Matthew Gregory Besser (born September 22, 1967) is an American actor,
comedian, director, producer, and writer, best known as one of the
four founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy
troupe, who had their own show on Comedy Central from 1998â€"2000. He
currently hosts the improvisation-based podcast Improv4humans on the
Earwolf podcasting network.Besser was born and raised in Little Rock,
Arkansas, to parents Diane and Sandy Besser. His father was Jewish,
whereas his mother was Christian. Besser is an atheist. He is a
quarter German and a quarter French from his mother's side. Besser's
grandfather's cousin was Joe Besser of The Three Stooges.He was
recruited to play soccer after starting on his high school team, but
instead attended Amherst College with a major in American Studies.
There, he started doing stand-up comedy and competed in a contest at
UMass that was judged by Judd Apatow. After graduating, he briefly
moved to Denver in an attempt to pursue stand-up, but quickly moved to
Chicago. He worked various odd jobs, including stints as a substitute
teacher, a host at Carnegie Deli and as a host at Dick's Last
Resort.After seeing an improvisational comedy show at iO Theater
featuring Dave Koechner, Tim Meadows and Chris Farley, Besser began
taking classes there. His improv group Victim's Family (alongside Rick
Roman, Adam McKay, Miles Stroth, and Ian Roberts), later renamed The
Family (minus Roman, plus Neil Flynn, and Ali Farahnakian), was
directed by Del Close, the first long-form group Del focused on.
comedian, director, producer, and writer, best known as one of the
four founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy
troupe, who had their own show on Comedy Central from 1998â€"2000. He
currently hosts the improvisation-based podcast Improv4humans on the
Earwolf podcasting network.Besser was born and raised in Little Rock,
Arkansas, to parents Diane and Sandy Besser. His father was Jewish,
whereas his mother was Christian. Besser is an atheist. He is a
quarter German and a quarter French from his mother's side. Besser's
grandfather's cousin was Joe Besser of The Three Stooges.He was
recruited to play soccer after starting on his high school team, but
instead attended Amherst College with a major in American Studies.
There, he started doing stand-up comedy and competed in a contest at
UMass that was judged by Judd Apatow. After graduating, he briefly
moved to Denver in an attempt to pursue stand-up, but quickly moved to
Chicago. He worked various odd jobs, including stints as a substitute
teacher, a host at Carnegie Deli and as a host at Dick's Last
Resort.After seeing an improvisational comedy show at iO Theater
featuring Dave Koechner, Tim Meadows and Chris Farley, Besser began
taking classes there. His improv group Victim's Family (alongside Rick
Roman, Adam McKay, Miles Stroth, and Ian Roberts), later renamed The
Family (minus Roman, plus Neil Flynn, and Ali Farahnakian), was
directed by Del Close, the first long-form group Del focused on.
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