Will Franken
A brilliant and hilarious youngster with a penchant for psychedelic drugs, Will Franken fled his native Missouri, after receiving a 
Masters in Literature (with a focus on Restoration and 18th Century British) to seek his fame and fortune in New York City. Instead, he found bagels and the Mets. The Mets had fame and fortune already; but that wasn’t enough for Franken, who wanted his own. Franken’s Big Apple existence was marked by highs and lows.He was a fixture in New York’s Greenwich Village’s alternative theatre scene and spent his last years in that metropolis doing voiceover and on-camera work for such products as Heineken, Sprint, and Volkswagen.
Moving to San Francisco paid off as he quickly built a solid reputation as one of San Francisco’s most original comedic acts. San Francisco. San Francisco. San Francisco. He established himself as a cult figure and, instead of making his fans and followers kill themselves, he elected to let them live and was consequently selected “Best Comedian” by SF Weekly and “Best Alternative to Psychedelic Drugs” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian.
in 2007, Franken made his television debut on BBC America’s “The World Stands Up”. A devout Anglophile, it was a dream come true for the 33-year old child prodigy. He went to Abbey Road and the Churchill Museum and. . .what else? Oh yeah, he taped a television show for BBC America. Then his wife left him. In late 2007, Franken’s east coast fan base was thrilled to learn that he had re-relocated to New York City. After consecutive sold-out one-man shows at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Franken continued to wow audiences and increase his legion of fans.
Franken has appeared at HBO’s Comedy Festival in Las Vegas as well as Just For Laughs in Montreal. Last summer, Scott and Kevin from “The Kids In The Hall” were in the front row for one of his performances and they really dug it. It was another dream come true for the 37-year old child prodigy who began life with only a body and a means by which to operate that body.
In his downtime, Franken produces episodes of his critically-acclaimed podcast series (more like comedy albums, really), “Things We Did Before Reality.” In August 2012 Will was invited by Fringe Management, Paul Provenza and Barbara Romen to make his debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with Things We Did Before Reality, a live culmination of some of the best material from his years in the States and some newer, psychedelically innovative pieces constructed with a UK audience in mind. It went rather well.
“What elevates Mr. Franken above your garden-variety comedian is an erudite wit and a highly developed sense of the absurd “ New York Times
“San Francisco has nurtured many of comedy’s biggest names, and this guy is destined to be one of them.” San Francisco Chronicle
“I cannot remember one moment of this show that wasn’t funny. I am still laughing.” The Scotsman
“the darkness of Franken’s imagination is like Chris Morris: this is Blue Jam with a wilder look in its eyes.” The Guardian
Click here to enquire about booking Will Franken