Latest news with #MythicQuest
Time of India
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
It's Always Sunny Philadelphia star Rob McElhenney officially changes name to Rob Mac: Here's why
Rob McElhenney has legally filed to change his name to "Rob Mac"—a name fans and friends have already been calling him for years. Speaking at It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's 20th anniversary event, the actor revealed the change was partly inspired by his family history and partly due to pure frustration. 'When I traced back my family tree, I found that our surname had changed spelling six or seven times since the late 1800s,' he told PEOPLE. 'It hit me then, this name isn't some sacred heirloom. It's just a bunch of letters that some government guy wrote down over a century ago.' Rob McElhenney got tired of mispronunciations In a video message on July 1, Rob added that he was tired of people getting his name wrong. 'The amount of time I've wasted correcting people… it adds up to actual days,' he said. 'Everyone already calls me Rob Mac. So why not just keep it simple?' I said what I said. He officially signed the documents in Los Angeles on June 26. Going forward, the Mythic Quest actor will be credited as 'Rob Mac' in all new projects. Even FX has already made the switch in official material for Sunny. His wife, actress Kaitlin Olson, had a funny take: 'The kids are really not happy about it,' she joked, since they all still carry the McElhenney surname. But Rob isn't stressing it. 'My family knows who I am, and they love me either way. The name doesn't change that.'
SBS Australia
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
Retro Radio: Filipina Australian actress Charlotte Nicdao on life before Mythic Quest
Filipina-Australian actress first performed when she was nine years old with her friends in a playground. Their pop group 'Chocolate'. Charlotte Nicdao wrote all the music and lyrics to the songs they performed. She starred in several Australian TV shows before her lead role as 'Poppy' in the US series Mythic Quest. Charlotte is one of two daughters of Filipino-Australian actor Alfred Nicdao. LISTEN TO SBS Filipino 27/06/2025 16:11 Filipino The Nicdao Family. Growing up Charlotte's parents, Alfred and Louise, surrounded their home with music. Louise would play the piano while Alfred would strum the guitar with his Jingle Songbook Credit: with permission from Alfred Nicdao When I was three years old, my dad gave me a tape recorder, and I just sat there for ages, taping songs about random things. Ever since, I have never stopped singing. The first song I ever wrote about was about if I were a snail Charlotte Nicdao on how she discovered her love for singing Charlotte Nicdao recently wrote and directed 'Asian Male, 60s, LEAD' with his father Alfred Nicdao in the lead role. It screened in the recently concluded 2025 St Kilda Film Festival. Credit: with permission from Alfred Nicdao 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino 📲 Catch up episodes and stories – Visit or stream on Spotify , Apple Podcasts , Youtube Podcasts , and SBS Audio app.
The Verge
18-05-2025
- The Verge
The best wireless headphones get even better
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 83, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, please don't spoil Andor for me, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I've been reading about Mission: Impossible and Sam Altman's kitchen and bad roommates, ranting to PJ Vogt about all the ways I'm trying to use my phone less, writing all my scratch notes in Antinote, deciding to be cautiously optimistic about The Paper, rewatching the last season of Mythic Quest, watching and reading about life as an air traffic controller, trying to restart a meditation practice after discovering I get Headspace through work, and using Ludex to see if any of my sports cards are worth anything. So far… they're not. I also have for you a pair of headphones you're practically guaranteed to love, two new sci-fi shows to check out, the new Airbnb, and much more. Let's dive in. (As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you reading / watching / listening to / playing / carrying around in a backpack this week? What should everyone else be just as into as you are right now? Tell me everything: installer@ And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here.) The Drop The Sony WH-1000XM6. Sony's over-ear headphones have been the best on the market for the last few years. The new ones aren't exactly, you know, mind-blowing, and $450 is a lot, but I'll take the improvements across the board — especially the better mics and noise cancelling. Doom: The Dark Ages. The first Doom game in five years, and by all accounts it is much more than just a sequel. I'm no scholar in the series, but I'm into the idea that it both has a solid story and has ratcheted up the quality