Peter Benedict Holmes (born March 30, 1979) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and podcaster. Musings on spirituality and religion are frequent themes in his works.
Holmes gained recognition in the early 2010s as a stand-up comic, during which he launched his podcast You Made It Weird (2011–present), released his first comedy special, and worked as an actor and television writer. Subsequently, he began his own late-night talk showThe Pete Holmes Show (2013–2014), which ran on TBS for two seasons in the time-slot after Conan, a frequent champion of his work. During the decade, he released five comedy specials: Impregnated with Wonder (2011), Nice Try, The Devil (2013), Faces and Sounds (2016), Dirty Clean (2018), and I Am Not For Everyone (2023).
Holmes created and starred in the semi-autobiographical scripted comedy series Crashing, which aired on HBO for three seasons (2017–2019). He has worked as a voice actor and starred in the 2022 CBS sitcom How We Roll.
Early life
Peter Benedict Holmes was born in Boston on March 30, 1979.[1] His mother is a Lithuanian refugee, while his father is American with Irish ancestry.[1] He has a brother who composes music under the name Dr. Holmes. He grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, where he graduated from Lexington High School before attending Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, where he graduated with a degree in English and Communications in 2001.[2] During this time, he played in a punk rock band and participated in an improvisational comedy troupe called The Sweaty-Toothed Madmen.
Partly at the behest of his mother, Holmes had plans to become a youth pastor. This gave way to public speaking, and his love for comedy won over his need to preach.[3] Finding little success as a comedian in his home state, he lived in Sleepy Hollow, New York, then moved to Chicago and then Los Angeles.
Holmes also created and appeared in a Super Bowl XLIII ad for Doritos in 2009 featuring a fictional new beer flavor of the product, in which each chip contains as much alcohol as a 16 o.z. can of beer.[8]
Holmes has provided the voices for several of the characters on Comedy Central's cartoon Ugly Americans. He was the voice of the E-Trade baby on several television commercials and was credited as a writer for those commercials.[11]
Holmes has created a comedic portrayal of Batman in CollegeHumor's internet series Badman. He ran a YouTube channel which was focused around skits alongside Matthew McCarthy called frontpagefilms.[citation needed]
On August 21 and 23 in 2012, Holmes recorded three episodes of a talk show pilot for TBS, produced by Conan O'Brien, entitled The Midnight Show with Pete Holmes.[13][14] Holmes's guests on the unaired pilots included Nick Offerman, Joel McHale, T.J. Miller, and Bill Burr. On February 26, 2013, TBS picked up the show and began airing in late 2013.[15] By July 10, 2013, the name of the show was The Pete Holmes Show.[16] The series premiered on October 28, after Conan.
The show was picked up for a second season by TBS. On December 9, 2013, Gabe Liedman performed the show's first stand-up routine.[17] On May 23, 2014, TBS canceled the talk show after two seasons following poor audience ratings. The show ended its run on June 19, 2014.[18][19]
Holmes released his third comedy special, Faces and Sounds, in 2016. In 2019, he released his fourth album, Dirty Clean.[20]
Holmes created and starred in the TV series Crashing, a semi-autobiographical show which aired on HBO. It revolves around Holmes' character Pete, a young comedian who pursues a career in stand-up comedy after his wife cheats on him, leaving him homeless.[21] Holmes successfully pitched the idea of the show to Judd Apatow and it was picked up by HBO for filming in September 2015, with Apatow as director. The success of the pilot led HBO to give the green-light to the first season in January 2016. After four episodes had aired, HBO renewed the series for a second season[22] which premiered on January 14, 2018. On February 21, 2018, HBO renewed the series for a third season. HBO canceled Crashing in March 2019.[23][24]
On May 14, 2019, Holmes released his book Comedy Sex God, which is described as "part autobiography, part philosophical inquiry, and part spiritual quest".[25]
On March 29, 2021, Holmes was selected to play the lead role of a laid-off auto worker-turned-professional bowler (based on the life of Tom Smallwood) in a CBS sitcom pilot.[26] On May 14, 2021, the pilot for Smallwood was ordered to series, with a mid-season debut planned for the 2021–22 television season.[27][28] On November 24, CBS announced the sitcom has been retitled How We Roll, and received an adjusted first-season order of 11 episodes.[29] On December 10, 2021, CBS announced the series would premiere on March 31, 2022.[30] On May 12, 2022, CBS announced the show had been canceled after one season.[31]
Holmes married his college girlfriend, whose identity he has not disclosed, at the age of 22; they divorced six years later after he discovered that she was cheating on him,[1] which later inspired his semi-autobiographical sitcom Crashing (2017–2019).[1][21][36][37] He married Valerie Chaney in late 2017.[38] Their daughter was born in September 2018.[39][40]
Holmes is a vegan.[1][41] He is a Christian who originally planned to become a youth pastor, and now jokingly refers to himself as "Christ-leaning" and a "hooraytheist".[3]
^Sam Jones. "130. Pete Holmes". Off Camera with Sam Jones (Podcast). Quote by Pete Holmes. Sam Jones Pictures. Event occurs at 17:31–18:08. Retrieved October 10, 2019. For the first five years, maybe ten, most comedians are just doing, it's like they have a vita[min] mix and they just put in—like me, it was like, Steve Martin and Seinfeld, and you put in, like Brian Regan and you blend it up and you can—you reek of it.