William Michael "Bil" Dwyer (born March 30, 1962) is an American

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

host, actor, and writer. He is perhaps most well known as the host or play-by-play announcer on series such as ''

BattleBots ''BattleBots'' (logo: Bꓭ)In season 10, the 2020-2021 TV season, the show introduced the "Bꓭ" logo is an American robot combat television series. The show was an adaptation of the British show '' Robot Wars'', in which competitors design and o ...

,'' ''

I've Got a Secret ''I've Got a Secret'' is an American panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show, ''What's My Line ...

'', and ''

Extreme Dodgeball ''Extreme Dodgeball'' is an American game show based on the game of dodgeball that aired between 2004 and 2005 on the Game Show Network. The series ran for three seasons, each of which featured six to eight teams of five to seven players. The f ...

'', as well as several iterations of VH1's '' I Love the '70s'', '' I Love the '80s'', and '' I Love the '90s'', and a 2006 appearance on ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

''. His debut comedy album, ''Am I Yelling?'', was released in September 2020 by comedy label

Stand Up! Records Stand Up! Records is an American independent comedy record label founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Grammy-winning producer Dan Schlissel. It has been called "the country's most respected indie comedy label." Stand Up! has released more than 20 ...

Personal life

Dwyer was born in

Evergreen Park, Illinois Evergreen Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. In 2020, the population was 19,943. History As early as 1828, a German farming family had settled in the area of what is now Evergreen Park. In the succeeding decades, other Ge ...

, the youngest of five children in an Irish Catholic family. He graduated from

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 s ...

in 1984 with a degree in radio and television. Before landing on comedy as a career Dwyer worked as a DJ, a salesman, and a tour guide at Universal Studios. Dwyer has been married since 1993 and has four children. He lives in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

. Dwyer spells his first name with only one L, once explaining to the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

that "the second is superfluous."

Career

Stand-up comedy

Dwyer began performing stand-up while in college in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and later moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. His comedy tends to focus on domestic topics like marriage, family and children. Tahoe Daily Tribune writer

Howie Nave Howie Nave, also known as Howard Nave, is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian, radio personality, writer, and movie critic based in the resort town of Lake tahoe, Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He was recently known for incorporating music, especi ...

described his style as "somewhat sarcastic," but added that "you can see his Midwestern sweetness emerge." In 2001, he recorded a half-hour special for ''

Comedy Central Presents ''Comedy Central Presents'' is an American stand-up comedy television series created for Comedy Central. It is the network's main half-hour program which highlights either one or a series of stand-up comedians each episode. In 2011, the series e ...

''. In 2006, he was a contestant on the fourth season of ''Last Comic Standing'', but was eliminated in the second regular episode, finishing 10th in the competition. He has also performed on ''

Comedy Bang Bang ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' (formerly ''Comedy Death-Ray Radio'') is a weekly comedy audio podcast, which originally began airing as a radio show on May 1, 2009.A Special Thing Forums:Comedy Death-Ray Radio starts today! Popularly known as ''Humani ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'' and ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn ''The Late Late Show'' is an American late-night television talk and variety comedy show on CBS. It first aired in January 1995, with host Tom Snyder, who was followed by Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson, and current host James Corden. The show o ...

''.

Game shows

Dwyer hosted five seasons of the

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

show ''

'' from 2000 to 2002. He was the play-by-play announcer for the

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along with new, first-run original and revive ...

's ''Extreme Dodgeball'' in 2004, and in 2006, he hosted a remake of the panel show ''

'' whose twist was that all the featured panelists were gay. The series ran for 40 episodes and was canceled after one season, but the ''

Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' praised Dwyer's performance as host, calling him "affable and fast with a quip." Other shows Dwyer has hosted include ''Dirty Rotten Cheater'' for PAX/Ion Television in 2003, the FSN sports-trivia show ''Ultimate Fan League'', as well as a YouTube series about golf, ''The Range with Bil Dwyer''. He hosted the 2005 series ''

MTV's The 70s House ''MTV's The 70s House'' is an American reality television show created by Aaron Matthew Lee. The show premiered on MTV on July 5 and ended on September 6, 2005. The show featured twelve contestants participating in a 24/7 simulation of the 1970s. ...

'' in character as the intentionally cheesy "Bert Van Styles."

