Martin Olson
Encyclopedia
Martin Olson is a comedy writer, television producer
, stage director and composer
. He is also a playwright
and poet
known for comedic
and unusual subject matter and known as an original member of the notorious "Boston Comedy Scene."
Olson's encyclopedic satire Encyclopedia of Hell is published by Feral House
(July 2011); the film rights were bought by producer Andrew Lazar
for Mad Chance at Warner Bros.
Olson has received an Emmy nomination and an Ace Award for television writing and two Emmy nominations for song writing.
As a result, he took a year off to write "Encyclopaedia of Hell," a satirical book, and sold the film rights to Warner Bros. through Andrew Lazar's Mad Chance Productions. With Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner, Olson co-wrote the final draft of the screenplay adaptation of his book for WB under a new title, "D-Men."
Olson collaborated on a number of screenplays: with legendary special effects director Phil Tippet on the screenplay "Veronica's Daughter," with writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait
on the screenplay "Sightings" for United Artists, with writer-comedian Rob Schneider
on the screenplay "Family Disorder" for Touchstone, with writer-comedian Kevin Nealon
on the screenplay "Late Bloomer," with Ken Locsmandi on the story and screenplay for "Bronson Beak," was a contributing story-writer/songwriter for Disney's Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension, and adapted the novel "The Man Who Was Thursday" by G. K. Chesterton
as a screenplay for Andrew Lazar
of Mad Chance.
and Phineas and Ferb
. His strange satirical songs were regularly featured on many television series, including London Underground
(Comedy Central), Rocko's Modern Life
(Nickelodeon), "Get That Puss Off Your Face" (HBO), Camp Lazlo
(CN), Penn and Teller's Sin City Spectacular (FX) and The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat
(ABC). Olson wrote or co-wrote 150 songs for Phineas and Ferb
(Disney), and Olson and Bobcat Goldthwait co-wrote the theme song for "Don't Watch This Show" (Cinemax). In 2011, Olson co-wrote two songs for The Disney Channel with Dan Povenmire
, Swampy Marsh and Bobby Lopez, co-writer of Broadway's The Book of Mormon.
Olson first collaborated with song-writer Jeff Root on four albums in the mid-70's, including "Idiot's Delight" (1975) praised by Beatles producer George Martin
as "the best songs on a home-recorded disc I have ever heard."
Music Awards:
2010 Emmy Nomination for Songwriting,
2009 Emmy Nomination for Primetime Songwriting,
1997 Annie Award Nomination for Songwriting in an Animated Series.
's magazine Written By and thesop.org, Olson stated that as a child he saw the eccentric
comedian Brother Theodore
ranting and raving on The Merv Griffin Show
, and from that moment on he knew he would be a comedy writer. Before his death in 2001, Brother Theodore became a fan of Olson's first book, Encyclopaedia of Hell (Feral House, 2011), and wrote one of the quotes on the book's dust cover.
Raised in Boston
, Massachusetts
(USA), Olson began writing for comedians before there were any comedy club
s in Boston. He sent pages of jokes to Rodney Dangerfield
, which were returned with the same polite note scrawled at the bottom, "Sorry, Marty!" (According to his agent's press kit, years later when writing for Penn & Teller
in Las Vegas
, Olson produced comedy bits with Dangerfield and the two became friends.)
Olson first sold comedy material to the hosts of local "Gong Shows" which began his career as a comedy writer.
act. His act consisted of playing the guitar and hosting "a show within the show" featuring other comedians as his eccentric guests. At the club every night for four years, Olson worked for and wrote with the comedians who became his friends - Lenny Clarke
, Bobcat Goldthwait
, Don Gavin, Jimmy Tingle
, Barry Crimmins, Steven Wright
, Denis Leary
, Steve Sweeney
, Joe Alaskey
, Sean Morey
and many others.
became roommates in an apartment near Harvard Square
where comedians from all over the country stayed while performing in their comedy club. Olson wrote for Clarke, who soon became the most popular comedian in Boston. Their apartment became known as The Barracks, a legendary hub of comedy and depravity that was the subject of a television special on Boston comedy in the 1980s
, and also of the award-winning documentary
on the Boston comedy scene When Standup Stood Out (2006) directed by filmmaker-comedian Fran Solomita.
