Kyle Dunnigan Wishes You a Very Craig Christmas

craig christmas

Even if you’re not familiar with his series of videos on YouTube or his podcast with Tig Notaro, you’re likely to recognize Kyle Dunnigan from his appearances on Inside Amy Schumer or his role as Craig– Trudi Wiegel’s homicidal yet infantile boyfriend — on Reno 911.

“I have done two completely terrifying things this week.”

Dunnigan made a back-to-back pair of high-profile appearances in December, appearing on Late Night With Seth Meyers on December 11, and on The Howard Stern Show on December 16.  “I have done two completely terrifying things this week,” Dunnigan said in a phone interview for The Interrobang. Dunnigan frequently does impressions and pre-recorded segments for the Stern show, but this time, he was asked to sit in on the show as a guest.

Though he has made stand-up appearances on shows like Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Meyers’ show, he said doing appearances can still be overwhelming. “You have to concentrate,” Dunnigan said. “It can be a real challenge to stay aware in the moment. In your mind, you know that there’s a timer counting down, and you have to pace yourself and be mindful of the time, like they’ll just cut you off if you go a second over. I’m sure they probably wouldn’t just cut you off in reality, but that gets into your head. It’s usually not until afterwards that I’ll relax a little and think back and so, ‘OK, I did a pretty good job there’ or whatever.”

Though he does impressions of Donald Trump, Paul McCartney, and Bill Maher among others, Dunnigan’s signature character is Craig, a bespectacled lisping man-child, which earned him a role on Reno 911. “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t doing that character,” he said. “It dates back to childhood sometime, and I’ve been doing it ever since. I did an open audition for Reno 911, and I was asked to pretend that I had just robbed somebody, and I did it with the Craig character. Craig was flirting with one of the girls, and it just worked out. It was really just a one-off thing, and we kept it going for a while.” The nerdy character appeared in seasons 1-3 and was revealed to be the notorious “Truckee River Killer” and was killed off by lethal injection.

Dunnigan has kept the character alive on YouTube, where he hosts a series of educational videos on topics such as cutting your own hair, retrieving a toothbrush from a toilet bowl, and winter survival techniques. “It doesn’t happen too often, but I’ll sometimes get recognized on the street as Craig, which always makes me question how I look that day, because Craig is such a disturbing looking character,” Dunnigan said. “It can make me a little nervous, because that’s not usually the look I’m going for, you know?”

Craig is also the centerpiece of Dunnigan’s comedy and music album, Craig’s All Star Rocking Christmas, You Guys (available on iTunes). Originally released last year, the album has been picked up by Comedy Central and has been released again this year.

The standout single is “Fuck You, Mistletoe,” a good ol’ boy’s screed against the plant that makes him question his sexuality during the holidays. Another ridiculously catchy track is the opener, “Christmastime is the Best Time,” featuring Craig with Jesse Thomas in a hip-hop styled-ode to all things Christmas. He also includes some of his favorite impressions, such as Bill Maher raging against the “12 Days of Christmas”, fashionista Tim Gunn giving Santa’s elves a makeover, and Donald Trump being Donald Trump.

Dunnigan said he enjoyed making a holiday-themed parody album.“I always loved Christmas, and Christmas just seemed like a good way of pulling together some of these different pieces with a holiday theme,” Dunnigan said. “We banged it out in three weeks, and I’m really happy with how it came out.”

In addition to his Christmas album and recent appearances, Dunnigan has amassed more than six million views on his YouTube channel and hosts his weekly podcast, Professor Blastoff with Tig Notaro on the Earwolf Podcast Network. He also writes and appearance on the Inside Amy Schumer, and is working with Schumer as she prepares to host the MTV Movie Awards in April 2015.


Order Craig’s All Star, Rockin’ christmas, You Guys! [Explicit] on Amazon for the perfect Christmas Gift.

| Follow Kyle On Twitter @kyledunnigan | Visit KyleDunnigan.com |

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Dan Murphy is a freelance writer in Buffalo. Pre-order his new book documenting the rise of women’s wrestling from sideshow to WWE main event on Amazon.com, "Sisterhood of the Squared Circle: The History and Rise of Women’s Wrestling"
Dan Murphy
Dan Murphy
Dan Murphy is a freelance writer in Buffalo. Pre-order his new book documenting the rise of women’s wrestling from sideshow to WWE main event on Amazon.com, "Sisterhood of the Squared Circle: The History and Rise of Women’s Wrestling"