Jak Knight, the L.A.-based comedian who co-created and starred in Peacock’s Bust Down, has died at 28. His family confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter via an agency rep. No cause of death was shared. “Knight’s loved ones ask that their privacy please be respected during this extremely difficult time,†the rep said in a statement.
According to a Respect interview, Knight got his start in the industry when he was around 19 or 20 years old, working as a writer on the Lucas brothers’ animated series Lucas Bros. Moving Company. He would go on to write for shows like ABC’s black-ish and Netflix’s Big Mouth, where he also served as a producer and the voice actor for recurring character DeVon. Most recently, he starred alongside Chris Redd, Sam Jay, and Langston Kerman in the working-class sitcom Bust Down. Knight also collaborated with Jay as a performer and producer on her HBO variety-comedy-talk show Pause With Sam Jay. And he still has at least one project coming — he starred in Chelsea Peretti’s upcoming feature directorial debut, First Time Female Director, which recently wrapped production.
As a stand-up, Knight toured the world and opened for acts including Dave Chappelle, Joel McHale, Eric Andre, Moshe Kasher, and Aziz Ansari. His half-hour Netflix special aired in 2018 as part of The Comedy Lineup series. Vulture previously characterized Knight’s comedic voice as a “sly, cross-cutting energy, often beginning with familiar scenarios — often sex, especially sex — and then slicing past […] into territory that is weirder and more intense.†He was recognized by both Comedy Central and Time Out as a Comic to Watch, and in 2021, Vulture also named him an up-and-coming comedian to keep an eye on. “It’s easy to get swept away in what can feel like delightful chaos energy,†we wrote, “but Knight’s care as a writer is what makes it all work: just the right detail, just the right choice of word.â€