Paul Scheer

Born in 1976, Paul Scheer attended New York University, where he majored in Communications and Education. In 1998 he joined the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch and improv group in New York City. It was there that Scheer met many of the comedians he would collaborate with later in his career, including Rob Corddry, Matt Besser, and Matt Walsh. With this springboard, Scheer consistently found an outlet for his specific comic talent, whether in TV, film, or online. Scheer's first professional experience onscreen was in the "Upright Citizens Brigade" sketch show that aired on Comedy Central in 1998 and 1999. In 2004, Scheer appeared in "McEnroe," a short lived CNBC talk and sketch show hosted by the volatile former tennis star. "Crossballs," a satire of political debate shows like "Crossfire" (CNN, 1982-2005, 2013-14) and "Hardball" (MSNBC, 1997- ), with fellow UCB alum Matt Besser, followed on Comedy Central in 2005. UCB'ers Rob Heubel and Aziz Ansari teamed with Scheer on "Shutterbugs" (2005), a series of comic short films with Jason Woliner directing. In 2006, Variety named Scheer as one of their "Top 10 Comics to Watch." "Shutterbugs" proved to be a trial run for "Human Giant," a new sketch show out of UCB that featured Scheer, Heubel, and Ansari, again with Woliner behind the camera. In 2007, "Human Giant" became a sketch comedy show on MTV. The show remained on the air for two seasons, and was popular enough to be offered a third, but NBC wouldn't release Ansari from his commitment to "Parks & Recreation" (NBC, 2009-2015) (starring UCB alum Amy Poehler), and Scheer and Heubel had become so in demand that it became impossible to get the troupe together for another full season. For his part, Scheer moved on to a multi-episode role on "30 Rock" (NBC, 2006-2013), then on to a couple of ill-fated feature film projects. Scheer was cast in the Eddie Murphy film "Meet Dave" (2008), but when the time came to shoot his scenes, director Brian Robbins didn't think he was righ