American actress, writer and producer
Emily Joanne Axford is an American actress, writer, and producer. She is best known for her various roles in CollegeHumor videos, her role as Emily on the truTV comedy Adam Ruins Everything, and for her role on the Pop original Hot Date co-starring her husband Brian K. Murphy.[1]
Early life and education
Axford grew up in the suburbs of Albany, New York. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion from George Washington University in 2007.[2] At GWU, she was a part of the co-ed improv troupe called ReceSs. After college, Axford studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York City and then Los Angeles, where she first ventured into internet sketch comedy.[3]
Career
From 2011 to 2017, Axford was a writer and actress for digital comedy company CollegeHumor. In 2017, Axford and Murphy transitioned to working as executive producers and actors on the Pop show Hot Date, which had begun as a web series for CollegeHumor.[4][5] From 2015 to 2019, Axford co-starred in both the College Humor and TruTV iterations of Adam Ruins Everything.[6]
Axford and Murphy have, in conjunction with Caldwell Tanner, hosted 8-Bit Book Club, a podcast in which they read and discussed video game novels.[7] Axford participates in a variety of tabletop role-playing game actual play shows. She is a player and occasional gamemaster in the HeadGum podcast Not Another D&D Podcast with Murphy, Tanner, and Jake Hurwitz.[8][9][10] Axford is a primary cast member of Dimension 20, an actual play anthology web series which premiered in 2018; it was created by CollegeHumor for the streaming service Dropout. She has starred as a variety of characters between the two shows' several campaigns, most of which utilize Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.[11][12][13] She is a featured member of Dimension 20's post-game show, Adventuring Party.[14]
Axford and Murphy co-wrote HEY, U UP? (For a Serious Relationship): How to Turn Your Booty Call into Your Emergency Contact, a satirical relationship advice book that was published in 2018.[15]
Axford joined Critical Role in 2023.[16]
Personal life
Axford is married to Brian K. Murphy, whom she met while working together at College Humor in the early 2010s. The couple has collaborated on several different projects, including satirizations of their own relationship. They currently reside in Los Angeles, California.[17]
