Griffin McElroy

Griffin McElroy
Griffin McElroy at PAX Prime 2011
Born (1987-04-17) April 17, 1987 (age 37)[1]
Huntington, West Virginia, U.S.
EducationMarshall University, Huntington High School (class of 2005)
Occupation(s)Podcaster, journalist, actor
Years active2007–present
Known forCo-founder of Polygon
Notable work
Spouse
Rachel McElroy
​
(m. 2013)​
Children2
FatherClint McElroy
Relatives

Griffin Andrew McElroy (/ˈmæk.əlˌrɔɪ/ MACK-əl-roy, born April 17, 1987) is an American podcaster, actor, writer, composer, and former video game journalist. He is known for his work on podcasts such as My Brother, My Brother and Me and The Adventure Zone, as well as for co-founding the video game journalism website Polygon.[2]

Early and personal life

McElroy was born in 1987 to Clint McElroy, former co-host of WTCR-FM's morning radio show in Huntington, West Virginia, and his wife Leslie.[3] Griffin McElroy is an alumnus of Marshall University with a degree in journalism.[4] He used to live in Chicago.[5] He married Rachel McElroy in 2013.[6] They have two sons.[7][8]

Career

Journalism

McElroy's journalism career began in 2007 when he started working as the weekend editor for Joystiq. During the 2008 United States presidential election, McElroy also acted as MTV's local journalist for his home state of West Virginia.[7] He departed Joystiq in 2012 in order to found Polygon along with his brother Justin McElroy and Christopher Grant, going on to later become a senior video producer for the site.[9][10] During his tenure, he oversaw a large volume of video content for the site, including their Monster Factory series and several let's plays.[11][12] In 2018, Griffin and Justin both announced their departure from Polygon, in order to focus on their podcasting careers and families.[2]

Podcasting

Since 2010, Griffin McElroy, along with his brothers Justin and Travis, has co-hosted the comedy podcast My Brother, My Brother and Me, an "advice show for the modren [sic] era" hosted as part of the Maximum Fun network. The brothers also starred in a 2017 TV show based on the podcast, which originally aired on Seeso.[13]

In 2014, the McElroy brothers launched a tabletop role-playing game podcast entitled The Adventure Zone.[14] Initially playing Dungeons & Dragons, the show moved into other game systems in later seasons. Griffin McElroy acted as the Dungeon Master and voice of numerous NPCs for the initial 69 episodes of their first campaign, Balance'[15] He later took on the similar role of "Keeper" for the Monster of the Week Powered by the Apocalypse based Amnesty campaign.[16] In the show's third campaign, Graduation, he played the role of Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt, Knight-in-Absentia of the Realm of Goodcastle. McElroy reprised his role as DM for Ethersea, the fourth campaign of the show, which concluded in July 2022. He plays Montrose Pretty in the fifth campaign, Steeplechase. He also composes much of the original soundtrack for the series.[17]

The first sub-arc of The Adventure Zone: Balance, named Here There Be Gerblins, was later adapted into a graphic novel in cooperation with artist Carey Pietsch, and was published by First Second Books in 2018.[18] The book topped The New York Times' best-selling trade fiction list, becoming the first graphic novel to do so.[19] It was followed by a second graphic novel, Murder on the Rockport Limited!, in 2019; Petals to the Metal, in 2020; and The Crystal Kingdom in 2021.[20][21][22]

Griffin and his brothers also co-host a yearly podcast with Tim Batt and Guy Montgomery, released every American Thanksgiving since 2015, called 'Til Death Do Us Blart[23] where they watch and review the film Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 each episode. The podcast released a bonus episode on April 28, 2020, where they instead watched the original Paul Blart: Mall Cop. The brothers also host the documentary podcast The McElroy Brothers Will Be in Trolls World Tour, which ultimately resulted in the announcement that all three were set to make cameo appearances in the film.[24][25]

Since 2017, Griffin has co-hosted the podcast Wonderful! with his wife, Rachel, where they discuss things they are interested in and enjoy.[26] The two had previously hosted another podcast named Rose Buddies, in which they recapped episodes of The Bachelor and related television series.[27]

Griffin has appeared twice as a guest on The George Lucas Talk Show, once during the May the 4th, 2020 fundraiser The George Lucas Talk Show All Day Star Wars Movie Watch Along[28], and later on December 22, 2020, episode The George Lucas Holiday Special.[29]

Voice acting

McElroy has appeared as a voice actor in several animated series, including Clarence, Big City Greens, We Bare Bears, and Camp Camp.[30][31] He also provided voice commentary for the 2017 video game 100ft Robot Golf, alongside his brothers.[32] In September 2018, following a successful podcasting campaign, the McElroy brothers, Travis, and Justin, confirmed that they would be voicing the character Skyscraper in the film Trolls World Tour, with Griffin also voicing Country Tear.[25] In April 2021, McElroy was announced to be voicing a role in The Mitchells vs. the Machines and is listed in the credits as Additional Voices.

