# Matt Besser
**Matt Besser** (Matthew Gregory Besser, born 1967 in [Little Rock, Arkansas](https://www.edgepedia.org/little-rock-arkansas)) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director and a founding member of the [Upright Citizens Brigade](https://www.edgepedia.org/upright-citizens-brigade), the improv group that later operated theaters and training centers in New York and Los Angeles.[1](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n2011066553.html) • [2](https://improv4humans.com/info/) He hosts the long-running podcast *improv4humans*, co-authored the UCB Comedy Improvisation Manual, and has created television series including *Crossballs* and *This Show Will Get You High*.[3](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/matthew-gregory-11919/) • [4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1967, Little Rock, Arkansas[1](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n2011066553.html) |
| Founding role | Founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade in Chicago in 1991[2](https://improv4humans.com/info/) |
| UCB Theatre | Moved to New York in 1996; by 2003 the theater produced more than 25 shows a week, and UCB later ran two theaters each in New York and Los Angeles[5](https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issue-archive/2009summer/amherstcreates/besser) • [2](https://improv4humans.com/info/) |
| Television | Created and starred in *Crossballs* (23 episodes on Comedy Central) and wrote and starred in *This Show Will Get You High*; co-created *The UCB Show* (Seeso, 2016)[5](https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issue-archive/2009summer/amherstcreates/besser) • [3](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/matthew-gregory-11919/) |
| Book | Co-author, *The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual* (2013)[3](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/matthew-gregory-11919/) |
| Podcast | Host of *improv4humans* on Earwolf since 2011[4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser) |
| Stand-up | Albums including *Besser Breaks the Record* (2016) and the special *Pot Humor* (Amazon Prime Video, 2019)[6](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/matt-besser-mn0003199211) • [4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser) |
## Early life and education
Besser was born in 1967 in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Sanford Michael Besser, an investment banker, and Diane Patricia Pettit Besser, a homemaker and volunteer in the Little Rock arts community.[3](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/matthew-gregory-11919/) The Encyclopedia of Arkansas notes that he is a first cousin twice removed of Three Stooges member [Joe Besser](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-besser), and that he draws on his background as the child of a Jewish father and a Presbyterian mother from a fundamentalist family in his comedy.[3](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/matthew-gregory-11919/)
**Amherst.** He graduated from [Amherst College](https://www.edgepedia.org/amherst-college) in 1989. His American studies thesis on shock humor in American society was rejected for honors, an experience he cites as pushing him toward comedy.[5](https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issue-archive/2009summer/amherstcreates/besser) After graduating he toured the Midwest doing stand-up while studying improvisation under [Del Close](https://www.edgepedia.org/del-close) at Chicago's ImprovOlympic theater.[2](https://improv4humans.com/info/)
## The Del Close lineage
Del Close, whom [John Belushi](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-belushi) called his biggest influence in comedy, taught at Chicago's ImprovOlympic, where Besser trained and where he met [Amy Poehler](https://www.edgepedia.org/amy-poehler).[7](https://www.vulture.com/2011/06/checking-in-with-the-cast-of-upright-citizens-brigade.html) Close's teaching runs through the method Besser later codified: the 2013 manual he co-authored draws directly on Close's teachings and emphasizes "the game of the scene" as the fundamental building block of long-form improvisation.[3](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/matthew-gregory-11919/) • [4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser)
## Founding the Upright Citizens Brigade
In Chicago in 1991, Besser was a founding member of the sketch group Upright Citizens Brigade, alongside Ian Roberts and [Matt Walsh](https://www.edgepedia.org/matt-walsh-comedian).[2](https://improv4humans.com/info/) • [5](https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issue-archive/2009summer/amherstcreates/besser) Amy Poehler was one of the three Chicago friends who moved with him to New York in 1996.[5](https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issue-archive/2009summer/amherstcreates/besser) The group's stage show *Saigon Suicide Squad* won Best Sketch at the 1996 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen.[2](https://improv4humans.com/info/)
**New York.** In 1996 the four moved to New York City to found the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, taking over a former strip club in Chelsea and staging the show they had begun in Chicago.[5](https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issue-archive/2009summer/amherstcreates/besser) Their Comedy Central sketch series *Upright Citizens Brigade* ran three seasons, from 1998 to 2000.[2](https://improv4humans.com/info/) In 2003 the theater moved to a larger space, doubling its seating capacity and producing more than 25 shows a week; UCB later opened a Hollywood theater and training centers in New York and Los Angeles, where Besser taught improv and sketch writing.[5](https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issue-archive/2009summer/amherstcreates/besser) At its height the organization operated two theaters each in New York and Los Angeles.[2](https://improv4humans.com/info/) The group's alumni include [Aubrey Plaza](https://www.edgepedia.org/aubrey-plaza) and [Donald Glover](https://www.edgepedia.org/donald-glover), and its Del Close Marathon comedy festival had been held annually for 21 years as of 2019.[8](https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/06/the-upright-citizens-brigades-improvised-friendship/592891/)
## The teaching system and the manual
The UCB offered improv classes alongside its theaters, and its method was written down in *The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual* (2013), which Besser co-authored. His official bio lists him as an author along with Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh,[2](https://improv4humans.com/info/) while the Improv Archive describes the manual as co-authored with Walsh, Roberts, and Poehler.[4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser) The book codified the troupe's approach to long-form improvisation and became the primary textbook for the UCB training centers and one of the most widely used improv instruction books in the country.[4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser)
