Oscar Nunez
Nuñez in Los Angeles, California in February 2009
Born	(1958-11-18) November 18, 1958 (age 53)[1] Cuba
Occupation	Actor/Comedian
Years active	2000–present

Oscar Nunez (born November 18, 1958), sometimes credited as Oscar Núñez, is a Cuban American actor and comedian. He currently appears as Dunder Mifflin's paper supply accountant, Oscar Martinez, on NBC's The Office.

Career[link]

Born in Cuba, Nunez moved to Union City, New Jersey when he was fourteen years old.^[2] He is bilingual in English and Spanish. Having attended various colleges in New York, including Fashion Institute of Technology and the Parsons School of Design for writing, Nunez became a certified dental technician from Magna Institute of Dental Technology.^[3]

Nunez started his comedy career in New York, founding and performing over 300 shows with The Shock of the Funny theater company. The troupe was active in the East Village for several years. In addition to his work with Shock, Nunez appeared in theater in New York and Washington, D.C. before moving to Los Angeles in the mid 1990s. In LA, he joined The Groundlings and performed in their Sunday Company. While with the Groundlings, he wrote and starred in a production called "Smooth Down There."

In 1997, Nunez graduated from the Warner Brothers Comedy Writer’s Workshop. In 1999, he was a finalist in the ABC Latino Writers Project.

In 1998, he appeared on the game show Match Game, wearing a Dio shirt, but was not a winner.

Nunez was Adam Carolla's stand-in on The Man Show.

Nunez's television credits include Malcolm in the Middle, 24, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Reno 911, The District and Mad TV, in addition to his current role on The Office. He was also the creator and executive producer of the Comedy Central series Halfway Home, in which he played the character Eulogio Pla.

His film credits include The Italian Job (as a security guard), Reno 911: Miami, and When Do We Eat?. In 2009, Nunez recently played the role of Ramon, the caterer, stripper, soda jerk, and finally clergy performing wedding ceremony in The Proposal.

Nunez appeared as one of eight judges in the 2010 Miss USA Contest, posing a controversial question about the Arizona illegal immigrant law to Miss Oklahoma USA, Morgan Elizabeth Woolard, the first runner-up. Nunez was booed by the audience before finishing the question; however he asked the audience to wait until he finished the question before they reacted. Although Miss Woolard replied that she supports the law as a state rights issue, she added that she is against racial profiling.^[4]

Filmography[link]

• Celebrity Family Feud
• The Proposal
• Fred: The Movie (minor role)
• Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 1, Episode 3; Car Park Attendant)
• "The Italian Job" (minor role)
• Reno 911 "Spanish Mike" Alvarez
• The Office as Oscar Martinez
• Bob's Burgers Episode Sheesh! Cab, Bob?

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Oscar Nuñez

• Oscar Nuñez at the Internet Movie Database
• Oscar Nuñez at NBC.com's The Office
• Oscar Nunez at Omnipop.com
• Interview with Oscar Nunez at WickedInfo.com

Paul Francis Tompkins^[1] (born c. 1968),^[1][2] best known as Paul F. Tompkins, is an American comedian, actor and writer. He is known for his work in television on such programs as Mr. Show with Bob and David, Real Time With Bill Maher and Best Week Ever,^[2][3][4] later renamed Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins.^[1][5]

He is also the host of The Pod F. Tompkast, which was ranked #1 by Rolling Stone on their list of "The 10 Best Comedy Podcasts of the Moment" in 2011.^[6]

Early life and career[link]

A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,^[2][7][8] In 1986 Tompkins first performed comedy at 17 years of age at The Comedy Works in Philadelphia (a club now located in Bristol, Pennsylvania) where he performed as half of a sketch comedy duo with the late Rick Roman.^{[8][9][10][11]} Tompkins attended Temple University however he dropped-out^[9] and left for Los Angeles, California in 1994.^{[8][9][11][12]}

Tompkins met actor Jay Johnston in L.A. through their mutual friend, actor and director Adam McKay.^[9] McKay and Tompkins had become friends in Philadelphia, where they had both started to perform stand-up at around the same time.^[4][9][13] McKay later moved to Chicago and met Johnston; Johnston moved to L.A. at around the same time as Tompkins and McKay introduced the two.^[4] Tompkins and Johnston went on to create a live sketch comedy show called "The Skates" that was seen by Bob Odenkirk and David Cross and helped get them hired to work on Mr. Show with Bob and David in 1996.^[4][8][11]

Career[link]

Live comedic performance[link]

Tompkins' comedy career has included stand-up, sketch comedy and a variety of other live performances.

