Since Variety named him one of its “10 Comics to Watch” in 2010, Brett Gelman has shown film, TV, web and live audiences how he “commits hard to the weirdness” of every role with a signature intensity and fearlessness that continues to earn praise from critics and peers alike.
A member of the Upright Citizens Brigade, Gelman recently parlayed his comedy chops into a regular role, as the rather irregular “Mr. K,” opposite Matthew Perry on NBC’s Go On. He was recently seen on the CBS sitcom Bad Teacher and as writer/performer/ ringleader of the Adult Swim special Dinner with Friends with Brett Gelman & Friends.
On the big screen Gelman will be seen this year in several independent comedies, including Awful Nice and Flock of Dudes. Augmenting his own experience behind the scenes, the Gelman-produced short film Gregory Go Boom, about a paraplegic man who leaves home to be on his own, recently won the Short Film Jury Award for U.S. Fiction at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
A native of Highland Park, Illinois, Gelman earned a drama degree from University of North Carolina School of the Arts before heading east to pursue a career on Broadway. While in New York he discovered the Upright Citizens Brigade and spent eight years developing his comedic oeuvre, landing a viral hit as half of the rap duo Cracked Out and eventually grabbing the attention of Funny or Die, and the website’s co-founder Will Ferrell, with his performance art parody One Thousand Cats.
Migrating to L.A. in 2008, Gelman has since been in high demand. He recently starred opposite Chris Elliott on three seasons of the Adult Swim live-action cop parody Eagleheart and has appeared on a breadth of other TV series including those for HBO (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Bored to Death, Funny or Die Presents), NBC (The Office), MTV (The Inbetweeners) and FX (The League), among other broadcast and cable networks. His diverse work in feature film has included roles in the 2013 biography Jobs, the recent indie comedy Someone Marry Barry, the comedy romance Watching the Detectives, and the Columbia-distributed comedies The Other Guys and 30 Minutes or Less.
A staple in the sphere of digital entertainment, Gelman regularly contributes his writing and performing skills to Funny or Die, making celebrities uncomfortable as host of his series Mr. Celebrity, among other pieces. Gelman also makes frequent appearances on the Comedy Bang Bang podcast as well as his own, Gelmania.
