Hannibal Buress
Hannibal Buress
Hannibal Buress is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born and raised in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, Buress embarked on a comedy career in late 2009, gaining notable recognition after being featured in Comedy Central's The Awkward Comedy Show, alongside various other comedians. This enabled Buress to release his first comedy album, My Name is Hannibal, in 2010...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionComedian
Date of Birth4 February 1983
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
I like smoking at home. I like it to be one of the last things I do that day. I don't wake and bake at all; I couldn't do that. If I'm waking and baking, then I'm staying inside my place the rest of the day. I can't start my day off high.
I don't like when people say, 'I'll pray for you. I'm going to pray for you. Praying for you.' You're going to pray for me? So you're going to sit at home and do nothing? 'Cause that's what your prayers are; you doing nothing while I struggle with a situation. Don't pray for me - make me a sandwich or something.
There have been times I've been out, and my phone battery is at nine percent, and I was like, 'Time to go home.'
In my hometown of Chicago, I'm kind of a medium deal.
I need to have something else going on. I'm able to write a lot if I have an episode of 'Friday Night Lights' going on my computer.
I go to a lot of rap shows and sometimes take what they do from a performer's aspect, how they interact with the crowd. I always have a DJ with me on the road, as well as some dancers.
I did not move to New York with a plan. The first time I moved to New York, I just popped up. My sister was living here in New York. I just popped up. She had her baby and a husband, and I just popped up. 'Hey, what's up? I got $200 and dreams. Let's do this.'
My first time on TV doing stand-up, I actually did this show in Holland called 'The Comedy Factory' hosted by Jorgen Raymann. It was in 2006 in Holland. It was amazing. I had only been doing stand-up for four years, and I booked that gig through the Just For Laughs Montreal festival, and they flew me out and put me up.
I had a sketch called 'Fedora Basketball,' which was about basketball players having to wear hats; in addition to scoring points, they have to make sure their fedoras don't fall off.
There's been times where I sold the place out, and I walked in and the guy's like, 'Uh, ID?' 'No, you can't ID me, man. I just sold this place out.' People are just doing their jobs, but I think if you're working the door at a venue where there's a headliner, you should at least be like, 'OK, this is the dude.'
I haven't really tried to write a movie. It's tough to get into that mode.
I've been going up and bombing everywhere. It's great. I love it. It's hilarious.
My dad named me after Hannibal Barca, the Carthaginian general who attacked Rome. But nobody knows about him.
I didnt audition for SNL. I sent in a tape to SNL the year before I started writing there, but I got the job there through doing stand-up on Fallon.