Ep 67. Thomas Middleditch
b'If your impression of Thomas Middleditch is that of a somewhat befuddled, bumbling, awkward-bordering-on-geeky misfit, we won\\u2019t blame you... yet. He has personified that type in films such as Splinterheads, The Bronze, The Final Girls, and even The Wolf of Wall Street. So neither can we blame Silicon Valley co-creator/director Mike Judge for writing the role of socially discombobulated Richard Hendricks specifically with Middleditch in mind. And now, Hendricks\\u2019 wide-eyed, stammering bewilderment seems to stem from Middleditch\\u2019s genuine disbelief at his own good fortune; after all, he\\u2019s landed the lead on a series that\\u2019s become more popular than the latest tech fads the show sends up.\\n\\nIf it\\u2019s possible to be both a show\\u2019s star and its secret weapon, that\\u2019s what he seems to have achieved. In calling Middleditch the most underrated actor on TV, The Decider said, \\u201cOne of the reasons that Silicon Valley quickly went from good to great to one of the best is because of Middleditch, who\\u2019s made Richard into an incredibly sympathetic, watchable character despite his by-design lack of dynamism.\\u201d High praise for an actor whose character has dwelt mainly in the shade of the charismatic type-As who surround him.\\n\\nSo Mike Judge did not misjudge. We\\u2019re guessing he knew what a lot of the show\\u2019s fans may not. Middleditch is a sharply funny and frenetic writer and comic who found his way out of bully crosshairs and subsequently out of Nelson, BC through theater. Impatient to get on with doing what he loved, he dropped out of school in Canada to start writing and acting in sketches, cartoons and commercials. Nothing happened instantly; he walked dogs and sold shoes while writing scripts that didn\\u2019t go anywhere and auditioning without success for Saturday Night Live. But sometimes all you need is the proper attitude. When asked to join the Improvised Shakespeare Company (a Chicago-based improv troupe that performs spontaneous plays in Elizabethan-sounding English), his first thought was, \\u201cThat sounds impossible. Sure!\\u201d When you\\u2019re fearless and open, fate tends to fall in line. A goofy, impromptu sketch for a Second City training program, in which he rapped about his faux-abiding love for Chicken McNuggets, sat out on the internet for a year before it caught the attention of a creative director for McDonald\\u2019s, who cracked up. Cue commercials, newfound exposure and two valuable lessons: a) fate can hide in odd, deep-fried places and b) keep going until someone laughs. Since then, he\\u2019s worked with some of the most talented names in comedy, including Zach Galifianakis, Key & Peele, and Jay Roach. He\\u2019s created voices and characters for shows including Beavis and Butt-Head, The Office, Comedy Bang! Bang!, and cult web series Jake and Amir, all while writing and making a seemingly ceaseless string of odd, humorous shorts.\\n\\nEven if all that hadn\\u2019t happened, we bet Middleditch would still be putting funny stuff into the world, if not to entertain us, then solely to entertain himself. You get the feeling that if his schedule ever slowed down or (god forbid), his internet connection died, he\\u2019d be perfectly fine in front of the mirror making faces, voices, and scenes. But small chance of that. He\\u2019s just finished playing the title role in Jeff Baena\\u2019s Joshy and will star in the upcoming Entanglement. He\\u2019s also slated to be animated in Henchmen and Captain Underpants.\\n\\nThough his dance card is largely filled with comedies, Middleditch remains open to playing any kind of character that interests him, and wouldn\\u2019t mind venturing into more dramatic territory. We\\u2019d like to see him try. Seriously\\u2014we\\u2019d really like to see him try.'