Kid Fury

Gregory A. Smith (born November 24, 1987), known professionally as Kid Fury, is an American YouTube vlogger, comedian, and writer. He is best known as the co-host of podcast The Read, with Crissle West.

Kid Fury
Fury with co-host Crissle West at a live taping of The Read podcast
Born
Gregory A. Smith[1]

(1987-11-24) November 24, 1987
Miami, Florida
NationalityJamaican American
Occupation
  • YouTube vlogger
  • podcaster
  • comedian
  • writer
Years active2009–present
Known forThe Read

Early life

Kid Fury was born and raised in Miami, Florida, where his parents had emigrated from Jamaica. He has two younger brothers. He enjoyed comedy from a young age and especially liked In Living Color, Martin and Moesha.[2]

Career

Kid Fury launched a YouTube channel in 2010 where he hosted a vlog series called Furious Thoughts.[3][4] At the time of the launch he also had a comedy blog and created the YouTube account to drive traffic to his blog.[2] His videos featured comedic, unfiltered takes on pop culture and his real life and attracted a large, diverse audience. Kid Fury moved to New York City in 2012.[2][3] As of July 2013, his videos has over 10 million views.[5] In 2016, he told NBC: "As a person of color and gay man, it is three times as hard to get opportunities in this industry, so I am doing my best to create my own...I'm building my business instead of waiting for others to give me the keys."[3]

The Read
Main article: The Read

In 2011, Kid Fury met future collaborator Crissle West, who later moved to New York City in 2013. Chris Morrow approached Fury about doing a podcast with Morrow's then-startup podcasting company, the Loud Speakers Network.[6] Fury asked West to join him and they named the podcast The Read.[7] As of January 2019, The Read was averaging 400,000 listeners per episode.[8][9] In 2019, the podcast's television adaptation, The Read with Kid Fury and Crissle West, premiered on Fuse.

2016-present

In 2016, Kid Fury put on a live version of his show that consisted largely of stand-up comedy, called "Furious Thoughts Live".[3][8] He also appeared as a supporting character in the second season of Dear White People.[10]

In July 2018, it was announced that Kid Fury was developing a television show for HBO with executive producer Lena Waithe.[1] The project is described as a "surreal dark comedy" that will follow a gay Black man in his twenties, navigating life in New York City with depression.[1] Kid Fury met producer Chloe Pisello of Avalon Television, who enjoyed the pitch and helped him shop the show around to several networks. Eventually, they signed a deal with HBO.[2]

He is noted for advocating for Missy Elliott to receive MTV's VMA Video Vanguard Award on the show. Elliott received the award in 2019 and thanked Kid Fury and West for drumming up support.[11]

Personal life

Fury is openly gay. In an interview with HuffPost, he stated, "I want people to understand that being black and gay is so different than just being gay...Black women get overlooked in the fight for women all of the time, so there's I think a similar thing that happens in the gay community with black gays."[2]

Accolades

In 2016, Fury was named to the NBC BLK 28 list, citing his work on the "wildly popular, hilariously snarky podcast".[3] The New York Observer called him "Black Twitter's Kingmaker", and Ebony's Jamilah Lemieux compared him to Eddie Murphy.[5]

References
  1. Otterson, Joe. "Kid Fury to Develop HBO Comedy Series With Lena Waithe Producing (EXCLUSIVE)". www.variety.com. Variety. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  2. Finley, Taryn (February 4, 2019). "We Built This: Kid Fury's Brutal Honesty Is What Will Actually Make America Great". HuffPost.
  3. Moodie-Mills, Danielle (February 24, 2016). "#NBCBLK28: Kid Fury: Telling The Furious Truth". NBC BLK. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  4. Smith, Jada F. (2016-01-15). "Kid Fury of 'The Read': From Digital Realm to the Stage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  5. Sands, Darren (24 July 2013). "The Kid Stays in the Picture: Kid Fury's Journey From YouTuber to Black Twitter Kingmaker". New York Observer. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  6. Locke, Charley (June 29, 2016). "Live Tapings Are Helping Make Podcasts A Little Less … White". Wired. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  7. Lopez, Linette (December 16, 2013). "How 2 Friends Started The Most Hilarious Podcast Of The Year By Being Brutally Honest". Business Insider. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  8. Smith, Jada F. (15 January 2016). "Kid Fury of 'The Read': From Digital Realm to the Stage". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  9. McDonald, Soraya Nadia (14 November 2013). "Q&A: 'The Read's' Kid Fury and Crissle West". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  10. Bowen, Sesali. "Why This Dear White People Lesbian Narrative Is So Important". www.refinery29.com. Refinery 29. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  11. McDermott, Maeve. "Did Missy Elliott just give the VMAs' best performance of all time?". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
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