Vulture
Vulture Editors 2023
Curtis Cook Wants This in Every Possible Dimension
"This week, we’re highlighting 25 talented writers and performers for Vulture’s annual list “The Comedians You Should and Will Know.” Our goal is to introduce a wider audience to the talent that has the comedy community and industry buzzing. (You can read more about our methodology at the link above.) We asked the comedians on the list to answer a series of questions about their work, performing, goals for the future, and more. Next up is Curtis Cook."
Vulture
Rebecca Alter, Anne Victoria Clark, Jesse David Fox, Jason P. Frank, Jake Kroeger, Hershal Pandya, and Kathryn VanArendonk 2023
The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2023
"25 comics who industry insiders predict will be tomorrow’s superstars."
Los Angeles Times
Jake Kroeger 2023
Commentary: L.A. comics share the secret of political comedy — ‘everything is political’
"The world is on fire from climate change, democracy everywhere feels under the gun, corporate greed seems at a very transparent, all-time high. With all of that in mind, to be a political comedian these days seems more daunting than it has been in quite some time, perhaps even more so than the Dubya Bush years."
New Haven Independent
Sarah Bass 2023
Parking Lot Comedy Night Is Lit — & Light
"Curtis Cook (pictured above), the headliner of the evening, is a writer for Hulu’s This Fool.
'Actually I’m unemployed,' he said. And 'not doing so well, as you may have guessed since I’m drunk in a parking lot.'"
The Willamette Week
Matthew Singer 2020
Curtis Cook Got Kicked off Twitter for Impersonating Dr. Oz and Threatening to Murder Children
"His biggest mistake of quarantine, though? Joining TikTok."
The News-Herald
John Benson 2019
Kenston High grad Curtis Cook keeping busy, returning to Northeast Ohio for Cleveland Comedy Festival
"Comedian Curtis Cook is living the dream, which began roughly a decade ago when he was an Oberlin College student studying film and creative writing."
The Oregonian
Mike Acker 2019
Comedian Curtis Cook's master plan: Just get laughs
"Los Angeles comedian Curtis Cook has never had a master plan. He just wants to tell jokes."
Comedy Central
David Pemberton 2017
8 COMEDIANS YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR
"We caught up with these comics to talk about participating in Up Next and being on the verge of fame."
The News-Herald
John Benson 2017
Kenston High School Graduate Curtis Cook Getting His Shot to Headline Hilarities
"Since leaving Northeast Ohio in 2013, comedian Curtis Cook has returned home numerous times; however, the Geauga County native’s upcoming visit is unlike any previous trip..."
OPB
April Baer 2016
Curtis Cook Throws Curveballs
"Comedian Curtis Cook excels at a kind of curveball - unassuming riffs that quietly steer you right where he wants you..."
Portland Monthly
Rebecca Jacobson 2016
Eight Can’t-Miss Shows at the 2016 Bridgetown Comedy Festival
"The comedians call it their summer camp, but Portland’s Bridgetown Comedy Festival offers plenty of carefree, kidlike fun—namely round-the-clock giggles—for the rest of us, too..."
Portland Monthly
Fionna McCan 2016
Five Young Portland Artists on the Verge
"Ohio-born Curtis Cook may be the only person in town who can call out a room full of Portlanders for their collective whiteness, and then get them to laugh at it. Smart and politically sharp, this six-foot-seven-inch monologist, who cohosts a weekly comedy show—Earthquake Hurricane..."
VICE
VICE Staff 2016
We Meet LA's New Young Comics on the First Episode of 'FLOPHOUSE' on VICELAND
"On February 29, VICE will launch our new TV channel, VICELAND—a 24-hour cable channel featuring hundreds of hours of programming. Today we're bringing you the first episode of FLOPHOUSE, a new show officially premiering Thursday, March 3..."
The Willamette Week
Mike Acker 2015
Portaland's Best Free and Cheap Comedy Nights
"Comedy shows have become a mainstay of Portland's cultural landscape. Any night of the week, there is something funny happening here. Though not a comprehensive list, we've got a breakdown of some of the best recurring comedy nights in the city..."