. This bizarre, two-hour weekly show attracted a small but dedicated cult following
. After two years, however, Olson and Clarke were fired for airing two controversial segments ("News for Negroes" and "The Mentally Retarded Faith Healer" featuring Bobcat Goldthwait
).
where they raised two children, Casey Olson and Olivia Olson
.
for comedians coming to the city to perform and audition for shows. Meanwhile Olson wrote HBO comedy performance specials, became staff writer for the Screen Actors Guild Awards
, wrote an award-winning series for Comedy Central
in London
and became head writer for many animated series voiced by his comedian friends. He was head writer for the first season of the Disney
comedy series Phineas and Ferb
.
Olson wrote, co-wrote or directed a number of off-beat stage plays in Los Angeles, including "The Head", "The Idiots", "I Never Knew My Father", "Torn" and "Cold Black Heart" at various theaters, including the Comedy Central Stage and the HBO Theater in Hollywood.
on their notorious FX variety series Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular
.
When Olson was a staff writer for Rocko's Modern Life
, director Stephen Hillenburg
showed Olson a comic book called "The Intertidal Zone" that Hillenburg drew as a student at Cal Arts. Olson loved it and suggested that Hillenburg rewrite it as an undersea cartoon series for Nickelodeon, which became SpongeBob SquarePants
.
Selling comedy screenplays to Dreamworks
, United Artists
, Touchstone Pictures
, and Warner Bros.
, Olson was able to dedicate his time to writing and directing live stage performances in Hollywood
at the HBO Theater, The Steve Allen Theater and Comedy Central Stage featuring well-known comedians and actors.
As an occasional actor, Olson has guest-starred in a live action sequence in SpongeBob SquarePants ("Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V"), in "Don't Watch This Show" by director-comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, in the documentary When Standup Stood Out by filmmaker Fran Solomita, on The Tonight Show
playing an Indian
yogi
with Bobcat Goldthwait, as Marceline's Dad, Lord of Evil on Adventure Time
, and in a featured role as a fundamentalist
professor
in the film The Anna Cabrini Chronicles by filmmaker Tawd B. Dorenfeld.
Martin Olson's brother, Thomas Olson, is a well-known dramatic film and stage actor. Olson's daughter, Olivia Olson
, is a singer-songwriter, who starred and sang in the British comedy film Love Actually
and plays Vanessa on Disney's Phineas and Ferb. Olson also plays "The Lord of Evil" on Adventure Time, in which his real-life daughter Olivia plays his TV daughter Marceline the Vampire Queen.
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, stage director and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. He is also a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
known for comedic
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
and unusual subject matter and known as an original member of the notorious "Boston Comedy Scene."
Olson's encyclopedic satire Encyclopedia of Hell is published by Feral House
Feral House
Feral House is a book publisher owned and operated by Adam Parfrey. The publisher itself describes the books it sells as "pure information", and says the topics of the books are "forbidden"....
(July 2011); the film rights were bought by producer Andrew Lazar
Andrew Lazar
Andrew Lazar is an American film producer and graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.-Filmography:*Assassins *Unforgettable *Bound *10 Things I Hate About You...
for Mad Chance at Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Olson has received an Emmy nomination and an Ace Award for television writing and two Emmy nominations for song writing.
Screenplays
Olson sold his first spec screenplay "IQ 83" to Dreamworks SKG, produced by Andrew Lazar of Mad Chance.As a result, he took a year off to write "Encyclopaedia of Hell," a satirical book, and sold the film rights to Warner Bros. through Andrew Lazar's Mad Chance Productions. With Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner, Olson co-wrote the final draft of the screenplay adaptation of his book for WB under a new title, "D-Men."
