Michael Thomas Green (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian-American comedian, television personality, actor, podcaster, singer, songwriter, and rapper. After pursuing stand-up comedy and music as a young adult, Green created and hosted The Tom Green Show, which aired on Rogers TV and later on MTV from 1994 to 2000. The show became popular for its shock comedy, its absurd pranks, and Green's manic persona, and influenced later series such as Jackass, Punk'd, The Eric Andre Show and Kenny vs. Spenny. Green has appeared in the Hollywood films Road Trip (2000), Charlie's Angels (2000), Stealing Harvard (2002), and Shred (2008). Green directed, co-wrote, and starred in the cult film Freddy Got Fingered (2001). He was briefly married to actress Drew Barrymore (2001–2002), who co-starred with him in Charlie's Angels and Freddy Got Fingered.
In 2003, Green hosted the short-lived MTV late-night talk show titled The New Tom Green Show. From 2006 until 2011, he hosted an internet talk show called Tom Green's House Tonight from his home, and returned to performing stand-up comedy in 2010. From October 2013 to November 2014, Green hosted the weekly talk show Tom Green Live on American cable network AXS TV.
After returning to rural Ontario, Green released three 2025 Prime Video projects: This Is the Tom Green Documentary, the stand-up special Tom Green: I Got a Mule!, and the unscripted series Tom Green Country. In 2026, he launched the Crave talk series The Tom Green Farm and its companion podcast, The Tom Green Farmcast.
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Early life
Green was born in Pembroke, Ontario, the elder of two sons born to Mary Jane, a communications consultant, and Richard Green, a computer systems analyst and retired army captain. He grew up in nearby Petawawa and later Gloucester (now a part of Ottawa) where he attended Henry Munro Middle School, Colonel By Secondary School and Cairine Wilson Secondary School. Green studied television broadcasting at Algonquin College.
Career
Early work (1986–1999)
At age 15, Green started performing stand-up comedy at local clubs, including Yuk Yuk's.
While a student at Algonquin College and a member of the Sigma Pi Fraternity, Green hosted an overnight call-in show on the University of Ottawa's campus radio station, CHUO. In the early 1990s, Green had a short-lived career as a rapper in a group called Organized Rhyme under the alias "MC Bones". His fellow MCs included "Pin the Chameleon". The single "Check The O.R." was nominated for a Juno Award in 1993 for Best Rap Recording and won the MuchVibe Best Rap Video award in 1992. In 1998, he released Not the Green Tom Show as MC Face.
Green soon had his own non-paid television show on public-access television on cable TV. The first incarnation of The Tom Green Show aired from September 1994 until 1996 as a one-hour non-commercial public cable access program on Rogers Television 22 in the Ottawa region. It had 50 episodes in two seasons. The Tom Green Show was a variety show format, where he would have guests visit the studio and bands play before a live audience.
In 1996 he was hired by CBC to do reports from the Atlanta Summer Olympic games. During the road trip in his sweltering un-airconditioned Chrysler K car, Green solved the air conditioning problem by having the roof of the car sawed off, turning it into a permanent "convertible."
These CBC feature reports gave him national exposure (in both Canada and the US) with his shocking pranks, antics and humor.
In October 1996, The Tom Green Show aired one time as a pilot on CBC. The show was later picked up in Canada by The Comedy Network in 1997 and aired 26 episodes over the course of two seasons.
Rise to mainstream (1999–2003)
The Tom Green Show was then picked up by MTV in January 1999, where he gained popularity in the United States and worldwide. The format of the MTV version of the show was similar to his original show; it was hosted by Green and co-hosted by two of his long-time friends, Glenn Humplik, who occupied the couch, and Phil Giroux, who sat behind a window at the back of the set and became known as "the guy in the window" usually drinking cups of coffee. Derek Harvie, who co-wrote the show with Green, occasionally appeared in the segments. Many of the sketches were targeted at his parents, both of whom appear to be unimpressed and embarrassed by their son's antics.
The Tom Green Show frequently employed shock humor. Some of Green's most notable skits include pretending to "hump" a dead moose (which was famously referenced by rapper Eminem in "The Real Slim Shady"), having an X-rated lesbian scene painted on his father's car (labeled the "Slut Mobile"), drinking milk by sucking on a cow's teat, and putting a cow head in his parents' bed while they slept because his father was a fan of The Godfather films. Green also hung his own unauthorized piece of art in the National Gallery of Canada (which remained untouched for days) with the added twist of later coming back and vandalizing it to the horror of onlooking patrons.
