Charlie Berens (born April 27, 1987) is an American journalist, comedian, and creator of "Manitowoc Minute". He has been featured on

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

, ''

Funny or Die Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a reg ...

'', TBS Digital, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', and

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

. His observational humor often focuses on the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

Early life

Berens grew up in the Wisconsin towns of Elm Grove and New Berlin, he graduated from

Marquette University High School Marquette University High School (MUHS) is a private, all-male, Jesuit, Roman Catholic school located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is accredited by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), an acc ...

and studied broadcast journalism at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

Career

Television journalism

Berens began his career working for the

show ''Choose or Lose''. He covered Wisconsin state politics and was arrested while covering protests at the

2008 Republican National Convention The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party's convention fell on Labor Day, the last day of the popul ...

. In 2012,

Tribune Media Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...

recruited Berens to host the comedic news show ''Nightcap''. While a reporter for

KDAF-TV KDAF (channel 33) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex with programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group (based in near ...

, Berens won his first

Regional Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

. In 2014

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

hired Berens to host the sports gameshow ''You're So Money'' and PMC made Berens the host of their comedy/entertainment news brand @Hollywood. Berens has been featured on ''

''. His comedic mashups, including "If Jack Dawson was Really from Wisconsin," have garnered more than thirteen million views. He authored the 2021 book ''The Midwest Survival Guide: How We Talk, Love, Work, Drink, and Eat...Everything with Ranch''.

''Manitowoc Minute''

In 2017, Berens created ''Manitowoc Minute'', a weekly comedic video series. The name refers to the Wisconsin city of Manitowoc. His "Oh My Gosh!" Tour, inspired by the series, sold out theaters across Wisconsin. Berens partnered with

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

brewery Ale Asylum to launch a beer inspired by ''Manitowoc Minute'' called ''Keep ‘Er Movin’''. The Manitowoc Minute features segments that include the "Craiglist Kicker", "Craigslist Missed Connections", Kwik Trip and Fleet Farm jokes and fun catch phrases like- "Keep'er Movin", "UFF DA", "Geez Louise", "Tell your folks I says hi", "Watch out for deer". He always ends the show with a salute to the WI troops, and most famously- "Go Packers and Fuck da Bears". Other On December 18th, 2022, Berens gave the keynote speech for the UW-Madison Winter commencement at the Kohl Center. During the speech, Berens talked about his experiences struggling as a young journalist after graduation while working-in pieces of his Wisconsin comedy routine. Every graduating student received a free copy of his book and he held a signing event at the University Book Store on State Street.

Personal life

Berens was married to TV host, actress, and former

Miss Wisconsin USA The Miss Wisconsin USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Wisconsin in the Miss USA pageant. Since 2007, the state pageant has been directed by Future Productions of Savage, Minnesota. Wisconsin is on ...

Alex Wehrley Alexandra Ann Wehrley (known professionally as Alex Wehrley; born July 29, 1987) is an American YouTuber, TV host, and former Miss Wisconsin USA. Wehrley is best known for co-hosting the 2015 Miss USA pageant. Early life In 2009, Wehrley gr ...

in 2015. They divorced in late 2020. He resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berens, Charlie 1987 births Living people American male journalists American comedians People from Wisconsin Comedians from Wisconsin Emmy Award winners