Olson collaborated on a number of screenplays: with legendary special effects director Phil Tippet on the screenplay "Veronica's Daughter," with writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait
Bobcat Goldthwait
Robert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film and television director. He is commonly known for his energetic, ravenous stage personality, his dark, acerbic black comedy, and his gruff but high-pitched voice.- Early life :Goldthwait was born in Syracuse,...
on the screenplay "Sightings" for United Artists, with writer-comedian Rob Schneider
Rob Schneider
Robert Michael "Rob" Schneider is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and director. A stand-up comic and veteran of the NBC sketch-comedy series Saturday Night Live, Schneider has gone on to a successful career in feature films, including starring roles in the comedy films Deuce Bigalow:...
on the screenplay "Family Disorder" for Touchstone, with writer-comedian Kevin Nealon
Kevin Nealon
Kevin Nealon is an American actor and comedian, best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1995, acting in several of the Happy Madison films, for playing Doug Wilson on the Showtime series Weeds, and providing the voice of the title character, Glenn Martin on Glenn Martin,...
on the screenplay "Late Bloomer," with Ken Locsmandi on the story and screenplay for "Bronson Beak," was a contributing story-writer/songwriter for Disney's Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension, and adapted the novel "The Man Who Was Thursday" by G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
as a screenplay for Andrew Lazar
Andrew Lazar
Andrew Lazar is an American film producer and graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.-Filmography:*Assassins *Unforgettable *Bound *10 Things I Hate About You...
of Mad Chance.
Music and Songwriting
Olson is a twice-Emmy-nominated songwriter, and Annie-nominated songwriter. He has appeared as a singer on several television shows including SpongeBob SquarePantsSpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...
and Phineas and Ferb
Phineas and Ferb
Phineas and Ferb is an American animated television comedy series. Originally broadcast as a preview on August 17, 2007, on Disney Channel, the series follows Phineas Flynn and his English stepbrother Ferb Fletcher on summer vacation. Every day the boys embark on some grand new project, which...
. His strange satirical songs were regularly featured on many television series, including London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
(Comedy Central), Rocko's Modern Life
Rocko's Modern Life
Rocko's Modern Life is an animated series created by Joe Murray. The show aired for four seasons between 1993 and 1996 on Nickelodeon. Rocko's Modern Life is based around the surreal, parodic adventures of an anthropomorphic wallaby named Rocko, and his life in the city of O-Town...
(Nickelodeon), "Get That Puss Off Your Face" (HBO), Camp Lazlo
Camp Lazlo
Camp Lazlo is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray, produced by Rough Draft Studios, Joe Murray Productions and Cartoon Network Studios. It aired on Cartoon Network...
(CN), Penn and Teller's Sin City Spectacular (FX) and The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat
The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat
The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat is an animated series starring the classic 1919 feline character, Felix the Cat produced for television by Film Roman. It aired from September 9, 1995 to November 25, 1997 on CBS.-History:...
(ABC). Olson wrote or co-wrote 150 songs for Phineas and Ferb
Phineas and Ferb
Phineas and Ferb is an American animated television comedy series. Originally broadcast as a preview on August 17, 2007, on Disney Channel, the series follows Phineas Flynn and his English stepbrother Ferb Fletcher on summer vacation. Every day the boys embark on some grand new project, which...
(Disney), and Olson and Bobcat Goldthwait co-wrote the theme song for "Don't Watch This Show" (Cinemax). In 2011, Olson co-wrote two songs for The Disney Channel with Dan Povenmire
Dan Povenmire
Daniel Kingsley "Dan" Povenmire is an American television director, writer, producer, storyboard artist, and actor associated with several animated television series, best known as the co-creator of the Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb in which he also voices the show's villain, Heinz...
, Swampy Marsh and Bobby Lopez, co-writer of Broadway's The Book of Mormon.
Olson first collaborated with song-writer Jeff Root on four albums in the mid-70's, including "Idiot's Delight" (1975) praised by Beatles producer George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
as "the best songs on a home-recorded disc I have ever heard."