The Star
Elly Gitau 2015
American Comic Curtis Cook to Perform in Niarobi
"American stand-up comedian Curtis Cook is coming to Kenya..."
The Tusk
Mike Acker 2015
Go See Curtis Cook at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival
"Portland's Bridgetown Comedy Festival starts on May 8 and it's going to be awesome. We know that because we've been interviewing some of the comics and they are funny and great and you're going to love them. Our fourth interview is with Curtis Cook, a young comic who hails from Portland by way of Cleveland, Ohio. Cook sat down with The Tusk to talk D.L. Hughley, working on the local scene, and telling "edgy" jokes..."
Williamette Week
James Helmsworth 2014
Funniest Five Comics 2014: Number 2, Curtis Cook
"Curtis Cook is used to telling jokes to white people. He got his first crack at standup in middle school in Auburn Township, Ohio, a rural exurb east of Cleveland that’s 97 percent white. The set was part of a school assignment about careers. Cook chose to research comedy. This culminated, he says, in “five minutes of comedy for a bunch of oddly supportive parents.” It included a bit where he recited part of “Get Low” by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz as a haiku..."
Williamette Week
Amy Miller 2014
Fresh Meat: Curtis COok
"Curtis Cook wants you to sit next to him on the bus. At 6-foot-7—when standing up straight, which is rare—he still seems surprised by his own imposing presence. If you’re a woman and you call him handsome, he’ll ask where you were when he was in college. That college was Oberlin—a pricey liberal arts school in Ohio that Cook attended as a “scholarship kid” and graduated before defecting to Portland to do standup comedy..."
The Portland Mercury
Alison Hallett 2014
Sketching Bridgetown: Shannon Wheeler Draws Reggie Watts
"We've written lots and lots of words about the Bridgetown Comedy festival this year—this one's for the visual learners out there. Cartoonist Shannon Wheeler is the creator of Too Much Coffee Man; his comics have graced the pages of the New Yorker, and last year he published a collection of rejected New Yorker cartoons, I Thought You Would Be Funnier. He brought his sketchpad to Bridgetown. Here's what he drew..."
The Portland Mercury
Alison Hallett 2014
Curtis Cook Says What He Wants to Say
"JUST A FEW YEARS after graduating from Oberlin College, Curtis Cook moved to Portland and promptly became one of our favorite young comedians. His material catalogs day-to-day absurdities and indignities, offering a perspective on race that's reminiscent of Key and Peele (he's got a joke that perfectly anticipated their "Sex with Black Guys" sketch)..."
The Comic's Comic
Mira Weisenthal 2014
A Bridgetown to Social Justice
"I went to Bridgetown Comedy Festival this year with a question in my head about social justice. For a long time, I’ve had this idea that comedy was connected with that world – the world of Social Justice – in a bigger way than just: “It makes people feel good.” Who cares. People feel good when they take baths or smile politely at tourists. What I mean is that I think comedy can make the world better by changing people’s minds about the way the world works..."
Comedy Groupie
Amy Hawthorne 2014
The New Negroes Are Killing it at Bridgetown
"Now before you get your electronic pitchforks out, that's the name of the show and it's a very progressive reference to the Harlem Renaissance. It's curated and hosted by Baron Vaughn, who is always a sure bet for a good set. And it did a wonderful job of bringing together comedians from a range of geography, with a range of styles and content, all of whom are black..."
Brightest Young Things
Matt Byrne 2014
Curtis Cook is Funny
"Hi, here’s another one of these! This week’s pick is standup comic Curtis Cook, who was in Chicago last month as a part of The Comedy Exposition (a standup comedy festival I helped produce). Curtis is one of the folks whose sets I most regret missing, as I was too preoccupied with frantically running around helping make sure things went relatively smoothly to actually see much standup throughout the fest..."
The Portland Mercury
Alison Hallett 2013
Comedy is OK
"LAST YEAR, comedian Ron Funches moved to Los Angeles, where he promptly landed a high-profile guest spot on New Girl and filmed a pilot for an NBC sitcom. This week, popular Portland comic Ian Karmel followed Funches to the land of sunburns and success, and it's already paying off: His first TV appearance—a panel spot on Chelsea Lately—will air on Thursday, August 29..."