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Rooted in Ohio profiles interesting people who have grown up in or lived in Ohio and have gone to make a name for themselves around the country or the globe. If you know of someone worthy of being highlighted, then send an email to Life@coxinc.com and include "Rooted in Ohio idea" in the message subject line.
Grant Taylor of Kettering loves to make people laugh. He spent 10 years traveling the country on the stand-up circuit, headlining Jokers Comedy Club in the early 1990s and also appearing on Comedy Central, but found success writing for dozens of TV shows. In fact, he currently serves as senior producer and head writer of NBC’s hit show “Hollywood Game Night” hosted by Golden Globe and three-time Emmy Award winner Jane Lynch.
“Hollywood Game Night,” a fun and casual competition in which contestants join celebrities within a cozy living room setting for the chance to win up to $25,000, debuted in the summer of 2013 and won the Writers Guild Award this year in the category of Quiz and Audience Participation. As he busily prepares the series’ fourth season, which begins taping later this month and returns Jan. 4, Taylor, who initially moved to Los Angeles to write for “Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher,” anticipates creating new games and accenting Lynch’s comedic expertise to the fullest.
“Every time another season begins the network wants to know what we can do to make the show different or better which is a fun challenge,” said Taylor, 53. “You never know what’s going to be a hit. The media landscape is so fractured because there are so many channels to choose from. Sometimes I wonder if I gave stand-up comedy enough of a chance, but as a comic finding your voice is very important.
“Maybe what makes me a good writer is that I’m good at finding other people’s voices even if I don’t know my own. When I started writing for Jane Lynch, I knew what she would say and what would be funny if she said it. When I wrote monologues for Bill Maher, it was easy to put myself into his mindset because his character was so defined. But Jane brings so much to what she does. It’s wonderful writing for her.”
Prior to joining “Hollywood Game Night,” Taylor, a 1980 Fairmont East High School graduate who received a degree in architecture from the University of Cincinnati, contributed to over 40 E! countdown shows/specials, over 300 episodes of “The Weakest Link,” and a host of other programs such as “The Martin Short Show,” “Disaster Date,” and “Meet My Folks.” He was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award last year for his work on “The Chase.” He’s a longtime fan of “The Simpsons,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Family Ties,” and “All in the Family,” but particularly finds “Modern Family” and “Silicon Valley” to be among today’s best sitcoms. He also credits David Letterman for molding the style of comedy he holds dear.
“David Letterman was my favorite late-night guy,” he said. “He affected the way I look at comedy more than anyone else. Letterman would say something that was mildly amusing and whether you laughed or not it was still funny because he decided it was funny. When I started college at the University of Cincinnati, Letterman was a huge part of my college late nights. He’s my biggest comedic influence.”
A married father of two young boys, Taylor admits he doesn’t have the opportunity to return to Kettering as often as he’d like. Even so, he has fond memories of growing up in the Miami Valley and the many individuals who encouraged and supported his pursuits. He’s also proud of his brother Morgan Taylor, a Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter/illustrator who notably created the “Gustafer Yellowgold” all-ages, music video series.
“I love Ohio and I always tell people it’s wonderful to be from Ohio,” he said. “A huge influence from Fairmont East was the late Bob Riley, an English teacher who directed all three high school plays I was in and wrote two of them. I also enjoyed the speech and dramatics program. My teacher and speech coach was Arlene Akerman. I competed on the forensic team and won a handful of trophies in humorous interpretation and duet acting that kept that tiny nugget of belief alive deep down inside that a kid from Ohio could somehow be in show business.”
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