Music Awards:
2010 Emmy Nomination for Songwriting,
2009 Emmy Nomination for Primetime Songwriting,
1997 Annie Award Nomination for Songwriting in an Animated Series.
Background
In interviews for the Writers Guild of America, WestWriters Guild of America, west
Writers Guild of America, West is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. The Guild was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, which include the Screen Writers Guild...
's magazine Written By and thesop.org, Olson stated that as a child he saw the eccentric
Eccentricity (behavior)
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive...
comedian Brother Theodore
Brother Theodore
Brother Theodore , born Theodore Gottlieb, was a German-American monologuist and comedian known for rambling, stream-of-consciousness dialogues which he called "stand-up tragedy".-Early years:...
ranting and raving on The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...
, and from that moment on he knew he would be a comedy writer. Before his death in 2001, Brother Theodore became a fan of Olson's first book, Encyclopaedia of Hell (Feral House, 2011), and wrote one of the quotes on the book's dust cover.
Raised in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
(USA), Olson began writing for comedians before there were any comedy club
Comedy club
A comedy club is a venue, typically a nightclub, bar, or restaurant where people watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, magicians, ventriloquists and other comedy acts...
s in Boston. He sent pages of jokes to Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield , was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect!," "No respect, no respect at all... that's the story of my life" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme...
, which were returned with the same polite note scrawled at the bottom, "Sorry, Marty!" (According to his agent's press kit, years later when writing for Penn & Teller
Penn & Teller
Penn & Teller are Las Vegas headliners whose act is an amalgam of illusion and comedy. Penn Jillette is a raconteur; Teller generally uses mime while performing, although his voice can occasionally be heard during their performance...
in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Olson produced comedy bits with Dangerfield and the two became friends.)
Olson first sold comedy material to the hosts of local "Gong Shows" which began his career as a comedy writer.
Olson and Boston comedy
Olson's friends Paul Barclay and Bil Downes started the first comedy club in Boston in 1977. There Olson became house piano player between acts, and also performed as a comedian for the first two years with an absurdist deadpanDeadpan
Deadpan is a form of comic delivery in which humor is presented without a change in emotion or body language, usually speaking in a casual, monotone, solemn, blunt, disgusted or matter-of-fact voice and expressing an unflappably calm, archly insincere or artificially grave demeanor...
act. His act consisted of playing the guitar and hosting "a show within the show" featuring other comedians as his eccentric guests. At the club every night for four years, Olson worked for and wrote with the comedians who became his friends - Lenny Clarke
Lenny Clarke
Lenny Clarke is an American comedian and actor, famous for his thick Boston accent and role as Uncle Teddy on the series Rescue Me. During the 1970s, as related in the Comedy Central roast of Clarke's friend Denis Leary, Clarke ran for mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. When asked by Leary what...
, Bobcat Goldthwait
Bobcat Goldthwait
Robert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film and television director. He is commonly known for his energetic, ravenous stage personality, his dark, acerbic black comedy, and his gruff but high-pitched voice.- Early life :Goldthwait was born in Syracuse,...
, Don Gavin, Jimmy Tingle
Jimmy Tingle
Jimmy Tingle is an American comic and occasional actor.-Life and career:Tingle was the American correspondent for Sir David Frost’s show for PBS and the BBC, The Strategic Humor Initiative. He completed two seasons with 60 Minutes II on CBS as the humorist / commentator in the Andy Rooney spot...
, Barry Crimmins, Steven Wright
Steven Wright
Steven Alexander Wright is an American comedian, actor and writer. He is known for his distinctly lethargic voice and slow, deadpan delivery of ironic, philosophical and sometimes nonsensical jokes and one-liners with contrived situations.-Early life and career:Wright was born in Mount Auburn...
, Denis Leary
Denis Leary
Denis Colin Leary is an Irish-American actor, comedian, writer and director. Leary is known for his biting, fast paced comedic style and chain smoking...
, Steve Sweeney
Steve Sweeney
Steve Sweeney is an American comedian.-Biography:Sweeney was born in Charlestown, a section of Boston. His Boston accent and idiosyncratic mannerisms are trademarks of his stand-up act, headlining at comedy clubs across the country, including Caroline's Comedy Club in New York City.A graduate of...
