I was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. As a result, I am a HUGE Nebraska Cornhuskers fan ( Go Big Red!). I was born the youngest of six children and my nick-name growing up was “Goober” (my family still refers to me as such from time to time).

I attended St. Bernard’s Elementary School where I was suspended once in Junior High for saying “hit the damn ball” in gym class. I went to an all-boys high school in Omaha, Creighton Prep. I had a great time there and by my senior year had made some great friends and established myself as a pep-rally character called “Crazy Bob”.

After graduating, I went to Lawrence, Kansas to attend The University of Kansas where I majored in Broadcast News Journalism. After a semester in the dorms, I joined a fraternity. While pursuing my degree, I managed to run myself over with a car and get a concussion when a music speaker fell on my head.

In between my junior and senior year, I moved to Los Angeles for the summer and took a job in Beverly Hills at a Baby Gap store while working a couple of internships. I got the internships by posing as a summer student at UCLA and looking at their internship postings. I’m glad I was devious there because those L.A. internships helped land me my first paid job on TV.

As I was finishing up my degree at K.U., I was offered a paid internship/part-time job at WIBW, Channel 13, in Topeka, Kansas as an on-air reporter. After graduation, I left Topeka to take a full-time job as a reporter/anchor at KPLC-TV in Lake Charles, Louisiana. On the suggestion of my news director, I changed my name on air (for the first time) to Bob Alan and covered some big stories. To quench my creative urges, I did some community theater while there as well.

I met my future wife in Lake Charles and it was she who took us to our next reporting jobs at KSNW-TV in Wichita, Kansas. In Wichita, I went back to my real name on air and got more involved in investigative reporting. Some of my big stories while in Wichita involved a money-laundering minister and the criminal background check system of the Wichita School District.

After 3 years in Wichita, I was completely fed-up with TV news and I desperately wanted to get out. For years, I had a voice in my head saying, “try improv comedy” but, being brought up in the conservative Mid-West, I viewed comedy and acting as more of a hobby than a career choice. So I got the bright idea of applying to law school! I wanted to go to school in or near Chicago so I could pursue my studies but then also take improv comedy classes.

As fate would have it...around that same time, my TV news agent sent my resume tape to a news director on Long Island. I had never been to New York City before and was very excited coming in for an interview. I got offered a job that was too good to refuse and I moved to Long Island to continue my career in TV news - changing my name, once again, for air to “Bob Butler.” While at News 12 Long Island, I was promoted to weekend anchor and won some Emmys for my work as a reporter. However, the drive to try improv comedy was still strong.

Almost as soon as I arrived in New York, I called Second City in Chicago and asked for their recommendation on a Manhattan-based improv troupe that would offer classes similar to what they offer. They referred me to the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB). I signed up for classes and within a year was placed on a performance team called Neutrino.

On September 11, 2001, a friend of mine, Glen Pettit, died while shooting video for the NYPD. In the aftermath of that event, me and a photographer friend put together a video tribute for Glen. We interviewed several of his friends and family. Almost all of them said they took solace in losing Glen knowing that he was last seen doing what he loved to do: shooting video. I went home from those interviews, looked myself in the mirror and realized I was not doing what I loved to do. I hated my job as a TV reporter.

So 6 months later, in March of 2002, I quit my 10-year-career in TV news to pursue acting and comedy full-time. Fortunately for me, that move has paid off nicely with on-air credits on shows like Chappelle’s Show, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and several feature films. This website is, in large part, a celebration of my new career choice!

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