Here is Mathew Klickstein's biography:
Mathew Klickstein grew up in Lake Forest, California. While still in college, he established the first official Slam Poetry competition to be held on a university campus and self-published his novel, This Book is Called Counter, which became an underground DIY phenomenon.
After receiving his BFA from the University of Southern California's undergraduate screenwriting program in 2003, he co-created and produced a weekly television show for National Lampoon Networks called Collegetown, USA. He also worked in feature film production and wrote articles for various publications.
In 2006, Klickstein became the Editor-In-Chief of Entertainment Today, Southern California's oldest free-weekly paper. He retired from that post in 2007 and sold his first screenplay to a small Warner Bros.-based production company.
Klickstein later co-founded a clothing line called Better Bacon Apparel, which was featured in various high-profile events and magazines. He also wrote the screenplay for the horror film Against the Dark, starring Steven Seagal.
In 2009, he published his experimental novella Daisy Goes to the Moon through AtomSmashers and was invited to assist a prominent couple with writing their WWII memoirs. He also contributed pieces to Willamette Week, a Pulitzer Prize-winning alternative weekly in Portland, Oregon.
Klickstein's feature-length rockumentary, Act Your Age: The Kids of Widney High Story, was released in 2010 and screened at various festivals. He also worked as an entertainment reporter for Boulder's two daily newspapers and directed and produced projects on various subjects.
In 2012, he worked with the non-profit "disabled theater" group Phamaly to accrue funding for a production based outside of Denver. He also published his black comedy "horrotica" novel Rag Doll through Oysters & Chocolate and later with Blushing Books.
Klickstein's oral history of the Nickelodeon network, SLIMED! An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age, was published by Penguin Book Group USA in 2013 and has since been named to several "Best Of" lists.
He produced and hosted the largest reunion gathering in pop culture history, featuring "Classic" Nickelodeon personnel, at the 92Y culture space in New York City. He also toured with the book as part of the Jewish Book Council.
Klickstein became a casting producer for Food Network's popular "restaurant rescue" series Restaurant: Impossible in 2013 and ended up in the quirky town of Lawrence, Kansas, where he took part in numerous artistic enterprises.
He created and contributed a regular column to a weekly supplement in Kansas City's daily newspaper, the Kansas City Star, called "Kitchen Conversational." He also produced/hosted a live panel of foodie personalities during the Free State Festival.
Klickstein's wife and he moved to Baltimore in 2016, where he became the senior reporter for the Baltimore Jewish Times. He left his post to focus on his book and finished his documentary about Marc Summers, On Your Marc.
Klickstein's next book, Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons, was co-authored with lifetime Simpsons series writer Mike Reiss. He also ghostwrote the comedic memoir Being Mr. Skin: 20 Years of Nip Slips, Cheek Peeks, and Fast-Forwarding to the Good Parts.
Klickstein's first comic book series, You Are Obsolete, was published by AfterShock Comics in 2019 and is currently in active development as a TV series. His podcast, NERTZ, premiered via WIRED and was later distributed by Heavy Metal Magazine.
Klickstein's middle-grade reader, The Kids of Widney Junior High Take Over the World!, was released in 2020 and won an IPPY award for Juvenile Fiction. He also released his audiobook original project, So You Need to Decide, in partnership with alt-comedy and UnCabaret impresario Beth Lapides.
Klickstein led a writing/theater workshop in Dayton, Ohio, involving children developing their own reimagined version of George Orwell's Animal Farm. He also worked with Dare 2 Defy on a devised theater project with children, focusing on a series of intermingled monologues.
SiriusXM released Klickstein's six-part oral history/audio documentary of the origins of Comic-Con and fandom, Comic-Con Begins, in 2021. His next book for younger readers, So Good to be Bad, was released as an audiobook original by Blackstone Audio.
Klickstein's graphic novel Daisy Goes to the Moon was illustrated by Rick Geary and published by Fantagraphics in 2025. His book Lloyd Kaufman:Interviews was published in hardcover, paperback, and e-book editions.
Klickstein travels frequently to speak and engage with various audiences, communities, conferences, conventions, universities, Jewish Community Centers, and other specialized venues talking about all manner of pop