## Stand-up and solo work
Besser's stand-up albums include *May I Help You Dumbass?*, *Woo Pig Sooie!*, *The 6 Most Important Sets in the History of Standup*, and *Besser Breaks the Record*, the last also filmed as a Seeso special; his special *Pot Humor* streams on Amazon Prime Video, released there in 2019.[2](https://improv4humans.com/info/) • [4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser) AllMusic lists *Besser Breaks the Record* as a 2016 release on Comedy Dynamics / New Wave Dynamics.[6](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/matt-besser-mn0003199211)
## Screen career
**Television creation.** A fondness for pranks informed two series Besser created: MTV's 2002 hidden-camera show *Stung* and [Comedy Central](https://www.edgepedia.org/comedy-central)'s 2004 debate-show spoof *Crossballs*, which ran 23 episodes and was canceled because of a controversial, never-aired episode about gun control.[3](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/matthew-gregory-11919/) • [5](https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issue-archive/2009summer/amherstcreates/besser) He wrote and starred in *This Show Will Get You High* (2010) on Comedy Central and created and starred in *The Very Funny Show* for TBS.com.[3](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/matthew-gregory-11919/) • [2](https://improv4humans.com/info/) He co-created *The UCB Show*, a comedy-variety series launched in 2016 on the Seeso platform.[3](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/matthew-gregory-11919/)
**Acting and directing.** His film and television acting credits include *Martin & Orloff*, *Junebug*, *Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story* (2007), *[Drillbit Taylor](https://www.edgepedia.org/drillbit-taylor)*, *Year One*, *Modern Family*, *New Girl*, *Key and Peele*, *How I Met Your Mother*, *Curb Your Enthusiasm*, *Drunk History*, and *Parks and Recreation*, where he played Crazy Ira.[7](https://www.vulture.com/2011/06/checking-in-with-the-cast-of-upright-citizens-brigade.html) • [4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser) His voice work includes *[WordGirl](https://www.edgepedia.org/wordgirl)*, *Rick and Morty*, *Bob's Burgers*, and *Close Enough*.[4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser) He wrote and co-directed the mockumentary *Freak Dance*.[3](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/matthew-gregory-11919/) • [4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser) • [7](https://www.vulture.com/2011/06/checking-in-with-the-cast-of-upright-citizens-brigade.html) He also executive-produced *Thank You, Del: The Story of the Del Close Marathon* (2016).[4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser)
**Asssscat.** The UCB's long-form show *Asssscat* reached television twice: a special premiered on Bravo in fall 2005, and another, filmed at the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles, premiered on Comedy Central in 2008.[2](https://improv4humans.com/info/)
## Podcasts and audio projects
Besser launched *improv4humans* on the Earwolf network in 2011, featuring fully improvised episodes with guest comedians; it has run for over a decade and is among the longest-running improv-focused audio programs.[4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser) KQED's review described the show as demonstrating improv at its best.[9](https://www.kqed.org/arts/10360552/ucb-co-founders-podcast-demonstrates-improv-at-its-best) With podcast partner Brett Morris he has produced audio projects including *Estates of Perfection*, *My Dead Wife, the Robot Car* (2022), and the punk rock musical *Stolen Idea* (2017).[2](https://improv4humans.com/info/) • [4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser)
## Personal life
Besser married the actress and comedian Danielle Schneider in 2008, and they had a daughter in 2013.[3](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/matthew-gregory-11919/)
## By the numbers
The scale of the enterprise Besser helped build is measurable. *Crossballs* ran 23 episodes on Comedy Central.[5](https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issue-archive/2009summer/amherstcreates/besser) After the 2003 move, the UCB Theatre produced more than 25 shows a week, and the organization eventually ran two theaters each in New York and Los Angeles.[5](https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issue-archive/2009summer/amherstcreates/besser) • [2](https://improv4humans.com/info/) The Del Close Marathon ran annually for 21 years as of 2019, and *improv4humans* has run for over a decade since its 2011 launch.[8](https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/06/the-upright-citizens-brigades-improvised-friendship/592891/) • [4](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser)
## Compared with the other founders
Poehler went from the UCB to *Saturday Night Live* and film stardom.[5](https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issue-archive/2009summer/amherstcreates/besser) [The Atlantic](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-atlantic) describes all four as having turned UCB into a large business with theaters and classes in New York and Los Angeles.[8](https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/06/the-upright-citizens-brigades-improvised-friendship/592891/)
## References
1. [Besser, Matt, 1967- , Library of Congress authority record](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n2011066553.html)
2. [Info, improv4humans (official site)](https://improv4humans.com/info/)
3. [Besser, Matthew Gregory (Matt), Encyclopedia of Arkansas](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/matthew-gregory-11919/)
4. [Matt Besser, The Improv Archive](https://improvarchive.org/people/matt-besser)
5. [Comedy and Acting by Matt Besser '89, Amherst Creates, Amherst College](https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issue-archive/2009summer/amherstcreates/besser)
6. [Matt Besser, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/matt-besser-mn0003199211)
7. [Checking In With the Cast of Upright Citizens Brigade, Vulture](https://www.vulture.com/2011/06/checking-in-with-the-cast-of-upright-citizens-brigade.html)
8. [The Upright Citizens Brigade's Improvised Friendship, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/06/the-upright-citizens-brigades-improvised-friendship/592891/)
9. [An Upright Citizen's Podcast Demonstrates Improv at its Best, KQED](https://www.kqed.org/arts/10360552/ucb-co-founders-podcast-demonstrates-improv-at-its-best)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Stand-up comedy and comedians › American stand-up comedians, contemporary › Stand-up comedians born 1960–1969*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license