Todd Gallagher
| Todd Gallagher | |
|---|---|
| 400px | |
| Born | Todd John Gallagher |
| Occupation | director, author, producer |
Todd Gallagher is an American director, author, comedian, and philanthropist.[1] He is best known for his comedic commentary and elaborate social experiments. He has worked with ESPN and is known for his book "Andy Roddick Beat Me With a Frying Pan: Taking the Field with Pro Athletes and Olympic Legends to Answer Sports' Fans Burning Questions".
Contents
Early life
Gallagher was raised in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. At the age of 14 he won the grand prize twice on the ESPN quiz show Dream League.
Career
Early career
At age 21 he became the youngest coach and Director of Player Personnel in the history of pro basketball for the United States Basketball League's New Hampshire Thunder Loons.[2] His basketball experience led to a series of writing assignments in Australia. He then returned to the United States where he wrote for ESPN, conducting interviews with people throughout the sports and entertainment world, including Ice Cube. As a television writer and producer he has sold, developed, and run various shows including creating "Shaq vs." [3]
Andy Roddick Beat Me with a Frying Pan
Andy Roddick Beat Me with a Frying Pan: Taking the Field with Pro Athletes and Olympic Legends to Answer Sports Fans' Burning Questions (Random House, 2007),[4] Gallagher's first book humorously answers some outlandish questions about sports, such as "Could a morbidly obese goalie shut out an NHL team?" (Chapter 1). A number of professional athletes including Andy Roddick,[5] Maurice Greene,[6] and the NHL's Washington Capitals,[7] participated in live events for the project. The book has been described as "a weird amalgam of serious inside-the-ropes research germane to the games and of ludicrous just-outside-the-asylum performance art."[8] Praise has come from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times,[9] and Washington Post,[10][11][12] and the book has been excerpted by several publications. Commercially, the book has sold well, reaching number one amongst all sports books on Amazon.com.
Playground Challenge
His "Phelps Challenge,"[13] where he challenged Michael Phelps on ESPN radio to a $50,000 bet that he could beat him in any event outside of the pool, was turned into the "Playground Challenge" by ESPN. In it, he takes on pro and Olympic athletes in playground events.
God Only Knows
In 2009 Gallagher enrolled in a Pittsburgh high school as a student as a part of an Ivy league social experiment. He took classes and trained with the school's soccer team. A film about his experience entitled "God Only Knows" is slated for release in 2016, and features Taylor Swift.[14]
References
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- ↑ http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/tribpm/s_639943.html#axzz2EgghQ5N7
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2018489/
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- ↑ "Maurice Greene Featured in New Book by Todd Gallagher". The Final Sprint article
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- ↑ "Answers in form of questions" Los Angeles Times October 16, 2007[dead link]
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- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2384980/
External links
- Experiment Media – Todd's production company
- Todd Gallagher at the Internet Movie Database
