Jason Mantzoukas Biography

Jason "Zouks" Mantzoukas (born December 18, 1972) is an American comedic actor best known for his recurring role as Rafi in the FX comedy series The League and his role in The Dictator.

Mantzoukas has appeared in such films as Sleeping with Other People, They Came Together, and Conception. He had a recurring role on Parks and Recreation as Dennis Feinstein and has appeared on Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Adrian Pimento. He also co-hosts the popular film discussion podcast How Did This Get Made? alongside Paul Scheer and June Diane Raphael.

Early life

Mantzoukas was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the son of Cynthia and William Mantzoukas. He has described himself as being of "100 percent Greek" descent. Mantzoukas was an accomplished drummer in high school, anchoring a band named Slygoul. He attended Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont. Mantzoukas lived in the Middle East a few years after graduation, studying musicology as a Watson Fellow.

Career

He began performing improvisational comedy while attending Middlebury College in Vermont as a part of the Otter Nonsense Players. After college, Mantzoukas studied music and lived abroad for several years, traveling to North Africa and the Middle East. After moving to New York in 1998, he began performing comedy regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCBT) where he was a member of the improv team "Mother", one of the UCBT's earliest house teams. He continues to perform in the weekly show "Soundtrack", an improvised show based on iPod playlists from audience members. Mantzoukas continues to perform and teach at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles. Mantzoukas has appeared in movies such as Baby Mama, I Hate Valentine's Day, and The Dictator and has made guest appearances in comedy programs such as The Life & Times of Tim, Parks and Recreation, Enlightened, Broad City, Kroll Show, Modern Family, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He currently co-hosts the Earwolf podcast How Did This Get Made? along with Paul Scheer and June Diane Raphael. Although he is often cast as characters of Middle Eastern ethnicity, Mantzoukas is of Greek descent. Mantzoukas and comedian Ed Herbstman performed as comedy duo "The Mantzoukas Brothers" for a number of years, and they were named "Best Improv Duo" by Time Out New York magazine in 2006. Mantzoukas appeared in the recurring roles of Rafi on the FX comedy The League and Eagle Wing in the "Gigolo House" sketches on Comedy Central's sketch series Kroll Show.

Charaterwheaties co-wrote the screenplay for the 2014 Ice Cube and Kevin Hart comedy Ride Along. He has also served as a consulting writer and producer on comedy programs such as Childrens Hospital and Portlandia.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Terrorists	John Stevens
2007	American Loser	Luggage Channel Guy
2008	Baby Mama	Gay Couple
2009	I Hate Valentine's Day	Brian Blowdell
2009	Splinterheads	The Amazing Steve
2010	Please Give	Shopper
2011	Conception	Brian
2012	The Dictator	Nadal
2014	Ride Along		Writer
2014	They Came Together	Bob
2014	Neighbors	Doctor Theodorakis
2014	Adult Beginners	Herman
2014	Stretch	Manny the Valet
2014	Search Party	The Amazing Hugo
2015	Sleeping with Other People	Xander
2015	Regular Show: The Movie	Mr. Ross (voice)
2015	The Night Before	Bad Santa #1
2016	Dirty Grandpa	Pam
2016	Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie	Homeless Man
2016	How to Be Single	George
2017	The Lego Batman Movie	Jonathan Crane / The Scarecrow (voice)
2017	The Disaster Artist	Peter Anway
2017	The House	Frank Theodorakis
2018	The Long Dumb Road		Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Upright Citizens Brigade	Orgy Man	Episode: "Sex"
2007	Human Giant	Human Giant's #1 fan	Episode: "24 Hour Marathon"
2008	Squidbillies	Pine Booby (voice)	Episode: "Flight of the Deep Fried Pine Booby"
2010-2012	The Life & Times of Tim	Various Characters (voice)	3 episodes
2010-2015	The League	Rafi	30 episodes; also writer
2011	Traffic Light	Dimitry	Episode: "En Fuego"
2011	Childrens Hospital	Mole Man	Episode: "Newsreaders"; also writer/consulting producer
2011-2013	Enlightened	Omar Ali	8 episodes
2011-2015	Parks and Recreation	Dennis Feinstein	4 episodes
2012	NTSF:SD:SUV::	Hank Schiller	Episode: "Comic-Con-Flict"
2013	Modern Family	Kenny	Episode: "Party Crasher"
2013	Bob's Burgers	Mr. Manoogian (voice)	Episode: "The Unnatural"
2013	The Greatest Event in Television History	Director	Episode: "Too Close for Comfort"
2013	The Jeselnik Offensive	Himself	Episode 1.8
2013-2015	Kroll Show	Various Characters	9 episodes
2013-2016	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Himself / Chef Luigi Lugosi	4 episodes
2014	Broad City	Creepy DJ #2	Episode: "Fattest Asses"
2014	Review	Crazed Driver	Episode: "Road Rage; Orgy"
2014	Playing House	C.J. Wolfe	Episode: "Drumline"
2014-2015	Transparent	Dr. Steve	4 episodes
2014-2015	Drunk History	Eddie Aikau / Pop	2 episodes
2015	Regular Show	Sad Sax Guy / Scabby Grossman (voice)	3 episodes
2015	Community	Matt Lundergard	Episode: "Queer Studies & Advanced Waxing"
2016	Animals.	Fink (voice)	Episode: "Rats."
2016-2017	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Adrian Pimento	Recurring role; 7 episodes
2016	American Dad!	Theodore (voice)	Episode: "N.S.A. (No Snoops Allowed)"
2016-2017	Bajillion Dollar Propertie$	Jerry	2 episodes
2016	Lady Dynamite	Karl Grisham	Episode: "Loaf Coach"
2016	Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life	Robert Castellanos	Episode: "Spring"
2016	Mr. Neighbor's House		TV special; executive producer, creator, writer
2017	Workaholics	Isaac Lubetkin	Episode: "Party Gawds"
2017	I'm Sorry	Kyle	3 episodes
2017	Big Mouth	(voice)

Podcasts

Year	Name	Role	Notes
2010-present	How Did This Get Made?	Himself (co-host)	"?165 appearances
2010-2017	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Various	"?30 appearances
2012-2015	Who Charted?	Himself	"?4 appearances
2012	Sklarbro Country	Himself	"?1 appearance
2012-2017	improv4humans	Various	"?7 appearances
2012-2015	Affirmation Nation with Bob Ducca	Mitchell	"?10 appearances
2012-2013	You Made It Weird	Himself	"?2 appearances
2012, 2014	Totally Laime	Himself	"?2 appearances
2012	Earwolf Presents	Eric "Gutterballs" Gutterman	"?1 appearance
2013	Kevin Pollak's Chat Show	Himself	"?1 appearance
2013	The Dead Authors Podcast	Plato	"?1 appearance
2014	The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project	Falcon	"?1 appearance
2014	Hollywood Handbook	Himself	"?1 appearance
2014	Never Not Funny	Himself	"?1 appearance
2014-2015	Reading Aloud	Himself	"?2 appearances
2015	WOMP It Up!	Eric "Gutterballs" Gutterman	"?2 appearances
2015	Black List Table Reads	Himself	"?6 appearances
2015-2017	Gilmore Guys	Himself	"?7 appearances
2015	Crybabies	Himself	"?1 appearance
2016	Reply All	Himself	"?2 appearances
2016	Anna Faris is Unqualified	Himself	"?1 appearance
2016	SPONTANEANATION with Paul F. Tompkins	Himself	"?1 appearance
2016	With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus	Alex Papas	"?1 appearance
2016	OMFG!	Himself	"?1 appearance
2017	WTF with Marc Maron	Himself	"?1 appearance