Mike Trapp (comedian)

Michael Trapp (born October 16, 1986)^[2] is an American writer, actor and comedian. He is well known for his writing and performing sketches for CollegeHumor and later long-form content for Dropout. He was the creator, writer, and host for Dropout show Um, Actually where he continued to staff on until 2023.

Trapp trained in improvisational comedy and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater where he later went on to write for its show Stone Cold Fox which premiered in 2012. Later that year, Trapp made his debut on CollegeHumor in the episode "321 Fight: Christmas vs. Hanukkah" as a voice actor^[3], and appeared as himself in 2013 in the episode "Bleep Bloop; The Cologne Wars."^[4]

Trapp began working at CollegeHumor on the sales team. Eventually, he began editing and writing for the company and became head writer and VP of Creative.^[5] He wrote and acted in many sketches by the company including various webseries like "Jake and Amir," "Hardly Working," and "Dinosaur Office." In 2020 IAC laid off all but 7 CollegeHumor staff members with Mike Trapp remaining as a creative without pay.^[6]

While Trapp continues to appear on various Dropout shows as a comedian^[7], his full-time job is writing for television shows including Nickelodeon's Rock Paper Scissors and Disney's Big City Greens.^[8]

Trapp first premiered the concept of "Um, Actually" in 2015 as a webseries on the CollegeHumor YouTube channel.^[9] The show consisted of Trapp providing statements about media that is typically associated with nerd culture with one detail changed. Contestants are asked to correct the mistake beginning with "Um, Actually..."^[10] According to Trapp, the premise of the show was to mock exclusionary nerd behavior while also demonstrating love for a topic.^[11]

The show got spun off into a Dropout series and became on of the first and longest-running long-form content on the streaming service. It first began streaming in 2018 and was one of the few shows that survived the mass layoff for the company in 2020.^[12] Trapp continued to host and was the primary writer for 8 seasons until he stepped down in 2023. In his stay, Ify Nwadiwe took over hosting the show. He states that there was no bad blood between him and Dropout and appeared on the show in later seasons.^[8]

According to Trapp, in his youth he traveled across the United States and South Korea due to his father being in the Coast guard.^[13] He met his wife, professional editor, Laura Cherkas during his time at Dartmouth College.^[1] They got married in 2013 and later had a child together.^[14]