Heywood Banks

Last updated

Heywood Banks
Born
Stuart Mitchell

(1950-04-01) April 1, 1950 (age 74)
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • songwriter
Website www.heywoodbanks.com

Stuart Mitchell (born April 1, 1950), known professionally as Heywood Banks, is an American comedian, and writer and performer of humorous songs. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Career

In the 1970s and 1980s, Mitchell used to perform under his own name, doing comedy and playing guitar. [1] His wife suggested he develop a few characters after they visited Los Angeles in 1987 and found many other comedians doing similar things as him. [1] He ended up developing the character Heywood Banks and started performing as him in 1987. [1] [4]

In 1988, he won the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search national finals, which gave him a television appearance on A&E's An Evening at the Improv , aired on October 19, 1988. [5] [4] Later the same year, he won the Miller Lite Comedy Search regional finals held in Clinton Township, Michigan. [6]

His songs include "Toast", "Fly's Eyes", "Wiper Blades", "Pancreas", "Big Butter Jesus" [7] (a song about the King of Kings statue), "18 Wheels (on a Big Rig)", "The One Eye Love" & "The Cat Got Dead". [8]

The story of his song "Toast" goes back to around 1986, when he was browsing at a Salvation Army store for props for his act. He bought an old toaster, thinking maybe he would make toast during his act. Later, his wife said she was looking forward to having toast the next morning, and he started improvising a song about toast while playing a bongo. [9]

Heywood frequently appears on the nationally syndicated radio program The Bob and Tom Show . His most popular and widely known song is called "Toast", played on a toaster with a pair of forks. Another recurring song that B&T occasionally play is "Trauma to the Groin". Heywood's songs have also been played on the Dr. Demento Show.

In 1993, he starred in a pilot called The Heywood Banks Show, which was aired on WJBK. [10] He played the manager of a trailer park's convenience store called the Toast Basket. He also played a resident at the trailer park named Hyphen (Dash) Ampersand. He performed his song "Toast" on the pilot. [11] Comedy writer B. K. Taylor also appeared on the show. [10]

Banks' "The Revenge Song" (also known as "You Can Be Mean to Me") was performed on American Idol on January 16, 2007, by an "urban Amish" [12] singer called Troy.

Personal life

Banks is originally from Birmingham, Michigan. [1] He attended Western Michigan University. [4] He lives near Howell, Michigan. [4]

Albums

Television appearances

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Mochrie</span> Canadian comedic actor

Colin Andrew Mochrie is a Scottish-born Canadian actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, best known for his appearances on the British and American versions of the improvisational TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway?.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Coulier</span> American actor, activist, and comedian (b. 1959)

David Alan Coulier is an American actor, stand-up comedian, impressionist, podcaster, and television host. He played Joey Gladstone on the ABC sitcom Full House, voiced Peter Venkman on The Real Ghostbusters, and voiced Animal and Bunsen on Muppet Babies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Improv</span> Comedy club franchise

The Improv is a comedy club franchise. It was founded as a single venue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1963, and expanded into a chain of venues in the late 1970s.

Toast most commonly refers to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Lynch (musician)</span> American comedian, musician and actor (born 1971)

Stephen Andrew Lynch is an American comedian, musician and actor who is known for his songs mocking daily life and popular culture. Lynch has released four studio albums and four live albums along with a live DVD. He has appeared in two Comedy Central Presents specials and starred in the Broadway adaptation of The Wedding Singer. Lynch released a double-disc album, Lion, on November 13, 2012. In 2016, he released a live concert video, Hello Kalamazoo. He released his studio/live album My Old Heart in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Witherspoon (actor)</span> American actor (1942–2019)

John Witherspoon was an American actor and comedian who performed in various television shows and films. He played Willie Jones in the Friday series, and starred in films such as Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Boomerang (1992), The Five Heartbeats (1991), and Vampire in Brooklyn (1995). In addition, Witherspoon made appearances on television shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1994), The Wayans Bros. (1995–1999), The Tracy Morgan Show (2003), Barnaby Jones (1973), The Boondocks (2005–2014), and Black Jesus (2014–2019). He wrote a film, From the Old School, in which he played an elderly working man who tries to prevent a neighborhood convenience store from being developed into a strip club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Wilson (comedian)</span> American comedian and singer (1961–2014)

Timothy Collins Wilson was an American comedian and country music artist, whose act combined stand-up comedy and original songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Provenza</span> American actor, comedian, filmmaker and skeptic

Paul Provenza is an American television presenter, actor, radio panelist, stand-up comedian, filmmaker, and skeptic based in Los Angeles. He has appeared on several podcasts and in recent years has interviewed other stand-up comedians. In 2005 he became a director, in 2010 an author and in 2011 he started producing for comedy festivals and television.