Acting

Dwyer appeared on the 2007

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

live-action/animation hybrid series ''

Out of Jimmy's Head ''Out of Jimmy's Head'' (abbreviated as ''OOJH'') is an American teen sitcom. It was advertised as the first Cartoon Network original series in its genre, and is based on the network's 2006 film ''Re-Animated''. The series was produced by Cartoon ...

'' in a dual role as the main character's father and his school guidance counselor. He had a recurring role on the sitcom ''

Hot in Cleveland ''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American television sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White. The series, which was TV Land's first original series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's highe ...

'' as

Valerie Bertinelli Valerie Anne Bertinelli (born April 23, 1960) is an American actress. She first achieved recognition as a child actress, portraying Barbara Cooper Royer on the sitcom ''One Day at a Time (1975 TV series), One Day at a Time'' (1975–1984) for w ...

's ex-husband. Dwyer played the lead role of Leon, a washed-up champion

ping-pong Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player, in the 2010 dark-comedy web series ''Kill Spin''. The series ran for 10 episodes on the social-media website

Lockerz Lockerz.com was an international social commerce website based in Seattle, Washington. In July 2011, the site claimed to have 19 million members in 195 different countries. Lockerz operated primarily on the basis of accumulating and spending Lo ...

. He has also been a guest star on a number of other sitcoms and TV shows, including ''

Space Force A space force is a military branch of a nation's armed forces that conducts military operations in outer space and space warfare. The world's first space force was the Russian Space Forces, established in 1992 as an independent military service. ...

'', '' The Middle'', '' Lopez'', ''

Parks and Recreation ''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 ...

'', ''

House of Lies ''House of Lies'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Matthew Carnahan. The show, which premiered on Showtime on January 8, 2012, is based on the book ''House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell ...

'', ''

Childrens Hospital ''Childrens Hospital'' (originally titled ''Children's Hospital'' as webisodes) is an American black comedy television show, television series and web series that parodies the medical drama genre, created by and starring actor/comedian Rob Cord ...

'', ''

Suburgatory ''Suburgatory'' is an American television sitcom created by Emily Kapnek that aired on ABC from September 28, 2011, to May 14, 2014. The series originally aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30/7:30 Central following '' The Middle''. The title is a ...

'', ''

The Larry Sanders Show ''The Larry Sanders Show'' is an American television sitcom set in the office and studio of a fictional late-night talk show. The series was created by Garry Shandling and Dennis Klein and aired from August 15, 1992, to May 31, 1998, on the HBO ...

'', '' Ally McBeal'', and ''

iCarly ''iCarly'' is an American teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider, which originally aired on Nickelodeon from September 8, 2007, to November 23, 2012. The series tells the story of Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove), a teenager who creates and hosts ...

''. Dwyer's film credits include '' Ski School 2,'' '' The Bogus Witch Project'' and ''

What Planet Are You From? ''What Planet Are You From?'' is a 2000 American science fiction comedy film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Michael Leeson, Garry Shandling, Ed Solomon, and Peter Tolan based on a story by Leeson and Shandling. The film stars Shandlin ...

'' Dwyer also starred in a series of

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

commercials about the "Tiny Football League" which ran during NBC's '' Sunday Night Football''.

Discography

*''Am I Yelling?'' (

, 2020)

Selected podcast appearances

'' Probably Science'', Episode 364: Bil Dwyer (December 6, 2019)

Never Not Funny ''Never Not Funny'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian Jimmy Pardo, since spring 2006, currently releasing two episodes a week. He and producer/co-host Matt Belknap have appeared in every episode. Comedian Mike Schmidt appeared as co-host f ...

'' with Jimmy Pardo, multiple appearances

''The Tom Barnard Podcast'', Bil Dwyer and Gold Country (September 4, 2012)

'' Probably Science'', Episode 26: Bil Dwyer (June 25, 2012)

''The Dork Forest with Jackie Kashian'', Rob Delaney and Bil Dwyer (December 15, 2009)

References

External links

Bil Dwyer at Stand Up! Records website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dwyer, Bil Living people 1962 births American male comedians American game show hosts People from Evergreen Park, Illinois People from Glendale, California Southern Illinois University alumni Comedians from Illinois 21st-century American comedians Stand Up! Records artists