Tompkins stand-up comedy performances are of a storytelling and observationalist style.^{[3][14][15][16]} His shows often consist of extended riffs and long anecdotes.^[2][5] Tompkins deals topics of the bizarre and the absurd^[2][3] — such as a rant about peanut brittle^[5][17], a discussion about cake versus pie,^[17] and smashed coins^[15] — in addition to recounting stories about his own life experiences and family.^{[2][13][14][17]} His comedic style has been described as alternative comedy;^[8][17][18] Tompkins has stated that he is not bothered by the label and that he likes the term.^[19]

Tompkins is known for his style of dress during his live comedic performances, always performing in suit and tie,^[5][13] sometimes in pinstripes and with a bowtie;^[14][20] his look has been described by some in the press as "dapper".^{[14][15][17][21]} Tompkins has described his look as "foppish" and "just this side of Cedric the Entertainer."^[17]

Tompkins is based in Los Angeles and performs regularly in the city.^[13][18] Since 2002 he has performed a monthly show called The Paul F. Tompkins Show at Largo, an L.A. nightclub and cabaret.^[2][22][23] His show has featured such guests such as Fiona Apple, Jack Black, Dave Foley, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Aimee Mann and Weird Al Yankovic.^[2] Since its inception in 2005, Tompkins has taken part in the Thrilling Adventure Hour, a staged production in the style of old time radio that is also held monthly at Largo.^[24][25][26] The show began podcasting in January 2011; in October of that same year the show's podcasts moved to the Nerdist Industries podcast network created by Chris Hardwick.^[27] Tompkins is a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCB) Los Angeles.^[28] His comedy album "Impersonal" was recorded live at the UCB Theatre.^[29] He also performs monthly at the "Dead Authors" show at UCB Theatre in support of the nonprofit organization 826LA;^[30][31] Tompkins plays the role of H.G. Wells who serves as the host of the show.^[30]

Tompkins has toured in the US and Canada^[32] and prefers to perform in independent venues, rather than conventional comedy clubs.^[33][34] Starting in 2009 he embarked on his "Tompkins 300" tour;^[7][21][32] Tompkins had been preparing for his one-hour Comedy Central special You Should Have Told Me at the Laughing Skull Lounge theatre in Atlanta, Georgia — a small theatre that seats about 74 people.^{[7][21][35][36]} In order to fill the seats for the his recording of his special, Tompkins required about 280 people in the audience over the course of 4 nights for the recording of his show.^[7][21][34] Tompkins decided to announce on Twitter that he needed 300 people to fill the seats each night;^[7][21][34] Bob Kerr, a Canadian comedian, saw the Twitter post and asked if Tompkins would like to perform in Toronto.^[7][21][34] Tompkins advised Kerr that if he was able to get 300 people to state that they would definitely see his show he would come to Toronto.^[7][21][34] Kerr then started a Facebook group called “I Wanna See Paul F. Tompkins in Toronto” and managed to get 300 people to join^[7][21][34] In October of that same year Tompkins performed at the The Rivoli theatre in Toronto,^[7][34] the same theatre in which the sketch comedy show The Kids in the Hall was filmed.^[21][37] Facebook groups were subsequently started in other North American cities^[21] and in 2010 he stated that he had stopped promoting his shows on the radio.^[38] In 2011 he said that the Facebook 300 groups had become his main method of booking comedy shows.^[2]

