Stand-up comedian and creator Corey O’Brien and his longtime boyfriend, former NFL player Ryan “R.K.” Russell, are teaming up for their first professional collaboration with the short-form digital comedy series “The Parking Guy” set to premiere Sept. 3.
The scripted series stars O’Brien as Doug, a parking enforcement officer navigating awkward, absurd and unexpected interactions while working what the show describes as “the world’s most-hated profession.” Russell serves as creator and director, while O’Brien and Russell executive produce through Russell’s Red Velvet Productions.
Designed as a social-first, short-form episodic comedy, “The Parking Guy” will roll out digitally across TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
The premiere season will feature an ensemble of guest stars including Margaret Cho, Jessica Marie Garcia, Willam Belli, Zainab Johnson, Alexandra Shipp, Jerrie Johnson, Alexa Mansour, Dewayne Perkins, Courtney Parchman, Nico Santos, Alec Mapa, Nnamdi Ngwe, D.K. Uzoukwu, Cyrus Hobbi, Deitra Leak, Rachael Harris and Justen Ross, among others.
O’Brien, who’s been dating Russell since 2019, told TheWrap of the exclusive announcement that working together was a natural progression in their relationship as “each other’s biggest cheerleaders,” but they “wanted it to be on something that we were both genuinely excited about and equally invested in.”
“‘The Parking Guy’ became that thing for us,” O’Brien said. “Getting to actually be directed by R.K. has also made me see his talent in a completely different way. He knows my comedy so well, but he also knows when he can push me further or get something different out of me (even though at times I think I know best.)”
O’Brien has more than 2 million followers across social media and is known for his comedy and recreation videos, which have caught the attention of stars including Dua Lipa, Justin Timberlake and the Spice Girls. He previously worked as a professional dancer, performing alongside French Montana, Iggy Azalea and Ne-Yo and appearing on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
“I think there’s this misconception that a strong relationship means you should be able to do everything together all the time and if working together doesn’t click, somehow that says something about the relationship. Sometimes it’s just not the right project, the right moment, or the right version of yourselves yet,” Russell reflected of working with O’Brien for the first time. “Being public figures added another layer to that for us.
“After spending years in the NFL being visibly closeted, I felt pressure to counteract that by being visibly out, and sometimes that extended to feeling like our relationship needed to be loudly public too. Over time, we both became more comfortable letting our relationship be ours and letting our careers develop independently. Corey continued growing into this incredible, hilarious, well-rounded entertainer, and I found myself more naturally drawn behind the camera, writing, directing and building worlds. We had tried to collaborate in different ways before, but ‘The Parking Guy’ was the first time the idea, the timing and who we had both become creatively all lined up. At that point, working together felt less like something we were supposed to do and more like the obvious thing to do.”
O’Brien is next preparing to tape his first original comedy special Sept. 11 in Los Angeles with production company Super Nice Guys. The hourlong special grew out of O’Brien’s “Red Tour,” which took him into red states with an autobiographical show addressing addiction recovery, coming out to his conservative family and his relationship with Russell.
Russell, who became the first active NFL player to identify as bisexual in 2019, played defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has also written for The New York Times, The Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, Out Magazine and The Washington Post. His memoir, “The Yards Between Us,” is being developed as a television series with Sony and Gabrielle Union, with Russell attached to write and executive produce.
“I’ve really fallen in love with playing Doug,” O’Brien concluded of the “The Parking Guy.” “He’s over-the-top, unpredictable, completely unhinged and somehow thinks being a parking enforcement officer gives him an insane amount of power. There’s so much of his story that we haven’t even gotten into yet. R.K. and I are always talking about new ideas, new characters and different situations we want to put Doug in. We’ve already had so many incredible people be a part of the series, and there are so many more people we’d love to bring into this world … I can’t wait to see just how far we can take ‘The Parking Guy.’”
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