Rhett McLaughlin

Rhett James McLaughlin, born October 11, 1977, is an American comedian, online host, and content creator best known as one half of the entertainment duo Rhett & Link alongside Charles Lincoln "Link" Neal III. Self-styled as "Internetainers," the duo gained widespread fame as the creators and hosts of the daily YouTube talk series Good Mythical Morning. McLaughlin's work encompasses comedic sketches, music, podcasts, television series, and writing, all managed through their production business, Mythical Entertainment.

McLaughlin spent his early childhood in North Carolina, where he met Neal on September 4, 1984, during their first day of first grade at Buies Creek Elementary School in Harnett County. After receiving recess detention for writing swear words on their desks, the two were assigned coloring books containing mythical beasts, an event that eventually inspired the naming of their flagship show. As teenagers, they formed a Christian punk band named The Wax Paper Dogz, created an unfinished screenplay titled Gutless Wonders, and produced a short video parody of Oedipus Rex with McLaughlin in the title role. In 1996, McLaughlin attended North Carolina State University as Neal's roommate, studying civil engineering and graduating magna cum laude in December 2000.

After college, McLaughlin worked professionally as an engineer at the firm Black & Veatch. During this time, he and Neal created comedic videos for the campus religious organization Cru. Prompted by these experiences, McLaughlin resigned from his engineering job to work full-time in Christian evangelism video production for Cru events. The duo later phased out religious ministry to concentrate entirely on producing mainstream comedy content for YouTube.

Following a brief morning show called Good Morning Chia Lincoln and their IFC television program Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings, the pair launched Good Mythical Morning in January 2012 after moving to Los Angeles. The talk show grew into a major daily broadcast featuring improvised scenes, celebrity guests, blind taste tests, and food experiment segments like the "Will It" series. McLaughlin and Neal expanded their digital broadcast footprint through related projects, including the companion series Good Mythical MORE, the weekly variety broadcast The Mythical Show, and the semi-scripted program Rhett & Link's Wonderhole.

Under Mythical Entertainment, McLaughlin co-hosts the long-running video and audio podcast Ear Biscuits, which features casual conversations and personal storytelling. His additional creative work includes co-authoring the novel The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek and starring in the scripted YouTube Premium series Rhett & Link's Buddy System. McLaughlin has also made guest appearances in outside digital productions, such as playing historical figures Donatello and William Clark in several episodes of the web series Epic Rap Battles of History.