Tompkins wrote and performed in his one-man show, Driven to Drink which aired on HBO in 1998.^[3][9][12] He appeared on 6 episodes of Late Night with Conan O'Brien between 1998 and 2008^[7][9][12] as well as 2 episodes of Conan in 2011 and 2012.^[9] He has recorded two comedy albums: "Impersonal" in 2007^[4][10][29] and "Freak Wharf" in 2009.^[31] His stand-up appearances on the Comedy Central network include being featured in episodes of Comedy Central Presents in 2003 and 2007,^[9][31] hosting an episode of Live at Gotham in 2009,^[9][31] performing on John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show in 2010,^[9][31] and recording two original one-hour comedy specials — You Should Have Told Me which aired in 2010^[9][17][39] and Paul F. Tompkins: Laboring Under Delusions in 2012.^[9][17][39]

Acting and writing[link]

Tompkins wrote for and performed on Mr. Show with Bob and David from 1995 to 1998; the show's writers, including Tompkins, were nominated for an Emmy Award in 1998 for "Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program".^[3][40]

Tompkins' work with Mr. Show's creators Bob Odenkirk and David Cross also led to his recurring role on the Tenacious D TV series.^[8][13] Tompkins played the character of a nightclub manager who is duped into reading Tenacious D’s ridiculous introductions during their open mic performances.^[8] He revived the role in the comedic band's film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny released in 2006.^[9]

Longtime friend Adam McKay consulted Tompkins regarding the screenplay for Talladega Nights.^[8] Tompkins also played the MC of a cat show in McKay's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.^[13][12][41]

Tompkins has appeared on television programs including NewsRadio, Frasier, Weeds, The Sarah Silverman Program, Pushing Daisies, Community and Curb Your Enthusiasm.^{[2][4][5][7][9]} Tompkins played the role of Prescott in P.T. Anderson's film There Will Be Blood (2007);^[4][5] Anderson had previously cast Tompkins in a small role in the 1999 film Magnolia after watching Tompkins perform at Largo.^[4][5][12] Tompkins also played FBI Agent Anthony D’Angelo in Steven Soderbergh's The Informant! (2009).^[7]

Tompkins wrote for Real Time with Bill Maher in 2003 and 2009, in addition to being a show correspondent in the show's first season.^[9][12][13] In 2011 Tompkins was asked to write humorous recaps of American Idol episodes for New York magazine’s online blog Vulture.^[2][42][43]

Tompkins has expressed in interviews that he dislikes writing (particularly writing for others), preferring instead to perform in front of a camera.^[8][10]

Voice acting[link]

Tomkins has done voice work for many animated television series including Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, King of the Hill and Bob's Burgers.^[9] He lent his voice to a character in an unaired 2007 episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force titled "Boston" that was supposed to be the premiere episode of the show's fifth season, but it was pulled by Turner Broadcasting System to avoid further controversy surrounding the 2007 Boston bomb scare.^[44] Tompkins later appeared in an episode during the show's 7th season. He was also the voice of one of the thugs in Walt Disney Animation Studios' 2010 computer animated film Tangled.^[9] Tompkins was the voice of Benton Criswell, a character in MTV series Super Adventure Team which featured marionettes in the style of the 1964 series Thunderbirds; the role was credited under the stage name Francis Mt. Pleasant. He was also the voice of a puppet in ads for the Ford Focus.^[39]

Political and social commentary[link]

Tompkins has appeared on several television programs devoted to discussing politics, popular culture and current events, however he says he does not consider himself to be a political comic.^[45]

Tompkins was a contributor to the "Us People's Weekly Entertainment" segment of The Daily Show in 1998.^[7][9][13] In 2003 he was a writer and correspondent Real Time with Bill Maher in the show's first season^[12][13] and wrote again for the show in 2009.^[9] He appeared on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn in 2004.^[9][31] He was a pop culture analyst on VH1's Best Week Ever from the show's launch in 2004;^[1][46] the show was was retooled and relaunched as Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins with Tompkins as host in 2008.^[1][5][46] From 2006 to 2008 he was a regular guest on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.^[4][5][10] In 2008 he appeared on Lewis Black's Root of All Evil^[31][47] and took part in a panel on Larry King Live in an episode titled "Politics & Humor".^[9]