Wikipedia

Adam Quesnell

Adam Quesnell is an American stand-up comedian and screenwriter from Fargo, North Dakota now living in Los Angeles.

Adam Quesnell
Pronunciationquen-NELL
Born
Adam Ross Quesnell[1][2]

1981 or 1982 (age 41–42)[3]
Thief River Falls, Minnesota
Alma materMinnesota State University Moorhead
OccupationStand-up comedian
Years active2009-present

Quesnell has released two comedy albums on Stand Up! Records, 2014's Can We Afford This Much Despair? and 2018's Despair 2: Social Justice Warlord, as well as the 2018 single Egghead.

Early life edit

Quesnell was born in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, where he graduated from Lincoln High School.[4][5] His father, Curt Quesnell, was a broadcaster on Thief River Falls radio stations KKAQ-AM and KKDQ-FM, where he hosted the longtime show North Country Outdoors Radio, and a fishing guide on Lake of the Woods.[6][7]

He earned an MFA in scriptwriting in 2007 from Minnesota State University Moorhead.[1][2][7]

Career edit

Stand-up comedy edit

Chicago Now called Quesnell's comedy "soul-lifting" in spite of his often dark subject matter.[8] The Minnesota Daily described it as "dark but digestible", noting that his humor often deals with social anxiety.[9] Fargo Monthly called him "goofy and dark."[10] The Fargo newspaper High Plains Reader called his comedy "razor sharp, perfectly timed, both nuanced and broad".[11]

Quesnell began performing stand-up in Fargo, North Dakota in 2009.[12] As his career progressed, Quesnell moved from Fargo to the larger city of Minneapolis and eventually to Los Angeles, where he now lives and works as a screenwriter.[11][13]

His first performance was as the opening act for Todd Barry.[14][7] He has also performed with Maria Bamford and Kyle Kinane.[8] Quesnell quickly became an organizer as well, producing shows and promoting open mics in the Fargo-Moorhead area.[15] The High Plains Reader newspaper credited him with "planting the seed for the burgeoning comedy scene in Fargo."[16] He was named Fargo's No. 2 comedian in a 2015 poll by the High Plains Reader.[17]

He has performed at the 10,000 Laughs Comedy Festival,[18] SF Sketchfest, San Francisco Comedy Festival,[19] Akumal Comedy Festival, New Orleans' Hell Yes Fest, and the Chicago Comedy Exposition.[20]

Screenwriting edit

His one-hour science fiction pilot The Insomniacs was produced as an audio drama in 2020 for Alison Mauldin's screenwriting podcast The Scriptcast.[21][22]

In 2006, his short play Parachutes won the Midwest regional award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival; another play, Labyrinth, was also nominated.[2]

Albums edit

Quesnell has released two comedy albums on Stand Up! Records, 2014's Can We Afford This Much Despair? and 2018's Despair 2: Social Justice Warlord, as well as the 2018 single Egghead.[23][24] Quesnell's debut was recorded at Minneapolis' CONvergence sci-fi convention in 2013.[8][25] It reached No. 13 on the iTunes comedy chart.[25][8] Followup album Despair 2 was recorded at the Red Raven cafe in Fargo.[25]

An avid toy collector, Quesnell and Stand Up! producer Dan Schlissel made a collectible figure of the "Despair" monster on the cover of his first album, which Quesnell called "a sad devil version of myself".[25][26]

Richard Lanoie of The Serious Comedy Site called Can We Afford This Much Despair? "particularly smart" and said "I look forward to more of" Quesnell.[27] Writing about Despair 2, Lanoie praised Quesnell's ability to segue between "a smartly veiled comment on racism in the U.S." and a "silly bit on the difference between a baby ghost and a ghost baby." Although he felt Quesnell's Donald Trump commentary was "banal," he further praised Quesnell's ability to disguise the sharpness of his satire inside "seeming superficiality."[28] Catherine Gill of website The Dirty Vegan called Quesnell's comedy "relatable and socially aware" and found his penchant for self-deprecation "hilarious and refreshing."[20] Joe Christianson of the comedy podcast Joke Quest 200 called his albums "magnificent."[29][30] Johnny Taylor of comedy website Now Hear This called Social Justice Warlord one of his favorite comedy albums of 2018 and said, "Quesnell delivers a smart, edgy, and current hour of stand-up comedy that will appeal to a larger portion of people than his reputation as a 'nerd' comic suggests."[31]

Personal life edit

"Quesnell", a surname of French origin, is pronounced with a silent S.[21][22][26][32]

Discography edit

Despair II: Social Justice Warlord
Review scores
SourceRating
Now Hear This     [31]

