Matt Besser

Matt Besser
Matt Besser in June 2006
Born	Matthew Gregory Besser September 22, 1967 (1967-09-22) (age 44) Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, comedian, writer
Years active	1996–present
Spouse	Danielle Schneider[1]

Matthew Gregory "Matt" Besser (born September 22, 1967) is an American actor and comedian best known as one of the founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy troupe who also had their own show on Comedy Central from 1998-2000.

Life and career

Besser was born and raised Jewish in Little Rock, Arkansas.^[2] He is a founding member of Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) which started out as a Chicago sketch and improv comedy group in 1991, earning a cult following from the start. Original members included Ian Roberts, Ali Farahnakian, Adam McKay, Rick Roman, and Horatio Sanz. In 1996, the UCB relocated to New York City. In NYC, they made three seasons of their sketch-comedy series Upright Citizens Brigade on Comedy Central from 1998 to 2000. The cast consisted of Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. It originally included a voice-over by Del Close. Nearly 10 years since its cancellation, the show continues to maintain a large following and is often hailed as one of the great cult sketch shows. Comedy Central has released the first two seasons on DVD, it is not known when the third and final season will be released.

Since then, Besser and the UCB moved on to other projects and opened comedy theaters in New York City and Los Angeles. He was the creator and co-star of the Redman & Method Man MTV hidden camera prank show Stung. In 2004 created and starred in his second Comedy Central show, Crossballs which mocked news debate shows by pitting fake experts (played by Besser and other comedians) against real people.

Besser has appeared in films such as Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Martin & Orloff (written by UCB cohorts Roberts and Walsh), Year One, Undead or Alive, Drillbit Taylor, and Junebug, in addition to a number of sitcoms. In 2003 the UCB filmed their first full-length improvised movie, Wild Girls Gone. After several years of being unreleased, in early 2010 the long-awaited film was screened at several indie theaters in the Los Angeles area and is now sold for digital download on iTunes and on DVD at the official UCB Theater website. The troupe had also performed their signature brand of longform improv (ASSSSCAT) in a special for the Bravo channel in 2005. In 2008, they also released a DVD entitled ASSSSCAT!: Renegade Improv Comedy through Shout! Factory, which features an uncensored improv performance by the troupe and special guests, the DVD also includes deleted scenes and along with other bonus features.

In 2008, Besser played the part of "Courtney Frenchip", the hippie roommate of David Cross in David's Situation, a pilot made for HBO written by Cross and Bob Odenkirk. As Odenkirk explained on his web site, “It will follow a traditional sitcom feeling, but will also feel like a big sketch, even though the characters will remain the same each week.” The pilot was filmed live on May 9, 2008 but was not picked by HBO as a series.

Besser and the Upright Citizens Brigade continue to run comedy theaters on both coasts. The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater currently has two locations, in Chelsea, Manhattan and Los Angeles, California. Besser and the UCB currently perform several times a week at the Los Angeles theater, most notably in their long-running hit improv show ASSSSCAT 3000 every Sunday night.

Besser's Comedy Central pilot "This Show Will Get You High" aired as a sketch comedy special on October 27, 2010. The show featured video shorts and sketches from Besser and Upright Citizens Brigade Theater comedians John Gemberling, Brett Gelman, Paul Rust, and Betsy Sodaro.^[3]

Besser currently hosts the Earwolf Challenge, a reality-competition podcast hosted by Scott Aukerman's Earwolf podcasting network.

Besser's grandfather's cousin was Joe Besser of The Three Stooges.^[4] He is the cousin of Mott's CFO Christopher Palid.^[5]

References

1. ^ UCB Training Center featured in Los Angeles Magazine
2. ^ Edwards, Gavin. "The Merry Pranksters". Details Magazine. http://rulefortytwo.com/articles-essays/movies/upright-citizens-brigade/. Retrieved 8/22/11. 
3. ^ THIS SHOW WILL GET YOU HIGH on Comedy Central
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ [2]

External links

• Matt Besser at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Matt Besser Site
• The Official Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre Webpage
• The Official Upright Citizens Brigade Webpage
• The Official Upright Citizens Brigade Video Webpage
• Matt Besser on Myspace.com
• Salon article on Matt Besser's prank call CD
• Matt Besser in the Chicago Improviser Directory
• Audio Interview on The Sound of Young America: MP3 Link
• Audio Interview on Liberadio(!): MP3 Link
• March 2007 interview in The Coming

Persondata
Name	Besser, Matt
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 22, 1967
Place of birth	Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Date of death
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