Comedian Theo Von has had a surge in popularity over the past few years. But, where did the funnyman get his start?
Whether through podcasting on his show This Past Weekend, his outrageous appearances on The Fighter and The Kid, or his stand-up comedy, fans have flocked to the eccentric 43-year-old — full name Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski III — in droves. His real-yet-unreal stories and zany quips make Von as unique as they come in the comedy space, and he has millions of views on YouTube and followers on Instagram to back that up.
But, many of his new fans may not realize that Von’s first voyage under the limelight was as a reality television star.
In 2000, MTV released Road Rules: Maximum Velocity Tour, another iteration of its beloved Road Rules franchise — a sister show to The Real World. Part of the cast was Von, who was around 20 years old at the time of its filming. For those unfamiliar with the now-departed reality show, MTV would assemble a crop of young reality TV newbies, like The Real World, and they’d travel and live together in an RV, while also competing in challenges to earn rewards.
The Louisianan was a part of season 9 (there were 14 seasons altogether), and he became an instant fan-favorite because of his unorthodox commentary and demeanor. So, after Maximum Velocity Tour wrapped, Von transitioned to MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenges — known simply as The Challenge nowadays.
As its name suggests, the reality competition show brought together stars from both flagship series to face off in challenges in pursuit of a grand prize. Representing Road Rules, Von made his debut during season 5’s Battle of the Seasons in 2002 alongside his Maximum Velocity Tour companion, Holly Brentson.
The Challenge is known for weeding out rookies — the veterans typically teamed up to oust the beginners before they attempted to eliminate each other. But, Von and Brentson competed together as teammates, and made it all the way to the final challenge before coming up short. Regardless, they came in first in three daily challenges, and because of his fan-favorite appeal, Von punched his ticket to three more seasons.
He appeared on season 7’s The Gauntlet, season 9’s Battle of the Sexes 2, and season 12’s Fresh Meat. Von won The Gauntlet and Battle of the Sexes 2 before his final appearance on Fresh Meat in 2006.
Those familiar with The Challenge know that becoming a champion of a season is a big deal. Heck, the most recent season — Battle for a New Champion — centered around crowning one competitor with the illustrious title. Von has two Challenge championships from four appearances, giving him a massively impressive win percentage. Of course, the show was much easier to traverse back in the day. But, still, it’s an impressive feat, especially for who many know as solely a comedian and podcaster.
Von hasn’t returned to the franchise in nearly 20 years. But, he has more reality TV appearances under his belt.
The same year his MTV swan song was sung, Von appeared on the online version of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, coined Last Comic Downloaded. In a battle to determine the funniest comedian, Von came out on top and won the show — a hint at what was to come.
Well, all things must come to an end, and 2008 marked his last stint in reality television. He faced off against other future comedy stars in Comedy Central’s Reality Bites Back in wild competitions like “Extreme Manipulation: House Edition” when the comedians were forced to live with their parents for days.
Von continued his winning ways, beating out the likes of Amy Schumer, Tiffany Haddish, and Bert Kreischer to become the “Lord of All Reality, while cashing $50,000 in the process.
Will Von appear on reality television again?
We’re closing in on two decades since Von flexed his reality TV muscles. He doesn’t talk about his history in unscripted television much on his podcasts or his stand-up routines. But, Big Brother legend Dr. Will Kirby recently threw out the idea of Von coming back to his roots to play in a season of The Traitors — a reality competition show based on the popular social-strategy game “Mafia.”
“Theo Von has been a close friend of mine for over 20 years and although he’s an extremely successful stand-up comedian now, he has a significant reality television past,” Kirby said to Entertainment Weekly in an interview published on February 16. “I appeared on the Comedy Central show that he won, Reality Bites Back, and he would be fantastic to watch on The Traitors.”
Will Von ever venture back into the reality realm? Who knows! But for the Von fans who haven’t seen his past appearances, there’s a lot to binge.