of the fighting. Get you a game that can do both, you know? Spotify's AI DJ. Finally, this feature works the way it should. You can ask Spotify's chatbot to play you songs based on an artist, or a mood, or whatever else you're feeling, and it'll generate endless music on the fly. I've had good luck putting in a few artists I like, but telling Spotify to only play me music I've never heard. Murderbot. It's dystopian, it's funny, it's occasionally pretty existential. It's a story about life as a bot that would really just rather… not. Apple TV Plus continues to do sci-fi really well, and while I've seen a few folks who (as always) prefer the books, this is one to try this weekend. Love, Death & Robots season four. This Netflix series is a very different take on robots. A bunch of big-name filmmakers made all kinds of exciting, bizarre sci-fi shorts that seem to cross every genre and style you can think of. David Fincher directed one! And I guarantee you'll never guess what it is! The DJI Mavic 4 Pro. With a 360-degree gimbal, long battery life, and a 100-megapixel camera, DJI continues to outdo itself on the drone front. Technically, if you're in the US you're not supposed to be able to buy this $2,700 model — but my colleague Sean Hollister found them on sale anyway. Internet Roadtrip. There's a new thing, so I'm going to tell you about the new thing. This one's a tour through Street View in which everyone currently on the site gets to decide where we go next. Not quite as world-shattering as Stimulation Clicker, but still very good. Airbnb. I'm not sure what to make of this huge pivot, honestly. Airbnb as a huge collection of travel experiences and services, rather than just homes, makes a certain kind of sense. But is this ultimately just, like, fancy Yelp? I don't know. But I'm fascinated by how big a swing this is. Android 16. I really like the new design language for Android, which is bold and colorful and gives both users and developers a lot more to play with. It all feels a little more… alive, when everything else about smartphones is starting to feel drab and stale. Screen share Some personal news: I'm having another kid! I'm going on leave sometime around the beginning of July, and will be gone for the summer scoping sick baby gadgets, devising complicated spreadsheet-based systems for tracking eating habits, and once again testing every game I can find that's playable one-handed. Good news, though: you'll be in good hands when I'm gone. The Verge 's Jay Peters is going to be taking over Installer for a couple of months, finding and sharing all the good stuff just like always. (Best I can tell so far, Jay likes wonky indie games the way I like note-taking apps, so get ready to fill up your consoles in a hurry this summer.) You'll be hearing from him here a bit for the next several weeks, too, but I'm not going anywhere just yet. As he starts to get ramped up for all things Installer, I figured the best way for us all to get to know Jay would be to have him share his homescreen. It's just the price of admission 'round these parts. Here it is, plus some info on the apps he uses and why: The phone: An iPhone 16 Pro I got earlier this year. I upgraded from an iPhone 12 Mini that I miss desperately — the iPhone 16 Pro is too heavy and too big for me. The wallpaper: A gray gradient I made using Apple's built-in wallpaper tools. I've tried the all-black background, but I find it jarring when I open an app and suddenly a notch or Dynamic Island appears. I made the apps gray so they're less visually stimulating, and as a constant reminder that I should probably be doing something other than scrolling on my phone. The apps: Phone, Calendar, Photos, Camera, Voice Memos, Apple Maps, Clock, Settings, Messages, Notes, Reminders. As much as possible, I rely on Apple's stock apps because they sync well between my phone and my Mac. (Voice Memos is a particularly useful one in my line of work!) I also keep my homescreen pretty tidy by shoving most of the few apps I keep on my phone into the App Library. If I'm actively testing or using one for whatever reason, it temporarily lives at the top under the two widgets. The countdown widget comes from an app called Days Since. I'm a newish dad to a very early riser, and I realized last year that even one glass of wine made me a step too slow to keep up with my active kid. I've set a goal to not drink for a year just to see if I can do it, and so far, so good. I also asked Jay to share a few things he's into right now. Here's what he sent back: I feel like my entire personality has become Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a wonderful RPG that's my favorite game of the year so far. It's just so good. And the soundtrack is outstanding. I think everyone should watch Taskmaster, a British show where five comedians are judged on how well they do absurd tasks. The whole show is available for free on YouTube, including the 19th season (sorry, 'series') that recently kicked off. I'm also loving slaying demons in Doom: The Dark Ages. Specifically, I love using your giant shield to parry attacks. It has a really satisfying 'gong' sound that I can't get enough of. Crowdsourced Here's what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you're into right now as well! Email installer@ or message me on Signal — @davidpierce.11 — with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we'll feature some of our favorites here every week. For even more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on Threads and this post on Bluesky. 