You know when you have this totally weird niche internet obsession and then, all of a sudden, some publication runs a story on it and it’s suddenly news for some reason? I’m feeling that right now about comedian Dan Nainan, who I have been thoroughly obsessed with for months.
The Daily Beast is running a story today on Nainan, who is basically an unfunny comedian who does standup gigs at corporate conferences. If you can stomach it, here’s video of him doing a set at a Tesla conference where, over the course of 35 minutes, approximately three people laugh.
There are lots of unfunny corporate comedians in the world, though, so he’s not special in that regard – the thing that makes Nainan hilarious is that he is a compulsive liar. Specifically and most hilariously, he lies a lot about his age. He’s 55, but he repeatedly tells publications ranging from The New York Times to Cosmopolitan to Forbes that he is 35 years old.
And he’s not being interviewed about his comedy, mind you. No, Dan has somehow got himself on a database as a source for journalists, so time-pressed reporters interview him on a range of different topics when they can’t find someone reputable. Like his interview in Cosmopolitan in an article about the porn habits of millennials. Dan Nainan is not a millennial, and Cosmo had to issue a great, great retraction:
Correction, 12/30: This article previously included three quotes from New York comedian Dan Nainan in this article: “I think porn objectifies and degrades women, and I think that it consciously and subconsciously encourages men to mistreat them. I feel it’s exploitative toward women,” “Like most guys, I was exposed to porn when my friends showed it to me when I was a teenager. Of course I liked looking at it, but after awhile, something about it struck me as wrong,” and, “It seems like a lot of guys waste a lot of time and energy on porn that would better be spent with real, live women.” Nainan identified himself as 35 years old at the time of the interview, but it has since been revealed that he is 55, and thus not a Millennial. He has been removed from this article.
So we have a 55 year old millionaire corporate comedian who seems to spend the better portion of his life pretending to be a millennial. And not even a representative millennial! 35-year-old dudes may technically be Gen Y, but let’s be real here.
But that’s only the start of it. As the Daily Beast reports, Nainan is extremely vindictive about those who would insult his comedy or his penchant for lying about his age.
There were times, Robinson said, where it got out of hand. Robinson claims Nainan called his bosses at his day job at one point to try to get him fired.“I saw him. I made fun of him. I just made fun of the practice of what he was doing once. He went through a criminal history. He talked to my employers,” said Robinson.“Then there was that email he offered to fight me to the death on the Isle of Man.”That’s not a joke.“Yeah, he gave places you’re allowed to legally fight to the death,” said Maher. “No, we’re not going to fight you to the death. By the way, my buddy has kids. He’s gonna fight to the death? Just be 55. It’s OK.”
Please, read the Daily Beast’s full article. You will not regret it.
My story: Dan Nainan has been telling every newspaper he can find he’s 35. He’s 55.
That’s the least weird part.https://t.co/jBbNBIn2EZ— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) January 5, 2017
Source: The Daily Beast.
Photo: 30 Rock.
