Josh Meyers is an American actor, best known as a cast member of the American sketch comedy MADtv and for his portrayal of Randy Pearson on FOX comedy That '70s Show.
Biography[]
Josh Meyers, younger brother of Seth Meyers of SNL fame, was raised in Bedford, New Hampshire, the son of Hilary, a French teacher, and Larry Meyers, a BNP Paribas Supply Chain Finance executive. Meyers attended Manchester West High School and excelled in the Shakespeare for Production class at St. Paul's School Advanced Studies Program in Concord, N.H. during the summer of 1993. In a path similar to his brother Seth, he later attended Northwestern University. In high school, Josh became President of the Student Council by having the entire student body chant "We Have Gas" in his election speech. However, he proved to be a very good leader.
Career[]
After college, Meyers worked with Boom Chicago, along with future MADtv cast members Jordan Peele, Ike Barinholtz and Nicole Parker in Amsterdam and he starred on MTV Holland. Meyers officially joined the cast of MADtv in 2002, as a feature performer, for the eighth season. He would fill in the spot of the Spishak Spokesperson that David Herman and Pat Kilbane previously owned. But Meyers was famous for some of his celebrity impersonations, including Anna Nicole Smith's son, Daniel, various members of *NSYNC, rapper Eminem, and actor/writer Owen Wilson.
Meyers's appearances on MADtv on FOX aired directly opposite his brother Seth's appearances on Saturday Night Live on NBC. This was noted on a season 28 episode of Saturday Night Live, where Seth appears on Weekend Update to talk to his dad and tells his dad to turn off MADtv (where his brother was hired at the time). In 2004, after two seasons on MADtv, Meyers was fired from the show. When Topher Grace left That '70s Show, Meyers was chosen as a replacement, along with Tommy Chong, who was featured more frequently. In 2006, Meyers made an appearance in the feature film Date Movie, where he played Napoleon Dynamite and Owen Wilson's character from Wedding Crashers.
Meyers often works with his best friend, Ike Barinholtz. He and Barinholtz have lived with each other in Los Angeles, and in 2002 they both became cast members of MADtv. Meyers and Barinholtz had a recurring sketch on the show in which the two would attempt to act out a serious dramatic piece, such as a scene from Hamlet. Invariably Meyers would take it more seriously, with Barinholtz making fun of Meyers' line readings. These sketches nearly always ended with the two fistfighting and rolling around the stage, sometimes bringing the set down around them.
He had a supporting role in College Road Trip, starring Raven Symone and Martin Lawrence.