'Received my new Minimal Phone a week ago and it is excellent. There are still some issues to be resolved, but overall there is a ton of potential for this concept of a smart dumb phone.' — Robert 'Currently reading: Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick. It's fantastic so far, and has already changed my mind a bit on the whole AI thing.' — Matt ' Morsle, the daily word game that gives you the morse code of a 5 letter word to guess.' — Kev 'I was a user of Levels for a long time to track my glucose, but didn't realize you can now buy a Dexcom Stelo for $80 on Amazon and it integrates into Oura ring to understand more about your holistic health. It's a great alternative if you're interested in tracking your glucose.' — Will 'My fav cheap headphones that I use most days are the Sony MDRZX110NC, which are kind of noise cancelling, but nothing fancy. My 'real' headphones are the MDR-V6 and the long-discontinued MDR-V700DJ that I've mostly retired. Not really much of a wireless guy since I just like to plug stuff in.' — Ben 'Got the early bird access to Subo app! It's an independent app to track your subscriptions, looks pretty too!' — Kevin 'The new season of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's motorbike travelogue show on Apple TV Plus has started, this time titled Long Way Home. Just a great show for lifting your spirits and for showing the joy of engaging with and enjoying other cultures.' — Andy 'I got the Siete Churro Strips from Wegman's last week, and I've been crumbling them up and putting them on my vanilla ice cream at night. It's so good to get that little bit of crunch with the vanilla ice cream.' — Ben 'Dialing in my work-from-home setup this week. How come no one talks about the fact that you can daisychain monitors with DisplayPort 1.2 cables?! Also, I am shopping around for a footrest for underneath the desk, and I have no idea where to start.' — Jeremy Signing off I was in New York for a couple of days this week, working on a big new project I am very excited to share with all of you… later. One thing I got to do as part of the project was a deep dive into old Vines, and you know what? Vine was awesome, y'all. So much of that platform is now completely gone, but there's still so much good stuff in YouTube compilations and other YouTube compilations and still other YouTube compilations.
Wales Online
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Wrexham unsung hero's huge net worth, relationship with Prince William, famous wife
Wrexham unsung hero's huge net worth, relationship with Prince William, famous wife Wrexham director Humphrey Ker has been credited with playing a huge role in the club's success, but there are many who know little about his fascinating life as an actor and writer Humphrey Ker (centre) has played a key role in Wrexham's success under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (Image: PA ) Humphrey Ker has been hailed as one of the unsung heroes of Wrexham's success story under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The Red Dragons have clinched an unprecedented third promotion in a row and will play in the Championship next season. Ker was involved in the celebrations at the Racecourse Ground as Phil Parkinson's side toasted their rise out of League One last weekend. The actor, writer and comedian has been with Wrexham since the early days of Reynolds and McElhenney's time as owners and sits on the board of directors. Despite having no previous experience in the football industry, he has been described as a key part of the club's achievements. Ker was even singled out for praise by former Wrexham and Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster in the wake of their latest promotion. Speaking on the 'Fozcast' podcast, he said: "He's the man and it's completely fresh eyes because he didn't have a clue about football." Foster was backed up by ex-Wrexham captain Ben Tozer, who said: "I love everything about him, his eccentricity. The way he speaks is just so eloquent." Here's the story of Ker's intriguing life, covering everything from his connection with Prince William to his famous wife and net worth. From attending Eton to becoming football director Born in October 1982, the 42-year-old