Rob Riggle
Rob Riggle | |
---|---|
Born | Robert Allen Riggle, Jr.[1] |
Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian, U.S. Marine |
Years active | 1998–present |
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Allen "Rob" Riggle, Jr. (born April 21, 1970) is an American actor, comedian and United States Marine Corps officer. He is best known for his work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show from 2006–2008, as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2004–2005, and for his comedic roles in films such as The Hangover, The Other Guys, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, and Step Brothers.
Personal life
Riggle was born in Louisville, Kentucky and raised in Overland Park, Kansas,[2][3] where he attended Shawnee Mission South High School. He later graduated from the University of Kansas in 1992 with a B.A. in Theater and Film, and is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.[3] He went on to earn a Master of Public Administration degree from Webster University in 1997. Riggle currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Tiffany and their two children.
Military career
Riggle is currently a Lieutenant Colonel[4] in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and served in Liberia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. He is currently a public affairs officer with the New York City Public Affairs unit and is a recipient of the Combat Action Ribbon.[5] Riggle joined the Marines in 1990 after getting his pilot's license, intending to become a Naval Aviator, but left flight school in order to pursue his comedy career.[6] He has referred to his military experiences on The Daily Show, often when acting as the show's "Military Analyst", publicly stating he could kill any other member of the show.[7]
In August 2007, Riggle went to Iraq to report for The Daily Show as well as to entertain the troops under the purview of the United Service Organizations.[8]
Comedy career
Comedy partnership with Rob Huebel
He has a long-standing comedic partnership with comedian Rob Huebel with whom he frequently works with at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCBT) and in their former improvisational sketch comedy troupe Respecto Montalban. Perhaps the duo's best known creation was their long running two-man show Kung Fu Grip which they often performed at UCBT and other comedy venues for many years. The show was one of the featured acts in the 2004 HBO Comedy Arts Festival. Around this time they began appearing together in several of Comedy Central and VH1's talking head commentary programs such as Best Week Ever and A2Z. They also appeared in Bravo network's 100 Scariest Movie Moments special in 2004. These appearances got the duo their first mainstream exposure to television viewers. The two were instant fan favorites among regular viewers of the VH1 commentary programs. Riggle, Huebel and most of their fellow castmates from Respecto Montalban also performed regularly in comedic sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The duo's growing popularity landed them an audition on Saturday Night Live in the summer of 2004. They auditioned together, though only Riggle ended up making the cut. After spending one season on SNL from 2004–2005, Riggle soon joined Huebel and many of his other Respecto Montalban castmates in Los Angeles to work on new projects. Soonafter the two landed a holding deal at NBC in early 2006 to possibly develop a new half-hour comedy program for the network.
In September 2006, Riggle joining The Daily Show as a regular correspondent. Around the same time Huebel (along with Respecto Montalban member Paul Scheer and stand-up comic Aziz Ansari) started developing Human Giant, a sketch show for MTV. Riggle would often appear in the program's various sketches, as well as in the show's 24-hour live marathon which aired on MTV in May 2007. One of Riggle's most memorable guest appearances was as hired muscle, Ham-Bone, who appeared alongside Aziz Ansari in the season one sketch "Clell Tickle: Indie Marketing Guru". Riggle and Huebel can also be seen performing a sketch together on stage at the UCBT in Doug Benson's documentary Super High Me.
Saturday Night Live
A featured player during the 2004-2005 season, his first appearance as a cast member was on the show's thirtieth season premiere on October 2, 2004. He has portrayed Larry the Cable Guy, Howard Dean, Rick Sanchez, Mark McGwire, and Toby Keith, and had a one-shot character named Leviticus, a loud, violent street preacher who only appeared on a Weekend Update segment on the Christmas episode hosted by Robert DeNiro (another sketch featuring Leviticus was scheduled to air on the episode hosted by Hilary Swank, but that sketch was cut after dress rehearsal).
Prior to being hired as a cast member, Riggle also appeared in a non-speaking role in the previous season (season 29) in a pre-taped parody of Fear Factor. Riggle played the father of one of the child contestants during the "Breakfast in Bed" challenge in which a child must eat the maggots off a plate of Eggs Benedict or his parents will divorce.
