Amir Shmuel Blumenfeld (/əˈmir ʃmuːˈɛl ˈbluːmɨnfɛld/; Hebrew: אמיר שמואל בלומנפלד‎; born January 18, 1983) is an Israeli American comedian, actor, writer and television host. Born in Israel, he moved to Los Angeles when he was two, and was hired by the New York-based CollegeHumor in 2005. As well as contributing to its books and articles, he has written and starred in original videos for the comedy website—appearing in series such as Hardly Working and Very Mary-Kate—and was a cast member on its short-lived MTV program The CollegeHumor Show.

He is best known for appearing in the web series Jake and Amir with Jake Hurwitz, in which he plays an annoying and exaggerated version of himself. Originally made by Hurwitz and Blumenfeld in their spare time, the series was then produced by CollegeHumor. Blumenfeld's acting in the series gained him a Webby Award for Best Individual Performance in 2010. In 2011, CollegeHumor released Jake and Amir: Fired, a 30-minute special that is the company's first paid content. Episodes of Jake and Amir average over 500,000 views; by 2012, over 500 had been produced. The pair have also hosted numerous live shows, and started the advice podcast If I Were You in 2013. In December 2013, it was announced that Jake and Amir would be adapted into a TBS television comedy with Ed Helms as an executive producer.

The Prank War series, which depicts Blumenfeld and Streeter Seidell as they play a series of escalating practical jokes on each other, became popular and led to the two appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2009. MTV later hired Seidell and Blumenfeld to host Pranked, a clip show featuring prank videos from the Internet. Outside of CollegeHumor, Blumenfeld has appeared in the short film The Old Man and the Seymour, the television series Louie and I Just Want My Pants Back, and the 2011 film A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. He also writes for ESPN The Magazine and Mental Floss.

Biography

Blumenfeld is Jewish, although he has described himself as "not too religious" and does not attend Temple every Saturday, nor does he keep Kosher. He does, however, celebrate Jewish holidays with his family and speaks Hebrew. He is a basketball fan, and supports the Los Angeles Lakers—his favorite players are Kobe Bryant and Nick Van Exel.