In a segment, Green went to the press conference of Grey Owl where he serenaded and kissed Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan, thinking Green was a journalist, advised him not to give up his day job. Green also did many segments humiliating his co-host and longtime friend Glenn Humplik; even after the pair had become well-known, Humplik continued working at his phone company job, fearing that his entertainment career might not last. Green teased him about this often and once gave out Humplik's office phone number on the air.
Green eventually wrote a song called "Lonely Swedish (The Bum Bum Song)", which he composed during MTV's Spring Break while doing a show on a cruise ship. After airing the music video on his show and appealing to his audience to request it, the song became an instant number one hit on Total Request Live and was also referred to in Eminem's song "The Real Slim Shady". He quickly called for the video to be retired because "it's not fair to 98 Degrees." Later, in his autobiography, he revealed that MTV had pressured him to do so in order to maintain the image that Total Request Live was, in fact, a live request show (the next week's episodes had been pre-taped on location, and the producers of the show were completely unaware of "The Bum Bum Song" at the time).
Post-MTV (2004–present)
On October 12, 2004, Green released his autobiography, Hollywood Causes Cancer: The Tom Green Story. It discusses in detail his Hollywood career, short-lived marriage to Drew Barrymore, and his experience dealing with testicular cancer.
A notable incident discussed in the book involved Green on character-based talk show Primetime Glick with Jiminy Glick (played by Martin Short). Green wrote that this un-aired interview was the first time he walked off any show, and this was due in part to Short being "mean" and making fun of his testicle. When Short brought up the incident in a 2005 interview, Green defended his stance on his online blog.
In 2005, Green returned to rap and started the group The Keepin' it Real Crew, featuring DJ EZ Mike of the Dust Brothers, where they did two Canadian live tours (June 2005 and January 2006). On December 6, 2005, Green released his second solo album in Canada entitled Prepare for Impact, which included a bonus DVD featuring footage from his live tour. The album was also co-produced by Mike Simpson of the Dust Brothers. The album included comedic tracks (such as "My Bum Is on Ya Lips" and "I'm an Idiot") as well as serious tracks where he rapped about his Hollywood career.
He has performed with Too Short, Flavor Flav, Grand Buffet, Mickey Avalon, People Under the Stairs, Xzibit, and other popular rap artists on his Tom Green Live show. In January 2008, a second solo rap album titled Basement Jams was released in download-only format on his website.
In March 2009, on Last Call with Carson Daly, Tom played a sample of his new song "It's Been A Long Time Coming." On his website, Green has stated intentions of releasing a new rap album in 2010 and talks about working with music producer Detail. In a February 2010 interview, Green mentioned an upcoming song entitled "Other Side Of The World" and stated that he was developing a television show following the progress of his first major American rap album. On a November 2010 answer to a fan question in the Forum section of tomgreen.com, Green said, "Expect some singles in the future. The album is dead, sadly."
In July 2011, Green recorded and posted a 2011 remix of "Check The O.R." and re-united Organized Rhyme at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal. In October 2011, The Comedy Network's website posted the group's new music video: "Check The O.R. Redux".
Interviewer (2006–2015)
Since launching his web show in 2006, Green has conducted long-format interviews with hundreds of guests. In an October 2013 interview, Green stated that he preferred "great interviewers who know when to sit back and listen" rather than being an interviewer that "wanted to be as funny as the guest and...get into a sort of competitive relationship with them".
On June 5, 2006, ManiaTV.com announced they had formed a partnership with Green to host a live talk show from his own living room in the Hollywood Hills overlooking the San Fernando Valley. The first show aired live on June 15, 2006, at 11 pm EST, was originally called Tom Green Live!, and was airing Mondays through Thursdays. In January 2008, shortly after Green's split from ManiaTV, the show was renamed Tom Green's House Tonight. The shows are broadcast live at TomGreen.com. A pared-down version was later broadcast on The Comedy Network and various local channels in the United States, until Green stopped syndicating the show to television. On a 2009 blog, Green noted that he stopped his show from syndication on television due to dissatisfaction with his lack of creative control. He continues to broadcast the show from his website. Green later started a monthly subscription service that allowed subscribers to have full access to all the videos on his website.
Due to lack of an established term, Green often refers to his live streaming broadcast as "Web-o-Vision." He also jokingly says he is broadcasting to "The National Internet", despite the show having a worldwide audience. Green often refers to his show as, "The highest rated, longest running, and only talk show on the Internet."
From Green's website, Tom Green's House Tonight typically aired live on weeknights at 10 pm EST, although shows can begin at any time during the day and night. The shows were then archived on his website. The format of the show often includes Green taking live telephone calls and Skype video calls where viewers around the world are able to chat with Green and his guests. Green would often be a victim of prank calls due to the live nature of the show and would sometimes voice his frustration with the callers. On top of the live web show, Green has added many video segments from his past as well as present.
