Kid Fury | |
|---|---|
 Fury with co-host Crissle West at a live taping of The Read podcast | |
| Born | Gregory A. Smith [1] November 24, 1987 |
| Nationality | Jamaican American |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2009–present |
| Known for | The Read |
Gregory A. Smith (born November 24, 1987), known professionally as Kid Fury, is an American YouTube vlogger, comedian, and writer. He is best known as the co-host of podcast The Read , with Crissle West.
Kid Fury was born and raised in Miami, Florida, where his parents emigrated from Jamaica. [2] He has two younger brothers. [2] He enjoyed comedy from a young age and especially liked In Living Color , Martin and Moesha . [2]
Kid Fury launched a YouTube channel in 2010 where he hosted a vlog series called Furious Thoughts. [3] [4] At the time of the launch he also had a comedy blog and created the YouTube account to drive traffic to his blog. [2] His videos featured comedic, unfiltered takes on pop culture and his real life and attracted a large, diverse audience. The New York Observer called him "Black Twitter's Kingmaker", and Ebony's Jamilah Lemieux compared him to Eddie Murphy. [5]
Kid Fury moved to New York City in 2012. [2] [3] As of July 2013, his videos had over 10 million views. [5] In 2016, he told NBC: "As a person of color and gay man, it is three times as hard to get opportunities in this industry, so I am doing my best to create my own...I'm building my business instead of waiting for others to give me the keys." [3]
In 2011, Kid Fury met future collaborator Crissle West, who later moved to New York City in 2013. Chris Morrow approached Fury about doing a podcast with Morrow's then-startup podcasting company, the Loud Speakers Network. [6] Fury asked West to join him and they named the podcast The Read. [7] As of January 2019 [update] , The Read was averaging 400,000 listeners per episode. [8] [9] In 2019, the podcast's television adaptation, The Read with Kid Fury and Crissle West , premiered on Fuse.
In 2016, Kid Fury put on a live version of his show that consisted largely of stand-up comedy, called "Furious Thoughts Live". [3] [8] He also appeared as a supporting character in the second season of Dear White People . [10]
In July 2018, it was announced that Kid Fury was developing a television show for HBO with executive producer Lena Waithe. [1] The project is described as a "surreal dark comedy" that will follow a gay Black man in his twenties, navigating life in New York City with depression. [1] Kid Fury met producer Chloe Pisello of Avalon Television, who enjoyed the pitch and helped him shop the show around to several networks. Eventually, they signed a deal with HBO. [2]
Kid Fury was a staff writer for the Miami-set HBO Max series Rap Sh!t . [11] He also appeared in two episodes of the show's first season.
Fury is openly gay. In an interview with HuffPost , he stated, "I want people to understand that being black and gay is so different than just being gay...Black women get overlooked in the fight for women all of the time, so there's I think a similar thing that happens in the gay community with black gays." [2]
He is noted for advocating for Missy Elliott to receive MTV's VMA Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award on The Read. Elliott received the award in 2019 and thanked Kid Fury and West for drumming up support during her acceptance speech. [12] [13]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Shorty Awards | Best YouTube Star | Himself | Won | |
| Black Weblog Awards | Best Podcast | The Read | Won | [14] | |
| 2019 | iHeartRadio Podcast Awards | Best Multi-Cultural Podcast | Nominated | [15] | |
| 2020 | Best Podcast of the Year | Nominated | [16] | ||
| Best Comedy Podcast | Nominated | ||||
| Shorty Awards | Best Podcasters | Kid Fury and Crissle | Nominated | [17] | |
| 2021 | iHeartRadio Podcast Awards | Best Comedy Podcast | The Read | Won | [18] |
| Best Pop Culture Podcast | Nominated | [19] | |||
| 2022 | Queerty Awards | Best Podcast | Nominated | [20] | |
| 2023 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Arts and Entertainment Podcast | Nominated | [21] | |
| 2024 | Queerty Awards | Best Comic | Himself | Nominated | [22] |
| AAMBC Literary Awards | Podcast of the Year | The Read | Pending | [23] |
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott, also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. She began on her musical career as a member of the R&B girl group Sista during the 1990s, who were part of the larger musical collective Swing Mob—led by DeVante Swing of Jodeci. The former group's debut album, 4 All the Sistas Around da World (1994) was released by Elektra Records and met with positive critical reception despite commercial failure. She collaborated with album's producer and Swing Mob cohort Timbaland to work in songwriting and production for other acts, yielding commercially successful releases for 702, Aaliyah, SWV, and Total. She then re-emerged as a solo act with numerous collaborations and guest appearances by 1996, and in July of the following year, she released her debut studio album, Supa Dupa Fly (1997).
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The Read is a weekly pop culture podcast. One of several podcasts affiliated with the Loud Speakers Network, The Read is hosted by American comedians Kid Fury and Crissle West and based in New York City.
Brian Michael Firkus, better known by the stage name Trixie Mattel, is an American drag queen, television personality, and singer-songwriter originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is known for her exaggerated, high-camp style and blend of comedy and acoustic pop. In 2015 she competed on the seventh season of the drag competition RuPaul's Drag Race, where she finished in 6th place. In 2018, she went on to win the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.
Brian Joseph McCook, known by his drag persona Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova, or mononymously as Katya, is an American drag queen, actor, author, recording artist, and comedian. Katya is best known for placing fifth on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race and placing as a runner-up on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, as well as for appearing in the World of Wonder web series UNHhhh and the Viceland series The Trixie & Katya Show with co-host and fellow season 7 alum Trixie Mattel. Trixie and Katya often appear together as a popular comedy duo.
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