Matt Besser
Matthew Gregory "Matt" Besser (born September 22, 1967) is an American actor and comedian 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 1998-2000. He currently hosts the improvisation-based podcast Improv4humans on the Earwolf podcasting network.
Early life
Besser was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, to parents Diane and Sandy Besser. His father was Jewish and his mother was Christian, and Besser is an atheist. He is also half German and French on 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 a host at Dick's Last Resort.