Funny or Die, Inc. is a comedy video website and production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy on April 12, 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a regular staff of in-house writers, producers and directors, and occasionally from a number of famous contributors, including Judd Apatow, James Franco, and Norm Macdonald. The associated production company continues to make television shows, including TruTV's Billy on the Street, Comedy Central's @midnight, and Zach Galifianakis' web series Between Two Ferns.
Many videos on the site featured well-known actors and actresses (examples include Don Cheadle, Steve Carell, Charlie Sheen, Ryan Gosling, Patrick Stewart, Daniel Radcliffe, Sophia Bush, Mila Kunis, AnnaSophia Robb, Hilary Duff, Adam West, James Van Der Beek, Jim Carrey, Lance Reddick, Ariel Winter and Selena Gomez). Michael Kvamme, an aspiring young comedian who is also the son of Mark Kvamme, the venture capitalist who funded Funny or Die, came up with a concept for a new kind of comedy site, and the site was developed by Randy Adams. After the site was funded by his father, Michael Kvamme wrote a screenplay for Will Ferrell and founded Global eSports Resources in partnership with the Saudi Arabian Federation of Electronic and Intellectual Sports.
Funny or Die launched on April 12, 2007 with the site's first video, "The Landlord". "The Landlord" has received over 84 million views and features Ferrell confronted by a swearing, beer-drinking two-year-old landlord. In June 2007, they received venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital, and in June 2008, they announced a partnership with HBO. On August 3, 2016, Funny or Die shut down one of its California offices, reducing its headcount by 30% to 95 employees, with the announcement coming just two months after the new CEO, Mike Farah, took office.
Henry R. Muñoz III bought Funny or Die for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition was announced in Variety on May 12, 2021. Muñoz purchased Funny or Die from the company's former stakeholders, which included AMC Networks, WarnerMedia and Sequoia Capital.
Online presence In its earlier form as a viral-video website, Funny or Die allowed members to vote on videos with the options "Funny" or "Die". Videos received a score based on the percentage of users who voted "Funny". If a video received an 80% or greater "Funny" rating after 100,000 views, it received an "Immortal" ranking. If a video received a 20% or lower "Funny" rating after 1,000 views, it was relegated to the Crypt section of the site.
The Funny or Die staff could also select a rating of "Chosen One", which disabled voting for a video and displayed "Chosen One" instead. As of 2026, the Funny or Die website presents the company primarily as an independent comedy studio, and its library page states that its archive is being reconstructed.
Television and movie productions Funny or Die expanded to include a television and film production company in 2011.
Shows
Between Two Ferns Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis is an Emmy Award-winning comedy series featured on Funny or Die. Galifianakis interviews various celebrities on a low budget set, decorated by a pair of potted ferns. The series often involves interruptions for product promotions and musical guests. The Lonely Island's "Spring Break Anthem" music video was embedded into an episode with James Franco and featured actor Edward Norton.
Galifianakis has interviewed the likes of Brad Pitt, Justin Bieber, Jennifer Lawrence, Samuel L. Jackson, Richard Branson, and President Barack Obama. Galifianakis interviewed President Barack Obama during the launch of the United States health insurance exchange website. The video was released on March 11, 2014 and garnered over 32 million views.
Billy on the Street Funny or Die's Billy on the Street is a half-hour comedy game show hosted by Billy Eichner. The show's producers include Anna Wenger, Mike Farah and Billy Eichner. Billy on the Street premiered on Fuse TV on December 18, 2011. On October 8, 2015 the show began airing on tru TV. Eichner quizzes people on the streets of New York on pop culture in exchange for cash and prizes. Many episodes feature a special guest and celebrities Lindsay Lohan, Anne Hathaway, Neil Patrick Harris, and Olivia Wilde have made appearances on the show.
In 2013, Eichner received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Game Show Host. The series wrapped its third season on May 14, 2014.
Drunk History Drunk History is a comedy series on Comedy Central that was released on Funny or Die in December 2007. The show originated as a web series created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner. The show features a drunken narrator who attempts to recount an event from American history. The actors are played by celebrity guest stars who lip-sync the narrator's dialogue.
Due to their general drunkenness the narrators are unable to accurately discuss the historical events and oftentimes make up and embellish aspects of the story. Guests include Jack Black, Michael Cera, Bill Hader, Nick Offerman, Winona Ryder, Chris Parnell, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman.
Gay of Thrones Gay of Thrones is a comedy web series hosted by Jonathan Van Ness in which he and a guest recap the most recent episode of Game of Thrones in Van Ness' hair salon. Its first episode, recapping the first two episodes of season 3 of Game of Thrones, was released in April 2013 and has covered each episode from then until the finale in May 2019. Guests have included Alfie Allen, Tiffany Haddish, Kumail Nanjiani and Lena Headey.
@midnight and @after midnight @midnight was a late night comedy panel show hosted by Chris Hardwick and produced by Funny or Die. The show debuted on Comedy Central on October 21, 2013. The show features three guest comedians that respond to different social media postings and pop culture references of the day, including responses to actual tweets on Twitter, Craigslist ad postings, and comments on Reddit.