The Daily Show
In September 2006, he joined the cast of The Daily Show to replace the departing Rob Corddry. Riggle made his debut on The Daily Show on September 20, 2006.
During the 2008 Olympics, Riggle traveled to China to tape sketches for The Daily Show, producing a four-part special feature titled "Rob Riggle: Chasing the Dragon."[9]
Riggle left The Daily Show on December 10, 2008, in his words "to go fight crime"; however, he appeared at Bonnaroo 2009 - along with John Oliver and Rory Albanese, one of the show's executive producers - in a show entitled An Evening (or Afternoon) with the Daily Show featuring John Oliver, Rob Riggle & Rory Albanese.
On August 3, 2010, Riggle made a surprise cameo on The Daily Show during an interview with Will Ferrell.[10] While Ferrell and Stewart began discussing Riggle's "lack of talent" and making other disparaging remarks about him, Riggle suddenly walked onto the set to surprise them and asks if they were talking about him. Riggle's intimidating presence appears to make Ferrell and Stewart visibly afraid, continuing the running-joke that Stewart is very afraid of Riggle.
Stand-up comedy
Previously, Riggle's live comedy work was mostly improvisational and sketch based, but beginning in 2006 he wanted to try something different and decided to work on creating a stand-up comedy act. After working on his act around various comedy clubs throughout New York City, he later began touring colleges and other local comedy clubs, often performing in stand-up shows with John Oliver and other writers from The Daily Show. Riggle credits John Oliver for first encouraging him to try stand-up while they shared an office together at The Daily Show.[11]
Riggle hosted an episode of Comedy Central's stand-up series Live at Gotham on December 4, 2009. He also taped a Comedy Central Presents special that aired on March 5, 2010.
Other work
Riggle played the character of Eddie Reynolds in Blackballed, a 2004 film starring Rob Corddry as the lead character, and featuring almost all of the Respecto Montalban group. Later that year Riggle was one of the "Flab Four" on the Comedy Central mini-series Straight Plan for the Gay Man, a parody of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy that ran for three episodes.
In 2006, Riggle guest-starred as a boat captain named Captain Jack on the "Booze Cruise" episode of The Office, and as an anti-euthanasia activist on Arrested Development. He was also seen as a NASCAR announcer in Talladega Nights with Will Ferrell.
In late 2007, Riggle began appearing as a spokesman in a series of Budweiser commercials. The year 2008 saw Riggle sign a talent holding contract with CBS and CBS Paramount Network TV, which includes a development deal to create and star in a half-hour comedy series.[12] In addition he gained a supporting role in Step Brothers, in which he plays a rude co-worker of Brennan (Will Ferrell). He had memorable supporting roles in the 2009 films The Hangover and The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard. Riggle also has supporting roles in the 2010 comedies Going the Distance, Killers and The Other Guys.
In 2009, Riggle started a recurring role on the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried. Riggle played the role of Mitch, Jay Mohr's brother from the Marines.
In 2010, Riggle and comedian Paul Scheer wrote and starred together in a series of sketches called "Designated Driver" for the first season of the HBO sketch comedy program Funny or Die Presents. Riggle, Scheer and Rob Huebel wrote and starred in a new series of sketches called "Death Hunt", which appeared on the show's second season in 2011.
For the 2010-2011 NFL football season, Riggle recorded a Monday Night Football introduction and several short comedy bits for the Kansas City Chiefs to be played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
Riggle is currently attached to play the lead in "Home Game", a 2011 CBS sitcom pilot produced by Mark Wahlberg.
Riggle is also seen in stadium monitors at Qwest Field during Seahawks games encouraging fans to cheer.
Riggle will co-star with Paul Scheer and June Diane Raphael in the upcoming Adult Swim series NTSF:SD:SUV, coming in summer 2011.
