Jonah Ray

Jonah Ray Rodrigues was born on August 3, 1982, in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. His early life in Hawaii involved playing in local rock and punk bands before he moved to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, Ray initially pursued a career in music but later transitioned to writing and performing comedy. He began his television career as a writer’s assistant for “The Andy Milonakis Show” and also worked as a writer and performer for Showtime’s “The Offensive Show.” Ray honed his skills as a regular performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles, which led to various early appearances in television and web productions.

Ray’s career progressed with writing roles for “SuperNews!” from 2008 to 2010, “Web Soup” on G4, and later “The Soup” on E! until 2012. A significant milestone in his career was co-hosting “The Meltdown,” a weekly comedy show with Kumail Nanjiani at Meltdown Comics, which was later adapted into the Comedy Central television series “The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail” from 2014 to 2016. He also gained recognition as a co-host of “The Nerdist Podcast” with Chris Hardwick, contributing to its growing popularity in the podcast landscape. In 2012, he launched his own podcast, “Jonah Raydio: The Podcast,” focusing on independent music and comedy, and later founded his record label, Literally Figurative Records.

In 2015, Ray was announced as the new host for the revived “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” playing the character Jonah Heston. This role, funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign, further cemented his presence in popular culture. He starred as Jonah Heston for seasons 11, 12, and 13 of the series, spanning from 2017 to 2022. Beyond his hosting and writing duties, Ray has continued to act in various projects, including “Satanic Hispanics” (2022), “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” (2022), and “Better Things” (2019-2022), demonstrating his continued activity and contributions across multiple facets of the entertainment industry.