Awards and achievements

In 2017, Forbes named McElroy a "30 Under 30" media luminary.[11] This became a running gag during the introduction of My Brother, My Brother And Me for several years.

In 2021, a newly discovered species of millipede was named Nannaria mcelroyorum in recognition of the McElroy family's podcasts, which entertained the scientists during their fieldwork. The millipede is found in West Virginia as well as the wider Appalachian region.[33]

References

  1. ^ "Griffin McElroy | Authors". US Macmillan.
  2. ^ a b McElroy, Griffin; McElroy, Justin (April 24, 2018). "It's a Departure". Polygon. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  3. ^ Mayne, Rick (2011). "Super Clint". Huntington Quarterly. No. 73. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  4. ^ Footo, Kristin (January 24, 2017). "Griffin McElroy - Young Alumni" (PDF). Marshall University Alumni Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  5. ^ Griffin McElroy [@griffinmcelroy] (November 17, 2017). "Just spent some time walking around my old haunts in Roscoe Village, and boy do I miss living in Chicago sometimes" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "Rachel McElroy". Maximum Fun. January 2, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  7. ^ a b McElroy, Griffin. "About". Griffin McElroy. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019.
  8. ^ Griffin McElroy [@griffinmcelroy] (March 31, 2021). "It's been a big day over here! Particularly for Gus, who, technically speaking, is having his first day over here". Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2022 – via Instagram.
  9. ^ Stark, Chelsea (October 25, 2012). "Veteran Game Journalists Unite to Launch Vox's 'Polygon'". Mashable.
  10. ^ LizardRock (April 25, 2018). "The McElroy Brothers Leave Polygon". Gamerz Unite.
  11. ^ a b "Griffin McElroy". Forbes.
  12. ^ McElroy, Griffin (April 28, 2017). "Touch the Skyrim: Griffin and Nick play a fun new Mario game". Polygon.
  13. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (February 22, 2017). "Review: 'My Brother, My Brother and Me' Has Advice From Three Modern Stooges". The New York Times.
  14. ^ Faires, Rosalind (October 13, 2017). "Into The Adventure Zone With Griffin McElroy". The Austin Chronicle.
  15. ^ Hilborn, Danielle (June 19, 2018). "Podcast hosts the McElroy brothers bring all goofs, no bummers to San Francisco". The Daily Californian.
  16. ^ Naudus, Kris (April 16, 2018). "We're listening to: 'Acquisitions Inc.' and 'The Adventure Zone'". Engadget.
  17. ^ Minsker, Evan (January 21, 2016). "How Music Helped "The Adventure Zone" Podcast Get Better". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  18. ^ Hoover, Natalie (June 14, 2018). "'The Adventure Zone' Podcast Is Getting Its Own Graphic Novel". Study Breaks. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  19. ^ McMillan, Graeme (July 26, 2018). "'Adventure Zone' Graphic Novel Tops New York Times' Trade Fiction Best-Seller List". The Hollywood Reporter.
  20. ^ "Exclusive: First look at interiors of 'The Adventure Zone' sequel 'Murder on the Rockport Limited'". EW.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  21. ^ "Petals to the Metal: Get a wild first look at the next Adventure Zone graphic novel". EW.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  22. ^ Enlow, Courtney (October 8, 2020). "Exclusive: First Look at The Adventure Zone: The Crystal Kingdom Graphic Novel". SyFy Wire. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  23. ^ Miller, Matt (November 21, 2018). "My Favorite Thanksgiving Tradition Is Listening to This Once-a-Year Podcast About 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2'". Esquire. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  24. ^ "The McElroy Brothers Will Be In Trolls 2". trolls2.libsyn.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  25. ^ a b Bradley, Laura (September 11, 2018). "The Unbelievable True Story of How Three Podcasters Trolled Their Way into Trolls 2". Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  26. ^ "Wonderful!". Maximum Fun. September 6, 2017.
  27. ^ "Rose Buddies". Maximum Fun. December 28, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  28. ^ "The George Lucas Talk Show All Day Star Wars Movie Watch Along Part 6 - A New Hope". Youtube.
  29. ^ "The George Lucas Talk Show 2020 Holiday Special - Part 1". Youtube.
  30. ^ Trumbore, Dave (June 5, 2018). "Exclusive: Disney's 'Big City Greens' Images Reveal the Co-Creators' Real-Life Inspiration". Collider.
  31. ^ Chong, Daniel [@threebarebears] (July 26, 2018). "Guest appearance by @griffinmcelroy in the episode "GOOGS", airing NEXT WEEK on Bears" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  32. ^ "100ft Robot Golf on Steam". Steam. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  33. ^ Means, Jackson C.; Hennen, Derek A.; Marek, Paul E. (April 13, 2021). "A revision of the minor species group in the millipede genus Nannaria Chamberlin, 1918 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Xystodesmidae)". ZooKeys (1030): 1–180. Bibcode:2021ZooK.1030....1M. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1030.62544. PMC 8060247. PMID 33958904 – via zookeys.pensoft.net.