is the son of David Ker, a fine art dealer, and Alexandra, the daughter of a Royal Navy officer. Ker attended Ludgrove School and Eton College as a youngster and went on to study history at the University of Edinburgh. Article continues below It was during this time that he met fellow students David Reed and Thom Tuck and formed a sketch group called The Penny Dreadfuls, who penned comedies for Radio 4. In 2011, Ker won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer for his show Dymock Watson: Nazi Smasher! Wrexham director Humphrey Ker has a fascinating life story (Image: Lyndsay Radnedge/) After moving to Los Angeles in 2013, he began taking on more writing roles, eventually securing a job on the Apple TV series Mythic Quest. The workplace comedy series is set in a gaming firm and was created by Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney, who also stars in the show. During the filming of Mythic Quest's first season, Ker inadvertently set off a chain of events that led to Reynolds and McElhenney purchasing Wrexham. In the early days of the Covid lockdown, Ker would often watch his favourite team, Liverpool FC, during breaks in filming. Ker's affection for the Premier League team caught the attention of sports enthusiast McElhenney, who initially couldn't grasp the appeal. However, after Ker recommended the Netflix documentary Sunderland 'Til I Die, McElhenney became enthralled. The suggestion clearly worked, as McElhenney suddenly proposed the idea of buying a football club to Ker. Ker then created a set of criteria, scoring teams based on factors like facilities, fanbase, history, and finance. Wrexham scored the highest, partly due to its rich history. McElhenney managed to persuade Deadpool star Reynolds to join the venture, and their takeover of Wrexham was finalised in February 2021. Ker was the first representative on the ground in North Wales, acting as a crucial liaison for the new owners during a period when international travel was challenging. He was soon appointed as a director, and has remained at the club ever since. Net worth It's not known exactly how much Ker is worth but it has been estimated he has a net worth of around £3.75m. As well as being a writer on Mythic Quest, Ker has also acted in two season of the NBC sitcom American Auto. More recently, Ker has penned a comedy play titled Sherlock Holmes and The Twelve Days of Christmas, collaborating with former Penny Dreadfuls member David Reed. The mystery play, set to debut in Birmingham in November, boasts original songs by the legendary musical duo Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, known for their contributions to some of the most iconic musicals in history. Growing up with Prince William Ker first encountered Prince William when they both attended Ludgrove School and Eton College as youngsters. He even shared a bedroom with the Prince of Wales before they eventually drifted apart. Their paths crossed again years later when William made an unexpected visit to Wrexham. Ker was reunited with his old school friend on March 1, 2024 at an event held at the Racecourse Ground to mark St David's Day. Wrexham director Humphrey Ker catches up with Prince William at the Turf pub (Image: (Photo by) ) During his visit, William met with Ker and McElhenney at The Turf pub. The heartfelt reunion was caught on camera during filming for the third series of the Welcome to Wrexham documentary. The Prince nostalgically remarked "it's been a while" as they warmly greeted each other. Ker divulged details about their childhood bond in later scenes: "I went to school with Prince William. I have known him since I was seven, or something like that," he said. "We literally shared a bedroom from (the age of) seven until 10." The encounter not only provided captivating content for Disney+ but also highlighted a poignant full-circle moment for Ker. Ker's famous wife Humphrey Ker and Megan Ganz at the finish line during the 2025 United Airlines NYC Half Marathon (Image: Bryan Bedder/New York Road Runners via Getty Images ) Ker is married to Megan Ganz, a comedy writer and producer who is part of the team behind McElhenney's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. She was born on June 1, 1984 in Ann Arbor, Michigan and has also been involved in shows such as Modern Family, Community and Mythic Quest. Article continues below The couple have been married since May 30, 2015 after meeting in LA two years earlier whilst Ker was filming a pilot called Holding Pattern. The show was not picked up but it meant he found his future wife after they were introduced through a mutual friend who worked on the sitcom. While many associated with Wrexham were nursing hangovers last Sunday, the pair ran the Manchester Marathon together to raise money for the Wrexham Miners Project. They also ran the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon in March.