, Joe Alaskey
Joe Alaskey
Joseph "Joe" Alaskey is an American actor, comedian, and voice artist, credited as one of the successors of Mel Blanc in impersonating the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other characters from Warner Bros. cartoons. He was born in Watervliet, New York.-Other work:Alaskey has also done voices...
, Sean Morey
Sean Morey (comedian)
Sean Morey is an American comedian famous for songs such as "The Man Song," "Hairy Ass," "All About Me," "The Toddler Song", "Dear Santa," "It's Gonna Be A Bad Day," and "Ghost Chicken in The Sky", the latter being a parody of the classic country song " Riders in The Sky".The text "Life Cycle"...
and many others.
The Barracks
Olson and comedian Lenny ClarkeLenny Clarke
Lenny Clarke is an American comedian and actor, famous for his thick Boston accent and role as Uncle Teddy on the series Rescue Me. During the 1970s, as related in the Comedy Central roast of Clarke's friend Denis Leary, Clarke ran for mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. When asked by Leary what...
became roommates in an apartment near Harvard Square
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street. It is the historic center of Cambridge...
where comedians from all over the country stayed while performing in their comedy club. Olson wrote for Clarke, who soon became the most popular comedian in Boston. Their apartment became known as The Barracks, a legendary hub of comedy and depravity that was the subject of a television special on Boston comedy in the 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
, and also of the award-winning documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
on the Boston comedy scene When Standup Stood Out (2006) directed by filmmaker-comedian Fran Solomita.
Olson, the Ding Ho and Lenny Clarke's Late Show
When Barry Crimmins started the second comedy club in the Boston area, the Ding Ho, Olson became the piano player there. He began showing short films he wrote and directed. This led to Olson writing Lenny Clarke's Late Show, a late-night comedy TV series on TV-38 hosted and co-written by Lenny ClarkeLenny Clarke
Lenny Clarke is an American comedian and actor, famous for his thick Boston accent and role as Uncle Teddy on the series Rescue Me. During the 1970s, as related in the Comedy Central roast of Clarke's friend Denis Leary, Clarke ran for mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. When asked by Leary what...
. This bizarre, two-hour weekly show attracted a small but dedicated cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
. After two years, however, Olson and Clarke were fired for airing two controversial segments ("News for Negroes" and "The Mentally Retarded Faith Healer" featuring Bobcat Goldthwait
Bobcat Goldthwait
Robert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film and television director. He is commonly known for his energetic, ravenous stage personality, his dark, acerbic black comedy, and his gruff but high-pitched voice.- Early life :Goldthwait was born in Syracuse,...
).
Olson and the West Coast comedy scene
Olson took his tapes from the show and drove cross-country to San Francisco with comedian Don Gavin. There, by coincidence, the 1980 San Francisco Comedy Competition was starting up, which offered a first prize of $10,000. Olson helped Gavin audition and make it into the finals. There Olson met his future wife Kay Furtado, a writer who had been flown to San Francisco to coach another comedian in the competition. A year later they married in a ceremony in San Francisco by comedian Michael Pritchard, attended by all of the local comedians. Olson and his wife moved to Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
where they raised two children, Casey Olson and Olivia Olson
Olivia Olson
Olivia Olson is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is known for her role of Joanna, singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" in Love Actually , and for her voice-roles as Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in Phineas and Ferb and as Marceline the Vampire Queen in Adventure Time with Finn and...
.
Comedy writing
Olson's Los Angeles home became a halfway houseHalfway house
The purpose of a halfway house, also called a recovery house or sober house, is generally to allow people to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support; this is generally believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or relapse when compared to a...
for comedians coming to the city to perform and audition for shows. Meanwhile Olson wrote HBO comedy performance specials, became staff writer for the Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards
A Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"...
