Griffin McElroy

• 1. Introduction

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  Griffin McElroy is an American podcaster, actor, writer, composer, and former video game journalist, born on the 17th of April, 1987. Every American Thanksgiving since 2015, he and his brothers have sat down with fellow podcasters Tim Batt and Guy Montgomery for a single ritual. They watch and review the same film every year: Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.

  That yearly tradition is only one thread in a much larger career. It runs from a local West Virginia radio show to a video game newsroom, a tabletop game table, and a cartoon voice booth. How did a journalism graduate end up running Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, composing music, and recording lines for animated shows? And what turned a family in-joke into a body of work spanning podcasts, comics, and film cameos?

• 2. Family Radio Roots

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  Clint McElroy, Griffin's father, spent years as co-host of the morning show on WTCR-FM in Huntington, West Virginia. Griffin grew up as the son of Clint and his wife Leslie, both fixtures of that local radio world. He later earned a journalism degree from Marshall University, following his father into media before he ever held a job in it. For a period afterward, he lived in Chicago, away from the West Virginia radio studios where his father worked.

  In 2013, Griffin married Rachel McElroy, and the couple went on to have two sons. That family life took shape alongside a fast-approaching first job in journalism, one that would carry him far from local radio.

• 3. Leaving The Newsroom For Polygon

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  In 2007, Griffin began working as the weekend editor for Joystiq, marking the start of his journalism career. During the 2008 United States presidential election, he also served as MTV's local journalist covering his home state of West Virginia. He stayed at Joystiq until 2012, when he left to co-found Polygon with his brother Justin McElroy and Christopher Grant. At the new site he eventually became a senior video producer, a role far removed from where he started.

  During his time at Polygon, Griffin oversaw a large volume of video content, including the Monster Factory series and a number of let's play videos. In 2018, both Griffin and Justin announced they were leaving Polygon to focus on their podcasting work and their families. That decision would push podcasting from a side project into the center of his working life.

• 4. Running The Adventure Zone

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  In 2014, the McElroy brothers launched The Adventure Zone, a tabletop role-playing game podcast that began with a campaign of Dungeons and Dragons. Griffin served as Dungeon Master and voiced numerous non-player characters across the first 69 episodes of that campaign, later titled Balance. For its second campaign, Amnesty, the show moved to a Monster of the Week system, built on the Powered by the Apocalypse rules. There, Griffin took on the equivalent role of Keeper.

  In the third campaign, Graduation, Griffin stepped away from running the game to play a character: Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt, Knight-in-Absentia of the Realm of Goodcastle. He returned to the Dungeon Master's chair for the fourth campaign, Ethersea, which concluded in July 2022. In the fifth campaign, Steeplechase, he plays a character named Montrose Pretty. Griffin also composes much of the show's original soundtrack, on top of his roles at the table. The show's very first story arc would soon leave the podcast feed entirely, turning into a printed book illustrated by another artist.

• 5. From Table To Bestseller

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  Here There Be Gerblins, the first sub-arc of The Adventure Zone: Balance, was adapted into a graphic novel with artist Carey Pietsch. First Second Books published it in 2018, and the book topped The New York Times' best-selling trade fiction list. That made it the first graphic novel ever to reach the top of that list.

  The success continued with Murder on the Rockport Limited! in 2019, followed by Petals to the Metal in 2020, and The Crystal Kingdom in 2021. Four books in four years turned a single podcast arc into a small library. That output ran alongside a fast-growing roster of other shows carrying the McElroy name.

• 6. A Podcast For Every Occasion

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  While still working at Joystiq, Griffin occasionally guest-hosted The Joystiq Podcast alongside his brother Justin. His first appearance came in episode 40, released on the 7th of March, 2008. Since 2010, Griffin, Justin, and their brother Travis have co-hosted My Brother, My Brother and Me. The comedy podcast airs on the Maximum Fun network. It bills itself as an advice show for the modren era. The brothers also starred in a 2017 television adaptation of the show, which aired on Seeso.

  That same appetite for oddly specific traditions carries into Til Death Do Us Blart, the annual podcast that includes their long-running Paul Blart ritual. In 2020, on the 28th of April, the show released a special bonus episode. In it, the brothers broke from their usual sequel-only rule and watched the original Paul Blart: Mall Cop instead. The brothers also host a documentary podcast titled The McElroy Brothers Will Be in Trolls World Tour. That show ultimately led to the announcement that all three would make cameo appearances in the animated film.

  Since 2017, Griffin has co-hosted a different kind of show, Wonderful!, with his wife Rachel, where the couple discuss things they enjoy. Before that, the pair had hosted Rose Buddies, a podcast recapping The Bachelor and similar television series.

  Griffin has also appeared twice as a guest on The George Lucas Talk Show. His first appearance came on the 4th of May, 2020. That fundraiser was called The George Lucas Talk Show All Day Star Wars Movie Watch Along. He returned on the 22nd of December, 2020, for an episode titled The George Lucas Holiday Special. Those guest spots sat alongside a different kind of work entirely, one built around scripts he did not write and characters he did not invent.

• 7. Cartoons And Character Voices

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  Griffin has voiced characters in several animated series, including Clarence, Big City Greens, We Bare Bears, and Camp Camp. In 2017, he also provided voice commentary for the video game 100ft Robot Golf, alongside his brothers. In September 2018, after a successful podcasting campaign, Griffin, Travis, and Justin confirmed they would voice the character Skyscraper in Trolls World Tour. Griffin additionally voiced a second character in that film, Country Tear. In April 2021, he was announced to be voicing a role in The Mitchells vs. the Machines, credited as Additional Voices. That growing list of screen and game credits sat alongside recognition of an entirely different kind.

• 8. Recognition Beyond Podcasting

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  In 2017, Forbes named Griffin one of its "30 Under 30" media luminaries. That honor became a running joke during the introduction of My Brother, My Brother and Me for several years afterward.

  In 2021, scientists named a newly discovered species of millipede after his family: Nannaria mcelroyorum. Researchers gave it that name because the McElroy family's podcasts had entertained them during their fieldwork. That millipede still lives today in the hills of West Virginia and the wider Appalachian region. It quietly carries the McElroy name into scientific record long after any single podcast episode airs.