BBC News
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Wrexham's remarkable rise - and what comes next
The party at the Stok Cae Ras was in full swing on Saturday night as Wrexham sealed an unprecedented third successive Wanderers' 1-0 loss to Leyton Orient earlier in the day paved the way for Phil Parkinson's side to open up an unassailable advantage over the chasing pack in League One if they could beat Charlton was an opportunity they grasped as Ollie Rathbone scored his eighth goal of the campaign before Sam Smith netted a brace to clinch an emphatic 3-0 Sport Wales looks at how Wrexham made the journey to the Championship from non-league in just three seasons - and explores what the future may hold. Where did it all begin? Working as a writer on comedy television series Mythic Quest, current Wrexham director Humphrey Ker became a close personal friend of the show's co-creator Rob Philadelphia-born actor took an interest in football and, during the coronavirus pandemic, tasked Ker with assessing potential investment Aldershot, Carlisle and Shamrock Rovers fans, look away now. They were among the clubs that were explored before Wrexham were a chance encounter on Instagram proved to be the start of a dream star Ryan Reynolds contacted McElhenney on the social media platform to praise him for his acting skills in a particular episode of It's Always Sunny in duo struck up a relationship and the rest, as they say, is on BBC Breakfast prior to the win over Charlton, Ker said: "They (Reynolds and McElhenney) came to understand this thing about the way our football system works that is completely alien in America, which is the idea that you can go from the top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top. In America, it's kind of a closed circuit."The Hollywood pair completed their takeover of Wrexham in February 2021, making an immediate £2m investment after taking control from the club's supporters' trust. The journey so far Wrexham have not finished below second place in the various divisions they have competed in any of their four seasons under Phil Parkinson, who was appointed as manager just five months after the takeover was play-off heartache against Grimsby Town brought an abrupt end to an impressive debut campaign in north Wales for Parkinson in the following season proved memorable as Wrexham clinched the National League title with a record 111 points to end a 15-year absence from the Football there has been no stopping the Red Dragons won 26 of their 46 matches en route to taking the runner-up spot in League Two as the club sealed back-to-back promotions last another step up in level, Wrexham have successfully gone toe to toe with a number of former Premier League sides to take the second and final automatic promotion place in League One this was Parkinson's 181st league match in charge of Wrexham, and his record is nothing short of have triumphed in 112 of Parkinson's league games. Their win rate is just shy of 62%. There have been 40 draws and only 29 league this period, Wrexham have scored 361 league goals (not including play-offs) at a rate of almost exactly two per game while claiming an average of 2.08 points per 57, also guided Wrexham to the FA Trophy final - they lost to Bromley at Wembley - in his first season and has twice led his side to the fourth round of the FA Cup."Phil Parkinson, our manager, deserves an unbelievable amount of credit because there have been other teams that have had more resources than us in the past that have not been able to get to the cusp that we have got to," said Ker. Documentary success The 'Welcome to Wrexham' television documentary has been at the heart of the club's rise to global prominence over recent four is set to premiere in May and will detail the club's journey from League One to the Championship, with Wrexham becoming the first side in the top five divisions of English football to secure three successive Wrexham do not earn money directly from the show, its popularity has had a significant impact on improving the club's revenue streams."It's extraordinary. We often talk about the power of storytelling," said Ker."What we've been able to do with the documentary and the football club is tell people in America why football is so significant to us, what it means and what the stakes are. "Truly, I'm astonished by the volume of interest. It's because America is fascinated by English football and we are a way in for a lot of people who don't follow it in other ways."Telling the story of the local community in addition to the fortunes of the club itself, the documentary has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards and two Critics' Choice Television Awards."We're telling that story, and we're telling the story of the town," added Ker."The amazing thing about all football clubs is that so much life happens around them, and covering that is what we do." An unstoppable rise "Our goal is to grow the team, establish Wrexham AFC as a Premier League club, in front of increased attendances at an improved stadium while making a positive difference to the wider community in Wrexham."The club's mission statement spells out the scale of the ambition of co-chairmen McElhenney and Wrexham's hierarchy have plenty to ponder as they plan for the club's first season in the second tier since squad size will rise from 22 players to 25, while matchday squads will feature nine substitutes as opposed to could, in theory, pave the way for Paul Mullin's return to the squad following his absence over the previous 13 games. Whatever striker Mullin's situation, it is clear there is further work to be done on the squad, as Parkinson will want to bring in more players of a higher calibre to bolster his side's Championship inevitable acquisitions will lead to an increased wage bill, with Ker recently suggesting Wrexham would need to quadruple their wage outgoings to be competitive in the Championship. Work is also due to commence on improving the iconic Kop Stand at their Stok Cae Ras home, while there are plans to develop a training ground and for expansion of facilities for the academy and women's all requires money - and lots of it. But on the plus side, the club are currently operating with a model most EFL clubs will £26.7m Wrexham made in revenue during their 2023-24 League Two season puts them just below the top Championship sides - who benefit from parachute payments - in terms of and sponsorship revenue will only increase in the Championship, so there is no doubt Wrexham are well placed at present. The next challenge is always the toughest, and the Championship is a different beast from what Wrexham have face over the past few with such impressive alignment from top to bottom at the club, Wrexham know they are in a strong position to achieve their ultimate goal at some stage - whether it be next season or beyond.