, wrote an award-winning series for Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and became head writer for many animated series voiced by his comedian friends. He was head writer for the first season of the Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
comedy series Phineas and Ferb
Phineas and Ferb
Phineas and Ferb is an American animated television comedy series. Originally broadcast as a preview on August 17, 2007, on Disney Channel, the series follows Phineas Flynn and his English stepbrother Ferb Fletcher on summer vacation. Every day the boys embark on some grand new project, which...
.
Olson wrote, co-wrote or directed a number of off-beat stage plays in Los Angeles, including "The Head", "The Idiots", "I Never Knew My Father", "Torn" and "Cold Black Heart" at various theaters, including the Comedy Central Stage and the HBO Theater in Hollywood.
Impact on and affiliations in contemporary comedy
Specializing in writing comedy specials and staging one-man shows for comedians, Olson became producer-writer for Penn & TellerPenn & Teller
Penn & Teller are Las Vegas headliners whose act is an amalgam of illusion and comedy. Penn Jillette is a raconteur; Teller generally uses mime while performing, although his voice can occasionally be heard during their performance...
on their notorious FX variety series Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular
Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular
Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular was a weekly American television variety show hosted by Penn and Teller that appeared on the FX Networks from August 10, 1998 - June 30, 1999...
.
When Olson was a staff writer for Rocko's Modern Life
Rocko's Modern Life
Rocko's Modern Life is an animated series created by Joe Murray. The show aired for four seasons between 1993 and 1996 on Nickelodeon. Rocko's Modern Life is based around the surreal, parodic adventures of an anthropomorphic wallaby named Rocko, and his life in the city of O-Town...
, director Stephen Hillenburg
Stephen Hillenburg
Stephen McDannell Hillenburg is an American animator, writer, producer, actor, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants. He currently owns his own production company, United Plankton Pictures...
showed Olson a comic book called "The Intertidal Zone" that Hillenburg drew as a student at Cal Arts. Olson loved it and suggested that Hillenburg rewrite it as an undersea cartoon series for Nickelodeon, which became SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...
.
Selling comedy screenplays to Dreamworks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
, United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
, and Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, Olson was able to dedicate his time to writing and directing live stage performances in Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
at the HBO Theater, The Steve Allen Theater and Comedy Central Stage featuring well-known comedians and actors.
As an occasional actor, Olson has guest-starred in a live action sequence in SpongeBob SquarePants ("Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V"), in "Don't Watch This Show" by director-comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, in the documentary When Standup Stood Out by filmmaker Fran Solomita, on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
playing an Indian
Historical definitions of races in India
Various attempts have been made, under the British Raj and since, to classify the population of India according to a racial typology. After the independence, in pursuance of the Government's policy to discourage community distinctions based on race, the 1951 Census of India did away with racial...
yogi
Yogi
A Yogi is a practitioner of Yoga. The word is also used to refer to ascetic practitioners of meditation in a number of South Asian Religions including Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.-Etymology:...
with Bobcat Goldthwait, as Marceline's Dad, Lord of Evil on Adventure Time
Adventure Time
Adventure Time was a local children's television show on WTAE-TV 4 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1959 to 1975. It was hosted by the late Paul Shannon, with guitarist Joe Negri and puppeteer Jim Martin...
, and in a featured role as a fundamentalist
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines usually understood as a reaction against Modernist theology. The term "fundamentalism" was originally coined by its supporters to describe a specific package of theological beliefs that developed into a movement within the...
professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
in the film The Anna Cabrini Chronicles by filmmaker Tawd B. Dorenfeld.
Martin Olson's brother, Thomas Olson, is a well-known dramatic film and stage actor. Olson's daughter, Olivia Olson
Olivia Olson
Olivia Olson is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is known for her role of Joanna, singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" in Love Actually , and for her voice-roles as Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in Phineas and Ferb and as Marceline the Vampire Queen in Adventure Time with Finn and...
, is a singer-songwriter, who starred and sang in the British comedy film Love Actually
Love Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...
and plays Vanessa on Disney's Phineas and Ferb. Olson also plays "The Lord of Evil" on Adventure Time, in which his real-life daughter Olivia plays his TV daughter Marceline the Vampire Queen.