Jerome Charles Minor Jr. is an American actor, comedian and writer known for his comedic roles in numerous television programs such as Mr. Show, Saturday Night Live, Trigger Happy TV, Delocated, Brickleberry, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Crossballs, The Hotwives of Orlando, Carpoolers, Community, Lucky Louie, and Dr. Ken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitch Mullany</span> American actor and comedian (1968–2008)

Mitchell Paul Mullany was an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and author. Mullany was best known for his portrayal of White Mike in the 1990s comedy sitcom The Wayans Bros and as Nick Freno in the sitcom Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher, which both aired on The WB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Lutz</span> American comedian and screenwriter

John Michael Lutz is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is best known for playing J. D. Lutz on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, and for his work as a writer on the NBC series Saturday Night Live for seven seasons. In 2014, he joined the writing staff of the NBC late-night talk show Late Night with Seth Meyers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Jeong</span> American comedian and actor (born 1969)

Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in The Hangover film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015). He created, wrote and produced the ABC sitcom Dr. Ken (2015–2017), in which he portrays the titular character, and he has appeared in the films Knocked Up (2007), Role Models (2008), Furry Vengeance (2010), The Duff (2015), Ride Along 2 (2016), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), Scoob! (2020) and Tom & Jerry (2021).

Rocky LaPorte is an American actor and a stand-up comedy performer. In 2005 he had his own stand-up special on Comedy Central Presents. After the comedian Tim Allen watched Rocky on The Tonight Show, he claimed Rocky as his "favorite new comic" and brought him on to play in his movie The Shaggy Dog. Rocky visited Iraq with Drew Carey, and the trip became a movie called Patriot Act: a Jeffrey Ross Home Movie, which aired on Showtime. He was also one of the few comedians to get a standing ovation on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Brian Elwin Haner Sr., also known as Guitar Guy or Papa Gates, is an American musician, comedian, and author. Haner is known for touring with fellow stand-up comedian/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, as in the 2008 holiday program, Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special. He is also a noted session musician for Avenged Sevenfold, a band in which his son, Brian Haner Jr., is the lead guitarist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Hill</span> Native American actor and comedian (1951–2013)

Charles Allan Hill was a comedian and actor. Hill was one of the first Native American stand-up comedians to appear on major television shows such as The Richard Pryor Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Roseanne, and Moesha. He was a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, with heritage from the Mohawk and Cree Nations. He also wrote for the television series Roseanne and co-produced and hosted a Showtime special called The American Indian Comedy Slam: Goin Native No Reservations Needed. Charlie Hill was the first Native stand-up comedian ever to perform on national television, making his network debut on The Richard Pryor Show in 1977. He then went on to become the first Native comedian to perform on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson among many other national late-night talk shows. Charlie performed across North America for hundreds of Tribal communities and Nations throughout his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Mantzoukas</span> American actor and comedian

Jason Mantzoukas is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter and podcaster. He is best known for his recurring role as Rafi in the FX comedy series The League, his role as Nadal in The Dictator, and as one of the three co-hosts of the podcast How Did This Get Made? alongside Paul Scheer and June Diane Raphael.

Tim Robinson is an American comedian and actor. He first became known as a writer and performer on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2012 to 2016, before gaining wider recognition as the co-creator, co-writer and star of the comedy series Detroiters (2017–2018) and I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (2019–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Evan Jackson</span> American comedian and actor (born 1970)

Marc Evan Jackson is an American comedian and actor. Some of his roles include Sparks Nevada in the Thrilling Adventure Hour, Kevin Cozner in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Trevor Nelsson in Parks and Recreation, Dr. Murphy in 22 Jump Street, Steve Woodward in Kong: Skull Island, Shawn in The Good Place, and Bradford Buzzard in the Disney series DuckTales.

Jon Daly, sometimes credited as Jonathan C. Daly, Jon C. Daly or Jonathan Barney Daly, is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer best known for his sketch comedy work on the Comedy Central series Kroll Show. In 2013, he starred as Hobbes in the Amazon Studios original series Betas, and also played Agent Filippo in Zoolander 2 (2016).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle</span> Comedy club in Michigan

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle is a comedy club located in Metro Detroit, at 310 S. Troy St., Royal Oak, Michigan 48067.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Jackson, Dana (April 1, 1988). "Comic Is a New Man as Heywood Banks". The Detroit Free Press . p. 6C. Retrieved July 20, 2023. Mitchell, whose April Fool's birthday makes him 38 today...
  2. ↑ Meet Heywood Banks: Michigan comedian, lover of toast, March 12, 2014, retrieved July 26, 2017
  3. ↑ Forget what your high school counselor said: Heywood Banks has built a career on the art of the funny song, April 8, 2010, retrieved July 26, 2017
  4. 1 2 3 4 Hughes, Mike (October 19, 1988). "Local Comedian Takes a Giant Step Toward National Fame". Lansing State Journal (Lansing, Michigan). p. 1D.
  5. ↑ Jackson, Dana (May 6, 1988). "It's Showtime in Berkley as Cable Film Date is Set". Detroit Free Press. p. 6C.
  6. ↑ Autumn Rock Goes on Sale". Detroit Free Press. October 13, 1988. p. 4B.
  7. ↑ "Brettlive.com". Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2007.
  8. ↑ Black, Virginia (July 4, 2010). "'Flying Pigs' at 4-H Fair?" The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Indiana). p. B7.
  9. ↑ Hicks, Robert (February 20, 2004). "Heybook Banks on Songs for Merriment and Laughs". The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee). p. F14.
  10. 1 2 "'The Heywood Banks Show' Airs Dec. 13 on Channel 2". Livingston County Daily Press and Argus (Howell, Michigan'). p. 3.
  11. ↑ Duffy, Mike (December 13, 1993). "Local Comedy Special Makes Fun of Life in a Trailer Park". Detroit Free Press. p. 4E.
  12. ↑ Clip on YouTube of American Idol featuring Heywood Banks cover
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.