@Midnight used social media as a platform to engage with their fans. The show created hashtags, including #HashtagWars and #SpookyCelebs, that were used by fans to submit their own responses to the game on Twitter.
A CBS revival of the series, entitled @fter midnight, was launched on January 17, 2024 and is hosted by Taylor Tomlinson. The show retains some previous segments from @Midnight, and introduces some new games that lean more into improv and physical comedy. The series finale aired on June 13, 2025.
The Spoils of Babylon The Spoils of Babylon is a comedy miniseries that aired on January 9, 2014 on IFC. The show was created and written by former Saturday Night Live writers Matt Piedmont and Harper Steele. Piedmont also directed the series. The series stars Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Tobey Maguire, Jessica Alba, Haley Joel Osment, Tim Robbins, Michael Sheen, Carey Mulligan and Val Kilmer.
Ferrell plays Eric Jonrosh, a fictional author whose novel is being adapted for TV. The Spoils of Babylon novel follows a wealthy oil tycoon's family, the Morehouses. Robbins plays Jonas Morehouse, the patriarch of the family. Wiig and Maguire play Cynthia and her adopted brother Devon.
IFC and Funny Or Die adapted Jonrosh's first novel, The Spoils Before Dying into another miniseries, which aired on July 8, 2015.
Throwing Shade Throwing Shade is a podcast hosted by Erin Gibson and Bryan Safi, that addresses topics such as mainstream pop culture, women's rights and gay rights. In 2011 Gibson and Safi created the Throwing Shade podcast after InfoMania was cancelled and in 2013 Funny or Die began filming the podcast on a set, and airing the recordings of the podcast on its website.
The podcast occasionally has famous guests, including Cheyenne Jackson and Dustin Lance Black. Throwing Shade won a Podcast Award for Best GLBT Podcast in both 2012 and 2013.
The duo have recorded 80 videos since signing on with Funny or Die.
Tween Fest Tween Fest is an eight-episode Funny or Die series starring John Michael Higgins, Joey King, Drew Tarver, Arden Cho, and Lou Wilson that follows a two-weekend outdoor festival in the middle of the desert where all the acts are internet stars. The show launched on August 3, 2016 on the streaming service go90. Tween Fest was created by Nick Ciarelli and Brad Evans, was directed by Scott Gairdner, and features Jane Lynch, Tim Meadows, Chris Parnell, David Koechner, Dave (Gruber) Allen, Josh Fadem and more in supporting and guest-starring roles.
Other shows Funny or Die Presents (2010–2011, HBO) Jon Benjamin Has a Van (2011, Comedy Central) Brody Stevens: Enjoy It! (2013, Comedy Central) Long Haired Businessmen (2011–2020, Amazon Prime) American Muscle (2014, Discovery) Funny or Die Presents: America's Next Weatherman (2015, TBS) The Gorburger Show (2015, HBO; 2017, Comedy Central) The Chris Gethard Show (2015–2018; Fusion TV, TruTV) Brockmire (2017–2020, IFC) Funny or Die's High Science (2023, HBO Max)
Pilots
What's Going On? with Mike Mitchell (2011, FX)
Specials
Between Two Ferns: A Fairytale of New York A 2012 special aired on Comedy Central with Zach Galifianakis.
Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles On November 23, 2013, HBO presented a special in association with Funny Or Die titled, "Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles" featuring stand-up by comedian Sarah Silverman. During her hour-long set, Silverman made jokes about rape, religion, and her personal insecurities.
The special received a 2014 Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Variety Special and Silverman's writing earned her an Emmy win for Outstanding Writing For a Variety Special. Record label Sub Pop, went on to release the special on vinyl, CD, and through digital download.
Jerrod Carmichael: Love At the Store Funny Or Die produced a special featuring comedian Jerrod Carmichael for HBO which aired on October 4, 2014. During the 70-minute special, Carmichael covers topics including poverty and wealth, controversial artists, female empowerment, and crime and race.
Jerrod Carmichael: Love at the Store was directed by Spike Lee and was filmed at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. Carmichael chose the location because it was the first venue he performed in back in 2008.
Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted Funny Or Die produced a comedy special for HBO featuring comedian Tig Notaro. Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted premiered on HBO on August 22, 2015. Notaro promoted the special by walking the streets of Los Angeles to bring awareness to a giant billboard of her face.
During the HBO special Notaro talks about her breast cancer diagnosis, her break up with her girlfriend and the death of her mother. Notaro performs the final third of her set topless to expose the scars of her mastectomy to the audience.
Ferrell Takes the Field A 2015 special aired on HBO with Will Ferrell.
Movies
Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012, co-production with Abso Lutely Productions) iSteve (2013, released online via Funny Or Die) Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie (2016, released online via Funny or Die) Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019, released online on September 20, 2019 via Netflix) Impractical Jokers: The Movie (2020, released in theaters) The movie follows the four lifelong friends of Joe Gatto, James "Murr" Murray, Salvatore "Sal" Vulcano, and Brian "Q" Quinn from the hit TV show of Impractical Jokers. The movie was announced on March 7, 2018, when the Impractical Jokers got renewed for a season 8. The Movie began production in the end of April 2018. The film was released in 2020. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022, released online on November 4, 2022 via The Roku Channel)
Funny or Die Presents