Derek Matthew Waters (born July 30, 1979) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for his work on the television series '' Drunk History'' (2013–2019), which earned him eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
Early life
Waters was raised in
Lutherville, Maryland
Lutherville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 6,504. Prior to 2010 the area was part of the Lutherville-Timonium CDP. Within its borders lies the Lutherv ...
. Waters is dyslexic, and was in special education in school. As a child, he aspired to be a professional baseball player, but didn't make his high school team, and so became a
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization He attended Towson High School in
Towson, Maryland
Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincor ...
, graduating in 1998. The following year, he went to Second City in
Toronto, Canada
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
improv comedy
Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...
.
Career
After moving to Los Angeles, he worked at Tower Video, a job he liked since he had never been exposed to independent movies before. He has performed sketch comedy in Los Angeles since 2000, and for many years was part of the comedy duo Derek & Simon with Simon Helberg. The two starred together in the web series ''Derek & Simon: The Show'' on the comedy website
Super Deluxe
Super Deluxe was an entertainment company owned by Turner Broadcasting. The company's main output was in online video, television series, and documentaries.
History
Turner Broadcasting System announced the launch of Super Deluxe, a digital com ...
, which they created with comedian Bob Odenkirk. They made two short films "Derek & Simon: The Pity Card" (co-starring Zach Galifianakis and
Bill Hader
William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (201 ...
) and "Derek & Simon: A Bee and a Cigarette" (co-starring Casey Wilson and
Emily Rutherfurd
Emily Kernan Rutherfurd (born September 18, 1974) is an American actress. She played Christine "New Christine" Hunter in the CBS sitcom, ''The New Adventures of Old Christine'' (2006–10).
Personal life
Rutherfurd was born and raised in New Yo ...
) and had a pilot deal with HBO in 2005.
In 2003, he co-starred in the ABC series ''
Married to the Kellys
''Married to the Kellys'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 2003 to April 23, 2004 with a run of 22 episodes. Set in a Kansas suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, the series stars Breckin Meyer and Kiele Sanchez. The show was ...
''.
Waters has appeared on television programs such as ''
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 ...
'', ''
Funny or Die Presents
''Funny or Die Presents'' is a half-hour sketch comedy show that spawned from the comedy website Funny or Die, created by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. It premiered on HBO on February 19, 2010.
Creation
Funny or Die Presents was created in June ...
Nick Swardson's Pretend Time
''Nick Swardson's Pretend Time'' is a TV sketch comedy show created by and starring actor and comedian Nick Swardson. The show premiered on Tuesday, October 12, 2010, at 10 p.m. EST on Comedy Central and ran for two seasons, with the final firs ...
'', ''
Maron
Maron, also called Maroun or Maro ( syr, ܡܪܘܢ, '; ar, مارون; la, Maron; grc-gre, Μάρων), was a 4th-century Syrian Syriac Christian hermit monk in the Taurus Mountains whose followers, after his death, founded a religious Chris ...
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 ...
'', ''
The Sarah Silverman Program
''The Sarah Silverman Program'' is an American television sitcom, which ran from February 1, 2007, to April 15, 2010, on Comedy Central starring comedian and actress Sarah Silverman, who created the series with Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab. ''The Sa ...
'', ''
Santa Clarita Diet
''Santa Clarita Diet'' is an American horror-comedy streaming television series created by Victor Fresco for the streaming service Netflix, starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant. Fresco serves as the showrunner, and is an executive pr ...
'', and '' The Middle''. He has also appeared in films such as ''
The Brothers Solomon
''The Brothers Solomon'' is a 2007 American surrealist comedy film directed by Bob Odenkirk and written by Will Forte. It features Will Arnett and Forte as the titular brothers, who set out to find romantic partners so they can give their comatose ...
'', ''
Hall Pass
''Hall Pass'' is a 2011 American comedy film produced and directed by the Farrelly brothers and co-written by them along with Pete Jones, the writer/director of ''Stolen Summer''. It stars Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis.
Rick and Fred, two hus ...
weasel
Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender b ...
Dipster in the 2012
Shut Up! Cartoons
''Shut Up! Cartoons'' was an adult animation channel project created by the Smosh duo (Anthony Padilla, Ian Hecox) and Barry Blumberg that features various animated videos. Shut Up! Cartoons launched on April 30, 2012 with ''Do's and Don'ts'' a ...
series ''Weasel Town'', starring with
Jason Ritter
Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Kevin Girardi in the television series ''Joan of Arcadia'', Ethan Haas in '' The Class'', Sean Walker in the NBC series '' The Event'', ...
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 programmin ...
series '' Drunk History''. The show originally started as a series of shorts for
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 re ...
. The show has won multiple awards, such as the jury prize in short filmmaking at the Sundance Festival and was nominated for seventeen Primetime Emmy Awards, garnering Waters seven nominations.
Influences
Some of Waters's influences are
Mark Borchardt
Mark Borchardt (born August 20, 1966) is an American independent filmmaker. He is best known as the subject of the 1999 film ''American Movie'', which documented three years he spent writing, shooting and editing his horror short, ''Coven (1997 f ...
and
Christopher Guest
Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in ...