 2006, as well as to Johan Kugelberg's 2013 book Enjoy The Experience: Homemade Records 1958–1992.

In 2005 and 2006, after ten years of inactivity, his musical duo Zip Code Rapists did a handful of reunion shows, performing in San Francisco, Saint Paul, Minnesota, Toronto, and Montreal.

He has provided various voices for the animated series The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack , Aqua Teen Hunger Force , [6] Adventure Time , Sanjay and Craig , and Gravity Falls . A parody screenplay entitled "Bicycle Built for Two" which was co-written with Tim Heidecker was published in McSweeney's #36 in December 2010.

Turkington appears in the full-length independent drama The Comedy , directed by Rick Alverson and starring Tim Heidecker. [7] The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2012.

On Cinema era

Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington star in Adult Swim's web series On Cinema at the Cinema , portraying a pair of hapless movie reviewers. Turkington's persona in the series is that of a self-described movie expert, although he rarely provides any useful criticism, lauds forgettable films, and often fails to correctly answer simple trivia questions. [8] The series has run for thirteen seasons thus far, [9] with guest appearances by Jimmy McNichol, Joe Estevez, Sally Kellerman, Candy Clark, Peyton Reed, and John Aprea. In 2013 the On Cinema Film Guide app was released, featuring the voices of Turkington and Heidecker reviewing over 17,000 films. Turkington also co-stars as Special Agent Kington in the On Cinema at the Cinema spin-off series Decker. [3]

Turkington had a role in Marvel Studios' 2015 movie Ant-Man , which subsequently becomes a major running plot point in the On Cinema universe. [10] [11] He appeared in the series finale of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as bombing suspect Lawrence Territo. [12] [3]

In 2022, Turkington appeared as his On Cinema persona in the episode about The Wizard of Oz of the Shudder movie documentary series Cursed Films . [13]

Neil Hamburger

Turkington is best known for creating anti-comedian Neil Hamburger. In 1992, Turkington released an album of prank phone calls with several tracks featuring an early version of the character and soon after began developing a stand-up comedian persona. The character constantly clears his throat while telling off-paced jokes that, for the most part, fail. Neil's unique brand of comedy has thrilled, perplexed and repulsed audiences worldwide. Since 1998, he has released a number of records on the Drag City record label. [14]

In the 2000s, he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! , Tom Green Live , Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! , and Fox News' Red Eye . He also appeared in the short film Left For Dead in Malaysia, and had a brief cameo appearance in the 2006 film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny . The Neil Hamburger character plays the role of Osric in the 2014 film, Hamlet A.D.D. , a live action and animated version of William Shakespeare's Hamlet . [15] He was rumored to appear in his Neil Hamburger persona in Greg Mottola's 2011 ensemble comedy film Paul , but he did not. [16]

Turkington co-wrote and starred in the 2015 feature film Entertainment , directed by Rick Alverson, with a supporting cast including John C. Reilly, Tye Sheridan, Lotte Verbeek, Amy Seimetz, Michael Cera, David Yow, and Annabella Lwin. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015. [17] [3] While unnamed, the character in the film is a clear adaptation of the Hamburger character. [18]

Personal life

Turkington was born in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, [19] to American parents, and grew up in Tempe, Arizona, and San Francisco, California. [20] He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Simone Turkington. He is a vegan. [21]

Discography

Solo

as Neil Hamburger

as Totem Pole of Losers

as The Golding Institute

Collaborations

with the Zip Code Rapists

with The Easy Goings

with the Three Doctors

with Faxed Head

with Secret Chiefs 3

with Hard-Ons

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2007–2008 Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Egg-Zackly Guy / Neil Hamburger2 episodes
2008 Tom Green's House Tonight Neil HamburgerEpisode: "6 February 2008"
2009 Free Radio Episode: "Lance's Posse"
SpongeBob SquarePants Camera Operator (voice)Episode: "Truth or Square"
2009–2010 The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack Various voice roles12 episodes
2010The New Big Ball With Neil HamburgerNeil HamburgerUnaired pilot; writer and producer
2011 Aqua Teen Hunger Force Wi-tri (voice; as Neil Hamburger)Episode: "Wi-tri"
2012–2016 Gravity Falls Toby Determined (voice)16 episodes and Mabel's Guide to Life short
2012Pick-a-SplitNeil Hamburger (voice)Game show; host
Adventure Time Chipler / Shrub (voice)2 episodes
2014 Tom Green Live! Neil HamburgerEpisode: "Season 2, Episode 10"
Comedy Bang! Bang! Drinking ManEpisode: "Rob Corddry Wears Tan Dress Shoes & Red Socks"
2014–2020 Decker Special Agent Jonathan Kington, Trooper Walker, Gregg Turkington, Bar Patron, Tripp Spencer48 episodes & 2 specials; also writer; uncredited director for 4 episodes & 2 specials
2015 Sanjay and Craig D.I.N.K. (voice)Episode: "Dangerous Debbie/D.I.N.K."
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Lawrence TerritoEpisode: "Immortality"
2017 Clarence Greg / Square Dad / Punk (voice)Episode: "Rock Show"
Too LoudMiz Abbott5 episodes
2019 Tigtone Blood King / Fire King / Shadow King (voice)Episode: "...And Those Elemental Kings"
2022 Cursed Films Gregg TurkingtonEpisode: " The Wizard of Oz "
2023 What We Do in the Shadows GreggEpisode: "The Campaign"
Harley Quinn Clegg (voice)Episode: "A Potato-Based Cloning Incident"