Podcast appearances edit

  • Magnotronic, Episode 401: Adam Quesnell (Sept. 1, 2015) [32]
  • Big Money Movie Ideas, Episode 9: Skinprint (August 28, 2018)[33]
  • Bleak In Review, Episode 203: Vice President Angry-Boner (Sept. 27, 2019)[7]
  • The Goods from the Woods, Episode 268: Toy Collecting with Adam Quesnell (Oct. 16, 2019)[26]
  • Joke Quest 200, "Adam Quesnell" (Sept. 28, 2020)[30]
  • The Scriptcast, "Episode 2: The Insomniacs" (October 29, 2020)[21]
  • The Scriptcast, "Scriptcast Conversations - The Insomniacs" (November 18, 2020)[22]
  • Joke Quest 200, "Adam Quesnell and Dan Bublitz" (April 27, 2021)[29]
  • The Goods from the Woods, Patreon Episode 5: Super Mario Bros. with Adam Quesnell (August 4, 2021)[34]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Student plays honored". The Advocate. Vol. 35, no. 15. Moorhead, Minnesota. 2005-12-08. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  2. ^ a b c Meehlhause, Kellie (2006-02-16). "'Parachutes' wins at festival". The Advocate. Vol. 35, no. 21. Moorhead, Minnesota. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  3. ^ Benshoof, Sam (2011-12-06). "The beard is back: Locally and in pop culture, facial hair becoming fashionable". Detroit Lakes Tribune. Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  4. ^ "Moorhead State announces Dean's List students". NorthernWatch. Thief River Falls, Minnesota. 2003-01-25. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  5. ^ "Turning Back the Times: 100 years ago, heavy snow in April delays seeding operations" (PDF). Thief River Falls Times. Thief River Falls, Minnesota. 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  6. ^ Dokken, Brad (2017-09-24). "From on the air to on the water". Grand Forks Herald. Grand Forks, North Dakota. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  7. ^ a b c d Kevin Anderson (2019-09-27). "203: Vice President Angry-Boner (w/ Joe Kaye, Adam Quesnell, & Tianna Donyes)". Bleak In Review (Podcast). Unpops Podcast Network. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  8. ^ a b c d Ring, Teme (March 16, 2016). "A conversation with Adam Quesnell: Despair is the funniest demon". ChicagoNow. Chicago. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  9. ^ Macalus, Austen (February 2, 2016). "Starting the year off right at home". Minnesota Daily. Minneapolis. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  10. ^ Jason, Andrew; Kuller, Kelsey (December 2012). "Stand up for comedy in Fargo-Moorhead". Fargo Monthly. Fargo, North Dakota. pp. 34–46. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  11. ^ a b Gruber, Kris (2020-02-26). "Comedian in the Cellar: The Return of Adam Quesnell". High Plains Reader. Fargo, North Dakota. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  12. ^ "Fargo comic Quesnell to record stand-up set". The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. Fargo, North Dakota. 2011-09-21. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  13. ^ "California Calls to Quesnell". High Plains Reader. Fargo, North Dakota. 2018-09-05. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  14. ^ Rice, Jay (2015-03-04). "Major Milestones for Local Comics Adam Quesnell and JD Provorse". High Plains Reader. Fargo, North Dakota. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  15. ^ "Open mic comedy gains popularity". The Advocate. Vol. 40, no. 20. Moorhead, Minnesota. 2011-02-24. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  16. ^ Showalter, John (2015-09-24). "Ha Ha's, Hellos and Goodbyes". High Plains Reader. Fargo, North Dakota. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  17. ^ "Best of the Best 2015: The Results". High Plains Reader. Fargo, North Dakota. 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  18. ^ Lobell, Kylie Ora (2018-08-16). "A Comprehensive Guide to Comedy Festivals in the U.S. and Around the Globe". Vulture. New York City. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  19. ^ Milligan, Kaitlin (2018-11-19). "Lineup Announced for the 18th Annual San Francisco Comedy Festival". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  20. ^ a b Gill, Catherine (2018-09-18). "Adam Quesnell's "Despair II: Social Justice Warlord": A Comedy Review". Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  21. ^ a b c Alison Mauldin (2020-10-29). "Episode 2: The Insomniacs". The Scriptcast (Podcast). Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  22. ^ a b c Alison Mauldin (2020-11-18). "Scriptcast Conversations: The Insomniacs". The Scriptcast (Podcast). Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  23. ^ Can We Afford This Much Despair? at AllMusic. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  24. ^ "Adam Quesnell". Discogs. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  25. ^ a b c d Showalter, John (2017-12-08). "Laughter Amid Despair". High Plains Reader. Fargo, North Dakota. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  26. ^ a b c Rivers Langley, Pat Reilly, Mr. Goodnight (2019-10-16). "Episode 268: Toy Collecting with Adam Quesnell". The Goods from the Woods (Podcast). Retrieved 2021-08-25.{{cite podcast}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ Richard Lanoie (April 9, 2018). "Adam Quesnell – Can We Afford This Much Despair?". The Serious Comedy Site. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  28. ^ Richard Lanoie (October 12, 2018). "Despair II: Social Justice Warlord – Adam Quesnell". The Serious Comedy Site. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  29. ^ a b Joe Christianson (2021-04-27). "Adam Quesnell and Dan Bublitz". Joke Quest 200 (Podcast). Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  30. ^ a b Joe Christianson (2020-09-28). "Adam Quesnell". Joke Quest 200 (Podcast). Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  31. ^ a b Taylor, Johnny (2018-09-17). "Now Hear This: Despair II: Social Justice Warlord - Adam Quesnell". Now Hear This. Archived from the original on 2020-11-29. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  32. ^ a b Maggie Faris (2015-09-01). "Episode 401: Adam Quesnell". Magnotronic (Podcast). Archived from the original on 2017-04-06. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  33. ^ Andrew Santoro, Kelsey Henry (August 28, 2018). "BMMI Guest Ep 09: Skinprint (With Special Guest Adam Quesnell!)". Big Money Movie Ideas (Podcast). Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  34. ^ Rivers Langley, Pat Reilly, Mr. Goodnight (2021-08-04). "Patreon Episode #5 - "Super Mario Bros." with Adam Quesnell". The Goods from the Woods (Podcast). Retrieved 2021-07-22.{{cite podcast}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links edit

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