Theo Von

Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski III, professionally recognized as Theo Von, is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, and television personality. Born on March 19, 1980, he is widely known for hosting the long-form conversation podcast This Past Weekend, as well as for his work across various reality competition shows, comedy series, and national stand-up tours.

Von was raised in Covington, Louisiana, alongside an older brother and two younger sisters. His mother originated from Wyoming, Illinois, while his father was born in Nicaragua. Raised in a low-income environment, Von became legally emancipated at the age of fourteen. He graduated from Mandeville High School before pursuing higher education across several institutions, including Louisiana State University, Loyola University New Orleans, the University of Arizona, the College of Charleston, and Santa Monica College. He completed his undergraduate degree in urban planning at the University of New Orleans in 2011.

Von launched his public career on television in 2000 after being cast in MTV's Road Rules: Maximum Velocity Tour. He went on to compete in four seasons of MTV's reality game show series The Challenge, securing victories in two consecutive seasons. In 2006, he won the digital companion competition Last Comic Downloaded associated with Last Comic Standing, followed by a victory on Comedy Central's competitive series Reality Bites Back in 2008. Von subsequently hosted the Yahoo! online series Primetime in No Time starting in 2011 and three seasons of the hidden-camera program Deal With It on TBS from 2013 to 2014. In 2018, Comedy Central released his scripted comedy program Man Up.

Beginning his stand-up career in Louisiana, Von relocated to Los Angeles at age twenty-three to pursue comedy professionally, navigating initial industry skepticism tied to his reality television background. He released his debut Netflix stand-up special, No Offense, in 2016, followed by his second Netflix special, Regular People, in 2021. Von has also released audio albums, including 30lb Bag of Hamster Bones, which achieved top positions on comedy charts in 2017. His live comedy ventures include major national headlining tours such as the Dark Arts Tour and the Return of the Rat Tour.

In podcasting, Von introduced his first program, The Comedy Sideshow, in 2011, followed by Allegedly with Theo Von & Matthew Cole Weiss from 2015 to 2018. In 2016, he established his solo podcast, This Past Weekend, which grew into one of the most streamed shows globally on platforms such as Spotify. In 2018, he co-founded the podcast King and The Sting with Brendan Schaub, a project he participated in through 2022 before transitioning off the show.

Von's work in digital media earned him inclusion on Time magazine's inaugural TIME100 Creators list in 2025. In 2023, he publicly raised claims regarding unpaid revenue against podcast network Kast Media. Outside of his professional activities, Von relocated his primary residence to Nashville, Tennessee, in September 2020.