In 2007, "Tom Green Live" won the 2007 TV Guide "Online Video Award" for Best Web Talk Show. In 2008, Tom Green's House Tonight won a 2007 Webby Award for "Best Variety Show".
Tom Green Live at The SModcastle (2010)
From October – December 2010, Green did seven weekly podcasts interviewing guests at Kevin Smith's SModcastle. This was done in a long format interview style in a theater that held an audience of 50 people.
From January 2013 to mid 2013, Green started doing an audio podcast entitled Tom Green Radio for his website and downloadable on iTunes and tomgreen.com. Guests have included Bryan Callen, Steve-O, Kat Von D, Neil Hamburger, and deadmau5. In August 2015, Green restarted his podcast on Play.it.
On September 25, 2013, it was announced that Green would be hosting a new live weekly talk-show entitled "Tom Green Live" on AXS TV starting October 3, 2013. Green has stated in interviews that the set was modeled after The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder. The show was similar to his web show where there is a featured guest and a long format one-hour discussion. Additionally, fans can call in from Skype. Scheduled guests included Richard Belzer, Howie Mandel, Tony Hawk, and Norm Macdonald. Season 2 debuted on January 9, 2014, and the finale was April 3, 2014. The show renewed with season 3 debuting on June 12, 2014, and concluded its run with AXS TV on November 20, 2014.
Stand-up comedy (2010–present)
In Green's comedy acts, he primarily performs traditional stand-up comedy, occasionally incorporating rap. He voices his thoughts on social media, technology, his career in show business, oppression, and social political commentary on society. He often takes time to meet with people in the audience afterwards.
Green started doing stand-up comedy at the age of 15 but stopped after he started his public-access television show. Green said that going back to stand-up comedy was something he always wanted to do.
In September 2009, Green performed several stand-up comedy shows in Los Angeles and later appeared at a MySpace secret stand-up event in New York. On November 10, 2009, he announced his first ever world stand-up comedy tour and as of January 2010, has been touring the world going to countries such as Canada, the United States, England, Scotland, and Australia.
In October 2010, he performed in Belleville, Ontario at the Empire Theatre with his parents and brother in attendance. Green dressed in a Belleville Bulls jersey donated by a local movie studio he had visited earlier that day. He discussed the city's recent ordeal involving the sentencing of disgraced CFB Trenton Base Commander Russell Williams, stating that he hoped Williams "was having an awesome weekend".
On August 13, 2010, after being invited, Green performed stand-up comedy at the Gathering of the Juggalos. He was later involved in attempting to calm the audience down after Tila Tequila had rocks, excrement and urine thrown at her during her performance at the same event. In subsequent interviews, Green said he successfully calmed the audience down for 10 minutes, but things got worse when he left the stage. Tequila continued performing for an additional 20 minutes and eventually suffered facial injuries after being struck in the face by a rock.
Green's September 2011 stand-up performance in Boston aired on Showtime in August 2012; titled "Tom Green Live", it was released on iTunes, on Netflix and on DVD in March 2013. Green performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on August 17, 2012.
Amazon projects (2025)
In 2024, Amazon Prime announced the development of three new projects from Tom Green: a comedy special (Tom Green: I Got a Mule!), a reality series about life on his farm (Tom Green: Country) and a documentary about his career (This is the Tom Green Documentary).
Washington Capitals "Unleash the Fury" video (2007–present)
A video montage that features Green screaming "Unleash the Fury" has been used at Washington Capitals hockey games since 2007. Clips from Road Trip are interspersed with various "pump-up elements" in a late-game rally video. In 2010, the feature started using new video footage in which Green wore a Capitals jersey and performed scenes from the movie.
Personal life
Green has at least some proficiency in the French language. According to a review of a partially bilingual stand-up set he performed at Montreal's Just for Laughs festival in 2018, "his French is not bad."
Green was married to actress Drew Barrymore from July 7, 2001, to October 15, 2002. In December 2001, Green filed for divorce. In 2010, Green stated that he had not seen Barrymore since the divorce, although Barrymore has spoken highly of him. On September 25, 2020, the pair met and spoke for the first time in 15 years when Green was a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show.
As a 2009 contestant on the reality television game show The Celebrity Apprentice, Green played to benefit the Butch Walts and Donald Skinner Urologic Cancer Research Foundation. He later stated that he would not be alive today had it not been for Donald G. Skinner.
On February 21, 2019, Green became a United States citizen.
On July 18, 2021, Green announced that he had returned to Canada to live on a 100-acre property located on White Lake in Central Frontenac, Ontario, after having lived in Los Angeles for decades.
On December 22, 2024, Green announced via Instagram that he was engaged to his girlfriend Amanda Nelson. He got married on October 11, 2025.