Brian Posehn

Self-professed nerd and heavy metal addict Brian Posehn, who also works as a comedian, writer, and actor, developed a cult following through the HBO series Mr. Show. A longtime acquaintance of David Cross, Posehn had previously collaborated with him on the stage production Three Goofballs, the project that later transformed into Mr. Show itself. He contributed writing and on-screen appearances to the series, which opened the door to a recurring role on NBC’s Just Shoot Me as mailroom clerk Kevin Liotta, the fictional cousin of Ray Liotta. Voice work on the animated programs Mission Hill and 3 South followed, leading to regular appearances across Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block, including his voicing of the grumpy midget Gibbons on Tom Goes to the Mayor. In 2005 Posehn acted in Rob Zombie’s film The Devil’s Rejects and joined Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifianakis, and Maria Bamford on the Comedians of Comedy tour later documented by Comedy Central in a series of the same name.

Most observers assumed his first stand-up album would appear on Comedy Central’s label, yet the 2006 debut Live In: Nerd Rage surfaced instead on the edgy heavy metal imprint Relapse. That release mixed Posehn’s stand-up with recordings by his metal projects Posehn and Titannica, which drew collaborators from Anthrax, the Cult, Armored Saint, and Shadows Fall. His portrayal of Brian Spukowski on The Sarah Silverman Show consumed considerable time and pushed back the release of his second album, Fart and Wiener Jokes, until 2010. The 2013 effort The Fartist explored his new experiences as a father through tracks such as “Quitting Weed” and “Do Not Punch My Baby.” Posehn issued his fourth comedy album, Criminally Posehn, in September 2016; the same year he began a recurring role on the hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory as the amiably bummed-out geologist Bert Kibbler. In March 2017 he returned with the album 25 x 2 on the Comedy Dynamics label.