Robert Anderson Huebel (born June 4, 1969) is an American actor, comedian and writer best known for his
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and ...
work on the MTV series ''
Human Giant
''Human Giant'' is a sketch comedy show, starring writer/performers Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer, and directed primarily by Jason Woliner. The show ran for two seasons on MTV. In interviews, the group has mentioned that they were offe ...
'' and for his role of Dr. Owen Maestro on the
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
series ''
Childrens Hospital''. He also appeared as Russell on the
FX/
FXX
FXX is an American basic cable channel owned by the Walt Disney Television unit of The Walt Disney Company through FX Networks, LLC. It is the partner channel of FX, with its programming focusing on original and acquired comedy series and fe ...
series ''
The League
''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football leagu ...
'' and as Len Novak on the
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...
series ''
Transparent''. In December 2022,
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
called Huebel "the premier d-bag character actor of his generation".
Early life
Huebel was born in
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...
, the son of Louisa and Jared Huebel.
He attended
Annandale High School
Annandale High School is a public high school in Annandale, Virginia, United States. It is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools system.
The school's student body has been well-recognized for its high level of racial and cultural diversi ...
in
Annandale, Virginia, before attending
Clemson University, where he studied marketing in hopes of working in advertising.
He later moved to New York and began studying improv comedy at the
Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.
Career
Huebel first began improvising when he was 27 by taking classes at the
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre
The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shorter UCB Theatre) is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh.
Prior to ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
His early work was as a sketch actor on shows such as ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and ''
Upright Citizens Brigade
The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Adam McKa ...
''. He was nominated for an
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 ...
award for his work as a producer for
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...
's Bravo series ''
The Awful Truth''. He worked as a segment producer on ''
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''.
Huebel was a panelist on the
VH1 series ''
Best Week Ever
''Best Week Ever'' is an American comedy series created and executive produced by Fred Graver. The series originally aired from January 23, 2004, to June 12, 2009, on VH1.Harris, Scott"VH1 Cancels 'Best Week Ever'". ''Inside TV''. January 13, 20 ...
'', part of the
NetZero "Candidate Zero" campaign during the 2004 election. He also appeared on the
HBO television series ''
Curb Your Enthusiasm
''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televi ...
'' and Fox's ''
Arrested Development''.
The comedy partner of
Rob Riggle
Robert A. Riggle Jr. (born April 21, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and former United States Marine Officer. He is known for his work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2008; as a cast member on ''Sa ...
, the duo have worked with the
improvisational comedy troupe
Respecto Montalban and at the
Upright Citizens Brigade
The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Adam McKa ...
. Huebel and Riggle performed a comedy bit in the documentary ''
Super High Me''. Among their best known work at UCB was their long-running two-man show ''Kung-Fu Grip'', which was eventually showcased at the 2004 HBO Comedy Arts Festival. Huebel was in the movie ''
Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story'', as Sam Brown with Corddry, Scheer, and Riggle.
Huebel and fellow comedians
Aziz Ansari and
Paul Scheer
Paul Christian Scheer (born January 31, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, director, and podcaster.
Scheer is a SAG award-winning actor known for his roles in Showtime's comedy series '' Black Monday'' and FX/ FXX's ''The ...
are writers, actors, and executive producers in the
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
sketch comedy show ''
Human Giant
''Human Giant'' is a sketch comedy show, starring writer/performers Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer, and directed primarily by Jason Woliner. The show ran for two seasons on MTV. In interviews, the group has mentioned that they were offe ...
''. Some of Huebel's characters from the show include Samir from "The Shutterbugs" and T.C. Everwood from "Clell Tickle". He guest starred in the ''
30 Rock
''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', tak ...
'' episode "
MILF Island", and also as Holly's boyfriend A.J. in three episodes of ''
The Office
''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries.
The original ser ...
''. He played the role of Tevin in the 2009 comedy ''
I Love You, Man''. He also co-starred with
Rob Corddry in ''
Childrens Hospital''.
Huebel continues to regularly perform at the
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre
The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shorter UCB Theatre) is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh.
Prior to ...
in Los Angeles. He co-hosts the live sketch show "Crash Test" with
Paul Scheer
Paul Christian Scheer (born January 31, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, director, and podcaster.
Scheer is a SAG award-winning actor known for his roles in Showtime's comedy series '' Black Monday'' and FX/ FXX's ''The ...
twice a month, as well as hosting "The Shit Show", in which he gathers comedian friends and other well-known performers to present the worst scenes in films, television and commercials that they have ever done.
Huebel has written and starred in various filmed sketches for the
HBO sketch comedy program ''
Funny or Die Presents''. In November 2010, he performed stand-up on ''
The Benson Interruption
''The Benson Interruption'' is a stand-up comedy show on Comedy Central starring Doug Benson. The show was cancelled after one season.http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/doug-benson/Content?oid=2226877 The concept of the show was that three stand-u ...
'' on
Comedy Central.
Huebel appeared in the films ''
The Other Guys'' (2010), ''
Life as We Know It'', ''
Little Fockers'', ''
Despicable Me
''Despicable Me'' is a computer-animated media franchise centering on Gru (Despicable Me), Gru, a reformed super-villain (who later becomes a father, husband, and secret agent), and his yellow-colored Minions (Despicable Me), Minions. It is p ...
'', and ''
The Descendants''. In February 2011, he was cast as a lead in the
Fox sitcom pilot ''Family Album'' and in May he guest starred on
ABC's sitcom ''
Modern Family ''as Glen Whipple in the episode "
The One That Got Away". He also appeared in a recurring role on
Amazon Studios's ''
Transparent'', playing Len Novak.
Huebel appears frequently on the comedy podcast ''
Comedy Bang! Bang!'' along with starring in his own podcast series on the
Earwolf network, ''Mike Detective''. He later appeared in ''
Horrible Bosses 2'' (2014) and ''
Barely Lethal'' (2015).
Huebel has starred as "Inconsiderate Cell-Phone Man" in several PSAs of this title, which are shown in movie theaters to discourage patrons from making calls during the picture.
Personal life
Huebel is married to Holly Hannula. Their daughter, Holden, was born in 2016. She was born premature at 26 weeks and spent the first 117 days of her life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web series
References
External links
Official website*
Rob Huebelon Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huebel, Rob
1969 births
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American television producers
American television writers
American male television writers
Clemson University alumni
Living people
Male actors from Alexandria, Virginia
People from Columbia, South Carolina
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers
Screenwriters from Virginia
Screenwriters from South Carolina
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Annandale High School alumni