Matt Walsh (comedian)

For other people named Matt Walsh, see Matt Walsh (disambiguation).
Matt Walsh

Walsh at the New York PaleyFest 2014 for the TV show "Veep"
Born Matthew Paul Walsh
(1964-10-13) October 13, 1964
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation Actor, Comedian, Director, Writer
Years active 1996–present
Spouse(s) Morgan
Children 3

Matthew "Matt" Paul Walsh (born October 13, 1964) is an American comedian, director, and writer best known as a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade improvisational sketch comedy troupe and currently for co-starring as Mike McLintock on the HBO comedy series Veep. He also previously starred in short-lived comedy programs such as Dog Bites Man on Comedy Central and Players on Spike TV. He also starred in the 2014 disaster movie Into the Storm.

Early life

Walsh was born in Chicago, the fourth of seven children of Dick and Audrey Walsh. He graduated from Hinsdale South High School in 1982. While in high school he played on the football team as a backup tight end. He attended Northern Illinois University, where he graduated with a degree in Psychology, also spending a year studying abroad in Austria at Salzburg College.

Career

After college, his interest shifted to performing when he started taking improvisational comedy classes in Chicago, where he would become a regular performer at the Annoyance Theater and ImprovOlympic, where he studied under legendary improv teacher Del Close. In 1991, he met comedian Matt Besser, with whom he began performing stand-up comedy. Along with Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, and Ian Roberts, he is a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade improv comedy troupe and played "Trotter" in the troupe's sketch comedy series, which ran for three seasons on Comedy Central. Before the show, the UCB comedy foursome had already been doing improv shows at their theatre in New York, which used to be a burlesque house before they remodeled it to become a theatre. To date, they have founded four successful Upright Citizens Brigade comedy theaters located in New York at UCB Chelsea and The East Village UCB, and Los Angeles with UCB Franklin and UCB Sunset.

Besides his sketch work with the Upright Citizens Brigade, Walsh is also known for his memorable supporting roles in popular comedy films in recent years including Cyrus, Old School, The Hangover, Role Models, and Semi-Pro. Walsh also wrote and starred in the cult indie-comedy Martin & Orloff, which had a limited theatrical run in 2002 and 2003. In addition, he was also a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2001 to 2002, made regular appearances in comedy sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and MTV's Human Giant as well as starring in the Comedy Central mockumentry series Dog Bites Man in the summer of 2006. Except for The Hangover: Part II, Walsh has the distinction of appearing in every other Todd Phillips comedy film to date, most often playing characters aptly named "Walsh".

In 2010, Walsh created the improvised comedy series Players for Spike TV. Walsh (creator, writer, director and executive producer of the show) stars in the series alongside his Upright Citizens Brigade partner Ian Roberts, as two brothers who run a sports bar together. The show aired for one season, concluding on August 14, 2010.[1]

Walsh currently hosts the podcast "Bear Down" (beardownpodcast.com) with comedian Scot Armstrong (screenwriter of Old School) where they discuss their favorite football team The Chicago Bears and do sports-themed comedy bits such as fake call-ins and in-character interviews. The podcast has also featured appearances by comedians such as Horatio Sanz, Ian Roberts, Joseph Nunez, and Matt Price.

In 2010, Walsh had recurring roles on the NBC comedy series Outsourced and on the HBO comedy series Hung. In 2012, he began co-starring as Mike McLintock in the HBO series Veep. During that year, Walsh portrayed J. R. R. Tolkien in The Dead Authors Podcast.

Walsh's directed his first feature film High Road, an indie-comedy he co-wrote with Josh Weiner. The film was released on March 6, 2012. He is currently in post-production for his second directed film, A Better You, which he co-wrote with Brian Huskey, who stars in the film.

In the movie Into the Storm, Walsh stars as Pete Moore, who is the driver of the Tornado Intercept Vehicle nicknamed "Titus."

Personal life

Walsh lives in Valley Village, California, with his wife Morgan. They have three children, Jude, Emmet, and Celia, and a dog named Roger.

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes
1998 Talent Ted
1999 Fatty Drives the Bus Man in Baseball Uniform
2000 Road Trip Crime Scene Photographer
2002 Martin & Orloff Dr. Eric Orloff
2003 Pushing Tom Co-Worker
Old School Walsh
The Test Joe Short film
Death of a Dynasty Frat Boy No. 1
Elf Eye Witness
Brainwarp Captain Maniac Video
Bad Santa Herb
2004 The Sensual Lover of Bindalele Budo Short film
Starsky & Hutch Eddie
Christmas with the Kranks Neighbor #2
2006 School for Scoundrels Walsh
2007 Wild Girls Gone Sheriff Terry Moran
Dante's Inferno Fox Reporter Voice only
2008 Lower Learning Mr. Conroy
Be Kind Rewind Officer Julian
Drillbit Taylor Not for Pot Driver
Semi-Pro Father Pat
Step Brothers Drunk Corporate Guy
Role Models Davith of Glencracken
2009 Mystery Team Jim
I Love You, Man Impatient Golfer
The Hangover Dr. Valsh
2010 Cyrus Tim
Due Date TSA Agent
Queens of Country Cleveland Norvis
Cherry Prof. Van Auken
2011 Freak Dance Adolph Hitler, Jr.
2012 High Road Man Director, co-writer
Ted Thomas
2013 Movie 43 Amanda's Dad Segment "Middleschool Date"
Coffee Town Police officer
2014 Hits Dave
Into the Storm Pete
Sex Ed Washout
2015 Get Hard Bathroom Stall Man
2016 Wild Oats
The Darkness Gary Carter Post-production
Ghostbusters Rourke Post-production
Office Christmas Party Ezra Filming
2017 A Futile and Stupid Gesture Matty Simmons Filming

Television

Year TV Series Role
1996–2004 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Various Comedy Sketches
1998–2000 Upright Citizens Brigade Trotter/Various Characters
2001–2002 The Daily Show Correspondent
2003–2009 Reno 911! Ranger Glen/Various Characters
2006 Dog Bites Man Kevin Beeken
2007–2008 Human Giant Various Characters
2009 The League Mr. Freidman
2010 Players Bruce Fitzgerald
Party Down Larry Duckett
Nick Swardson's Pretend Time Various Characters
Community Joshua the Groundskeeper
Hung Matt Saline
2010–2011 Outsourced Jerry Stern
Childrens Hospital Various Characters
2011 Jon Benjamin Has a Van Various Characters
2012 Animal Practice Alan Waxman
MyMusic Mr. Indie
2012–present Veep Mike McLintock
2013 Happy Endings Duckie Blenkinship
Parks and Recreation Leonard Tchulm
Drunk History Various
The Aquabats! Super Show! Santa Claus
2013–2015 Comedy Bang! Bang! L. Jefe Maninchargo
2014–2015 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Detective Lohank
2015 Rick and Morty Sleepy Gary (voice)
Playing House Phil
2016 Animals. Grey Horse (voice)

References

  1. ↑ Spike TV greenlights 'Players'

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.