Filmography
Filmography
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
2003 | Pushing Tom | Bob |
2004 | Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story | Eddie Reynolds |
2004 | Terrorists | Badger |
2006 | Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby | Jack Telmont |
2006 | Unaccompanied Minors | Head Guard Hoffman |
2007 | Super High Me | Himself |
2007 | Wild Girls Gone | |
2008 | Step Brothers | Randy |
2009 | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard | Peter Selleck |
2009 | The Hangover | Officer Franklin |
2009 | May the Best Man Win | John Freeman |
2010 | Furry Vengeance | Riggs |
2010 | Going the Distance | Ron |
2010 | Killers | Henry |
2010 | The Other Guys | Martin |
2011 | High Road | James Malone Sr. |
2011 | Larry Crowne | Jack Strang |
2012 | Everybody Loves Whales | Dean Glowacki |
2012 | 21 Jump Street | Mr. Walters |
2012 | The Lorax | O'Hare |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1998–2004 | Late Night with Conan O'Brien | Various Characters | Several episodes |
1998–2000 | Upright Citizens Brigade | Various Characters | Five episodes |
2004 | Straight Plan for the Gay Man | Rob: Culture Guy | Three episodes |
2004 | Chappelle's Show | Debt Consolidation Pop-Up | Single episode |
2004–2005 | Saturday Night Live | Cast Member | 20 episodes |
2005–2006 | Love, Inc. | Major Curtis | Two episodes |
2006–2008 | The Daily Show | Correspondent | Several episodes |
2006 | The Office | Captain Jack | Single episode |
2006 | Arrested Development | Congressman John Van Huesen | Single episode |
2006–2007 | Campus Ladies | Glen | Two episodes |
2007 | Family Values | Theo Gladdings | Sitcom Pilot |
2007–2008 | Human Giant | Various Characters | Several episodes |
2007–2008 | Bronx World Travelers | Coach | Two episodes |
2009–2010 | Gary Unmarried | Mitch | Seven episodes |
2009–2010 | American Dad! | Various Voices | Four episodes |
2010 | Chuck | Jim Rye | Single episode |
2010 | The Cleveland Show | Chet Butler | Single episode |
2010 | Comedy Central Presents | Himself | Single episode |
2010 | Glenn Martin DDS | Duke | Single episode |
2010 | Team Spitz | Jeff Spitz | CBS Sitcom Pilot |
2010–2011 | Funny or Die Presents | Various Characters | Several episodes |
2011 | 30 Rock | Reggie | Single episode |
2011 | Home Game | Joe Allen | CBS Sitcom Pilot |
2011 | NTSF:SD:SUV | President of the Navy | Upcoming Adult Swim series |
References
- ^ According to the State of Kentucky. Kentucky Birth Index, 1911-1999. Searchable at http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/12252
- ^ "Kansans of the Year: Rob Riggle". Topeka Capital-Journal. 2008-12-28. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ a b Stangler, McKay (2007-03-05). "Sh*ts and Riggles". lawrence.com. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ "Military Gig Is No Joke For 'Daily Show' Funnyman". NPR. 2009-05-24. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ Roth Talent Associates: Rob Riggle
- ^ "Portrait & Profile: LtCol Rob Riggle". Portrait and Profile. Marines Magazine. December 14, 2009. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
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(help) - ^ "Bush's New Plan". The Daily Show. 2007-01-11. Comedy Central. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
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suggested) (help) - ^ ""OPERATION SILENT THUNDER: 'THE DAILY SHOW' IN IRAQ": NIGHTLY REPORTS FILED FROM IRAQ FROM SENIOR WAR CORRESPONDENT ROB RIGGLE AIRING THE WEEK OF AUGUST 20 AT 11:00 P.M. ET/PT" (Press release). Comedy Central. 2007-08-17. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ Bauder, David (2008-08-10). "Rob Riggle's off the hook in China". AP.
- ^ August 3, 2010 - Daily Show: Will Ferrell
- ^ Rob Riggle and his new beard guest-star on Monday’s ‘Chuck’ episode
- ^ Schneider, Michael (2008-10-19). "'Daily Show's' Riggle moves to CBS". Variety. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
External links
- 1970 births
- Living people
- Actors from Kansas
- Actors from Kentucky
- American comedians
- American film actors
- American military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
- American stand-up comedians
- American television actors
- American television writers
- American voice actors
- People from Louisville, Kentucky
- People from Overland Park, Kansas
- University of Kansas alumni
- United States Marine Corps officers
- United States Marine Corps reservists