Watch Michael Ian Black Online

Black was born in Chicago, Illinois to Jill and Robert Schwartz, and grew up in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey[1], where he attended Hillsborough High School. His parents divorced when he was three years old. When he was seven, his father died during neurological surgery following a mysterious assault. Black is Jewish.

As a teenager, Schwartz attended Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in New York.

Black is known for appearing on VH1's I Love the... series, his Stella comedy troupe, and a variety of other TV series and films. He was also the voice actor behind the Pets.com sock puppet, is the main subject in the current Sierra Mist commercials, hosted the first season of NBC's hidden-camera show Spy TV, and had a supporting role on the NBC dramedy Ed.

He began his career as a member of the comedy group The State and was featured on the television show by the same name on MTV. He continued working with members of that group on the show Viva Variety in the role of "Johnny Bluejeans", and in the film Wet Hot American Summer. His dry, sarcastically irreverent commentary on pop culture artifacts on VH1's "I Love the 70s/80s/90s" series has added to his and the shows' popularity. Black has stated several times on the show that he feels as if he is "doomed to an eternity of doing the 'I Love the...' series". He also makes fun of himself for being a Jewish-American and sarcastically enforcing the Jewish stereotypes.

In the latter part of 2004, he acted as guest-host of CBS's The Late Late Show while auditioning for the permanent hosting role. He was a finalist for the position, although the job eventually went to Craig Ferguson. He is also an occasional contributor to the online edition of McSweeney's, where he writes a column entitled "Michael Ian Black Is a Very Famous Celebrity".

Black, along with fellow State-rs Michael Showalter and David Wain, co-starred in and co-wrote the Comedy Central series Stella, a television adaptation of their popular stage show. The ten-episode first season debuted in June 2005 and was not renewed for a second season.

Black wrote the screenplays for two feature film comedies —Wedding Daze (aka The Pleasure of Your Company and The Next Girl I See, 2006) and Run, Fat Boy, Run (2007, co-written with leading actor Simon Pegg). Black also directed Wedding Daze which stars Jason Biggs, Joe Pantoliano, and Isla Fisher. Black also has some minor screen credits. He appeared twice on the Adult Swim show, Tom Goes to the Mayor, and was a guest voice on Seth Green's stop-motion show Robot Chicken. He appeared on the Comedy Central shows Crank Yankers and Reno 911!. He had a cameo in David Wain's 2007 film, The Ten as a prison guard. In September of 2007, he released his first stand-up comedy album, I Am a Wonderful Man. Black also maintains a humorous blog at michaelianblack.typepad.com. In addition, Black has written a book entitled My Custom Van: And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays that Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face which is due to be released July 15, 2008. Most recently he starred on the TV series Reaper (2008) as a gay demon trying to destroy the devil through acts of kindness.