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1994 Terminal USA SixFilm debut
2003Neil Hamburger Live at the Phoenix Greyhound Park Neil Hamburger
2006 The Amazing Adventures of Pleaseeasaur Direct-to-video
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
2009Coco Lipshitz: Behind the LaughterShort film
2010The Great InterventionJosh (voice)
2012 The Comedy Bobby
2014 Hamlet A.D.D. Osric
The Begun of Tigtone The Cave Demon (voice)
2015 Entertainment The ComedianFeature film; lead role, co-writer
Ant-Man Dale
2018 A Futile and Stupid Gesture Advertiser
2019 Mister America Gregg TurkingtonAlso co-producer, co-writer
2023 Fremont Dr. Anthony
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Dale [4]
2024 Christmas Eve in Miller's Point Sergeant BrooksCompleted

Applications

YearTitleRoleNotes
2010Shaky Advice from Neil HamburgerNeil Hamburgerwriter
2015On Cinema Film GuideGregg Turkingtonwriter

Web series

YearTitleRoleNotes
2006–2007 Poolside Chats with Neil Hamburger Neil HamburgerLive webcast; co-creator
2012–present On Cinema Gregg Turkington13 seasons and 8+ specials. Also writer, producer.
2013Think TalkNeil HamburgerEpisode: "Neil Hamburger"

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Hamburger</span> Standup comedian character

Neil Hamburger is a standup comedian and singer character created and portrayed by Australian-American entertainer Gregg Turkington. Distinguished for his misanthropic jokes and anti-comedy style, Turkington has released a number of albums as Hamburger and has appeared as the character in various films, television shows, and other media. In 2015, the act inspired the feature-length film Entertainment, which stars Turkington as a "variant" of the character.

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Mister America is a 2019 American mockumentary film directed by Eric Notarnicola and starring Tim Heidecker. The film is an extension of the On Cinema universe, in which Heidecker portrays a fictionalized version of himself who reviews films with fellow comedian Gregg Turkington; the film follows Heidecker as he runs for the office of San Bernardino County district attorney, attempting to unseat the incumbent D.A. that previously attempted to imprison him in a mass murder charge. The film has received mixed reviews from critics.

Amarillo Records was an independent record label owned by Gregg Turkington that operated out of San Francisco, California, from 1992 to 2001. The label specialized in releasing experimental rock music and comedy records. It released several solo recordings by Church Of Satan founder Anton LaVey, as well as the 1996 sampler compilation You Gan't Boar Like an Eabla When You Work with Turkrys.

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Zip Code Rapists were an avant-garde band active in the 1990s. The band was composed of guitarist John Singer and singer Gregg Turkington. The band is known for their confrontational, deconstructionist, absurd live performances, as well as their bizarre, more fleshed-out recordings. During the group's fake break-up in 1994, Singer and Turkington formed competing spin-off bands, the Zip Code Revue and The Three Doctors Band, presumably attempts to siphon off Zip Code Rapists fans for themselves.

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<i>On Cinema</i> Web series

On Cinema is an American comedy web series and podcast starring Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington. The duo appear, using their own names, as a pair of hapless movie reviewers to promote new film releases. The show started as an independently released podcast from 2011 to 2013, before being picked up as a professionally produced web video series by Thing X in 2012, continuing after the site merged with Adult Swim's website in 2013. The show moved to HEI Network, an independent service, in 2021, with funding given by user subscriptions and special event ticket purchases.

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References

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  2. "Gregg Turkington Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". Allmusic . Retrieved 21 October 2022. Born November 25, 1967 in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ratliff, Ben (21 November 2015). "For Gregg Turkington's Character, There's No Success Like Failure". The New York Times . Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  4. 1 2 Salazar, Andrew J. (11 September 2022). "D23 Expo 2022: Every New Marvel Studios Announcement". DiscussingFilm. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  5. Secret Chiefs 3 With Gregg Turkington - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, 2017, retrieved 1 September 2023
  6. Hastings, Edward; Maiellaro, Matt; Willis, Dave (26 June 2011), Wi-tri, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, George Lowe, Carey Means, Larry Murphy, retrieved 1 September 2023
  7. "Interview: Gregg Turkington". Film Comment. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  8. Kopcow, Chris (28 January 2022). "Navigating On Cinema's Giant, Underground Universe". Vulture. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  9. Alter, Rebecca (12 October 2022). "Tim Heidecker's On Cinema Season 13 Will Be a Morning Show". Vulture. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
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  19. Tired, Jake (22 July 2016). "Talking with comedian and actor Gregg Turkington about the sad life of Neil Hamburger". The AU Review. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  20. Ray, Linda. "Gregg Turkington: Cutting-edge comedy". Tucson Weekly. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  21. "The Real Gregg Turkington on Entertainment, Ant-Man, and Film Criticism". Dorkshelf.com. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2018.