The best actors and comedians who came through UCB

Amy Poehler is one of the greatest comedic talents of her generation, best known as the enthusiastic Leslie Knope on the long-running "Parks and Recreation." But in reality, Poehler is even more of a go-getter than Knope — doing anything worth doing in comedy. She spent seven years on "Saturday Night Live," hosted the Golden Globes to great acclaim, produced "Broad City" and "Difficult People" and even wrote a best-selling book titled "Yes Please," in which she frames life advice through the lens of improv principles. 

Another product of the UCB system with talent to burn, Donald Glover has gone from making sketches with Derrick Comedy at NYU and playing the awkward Troy Barnes on "Community" to being Lando freaking Calrissian. Along the way, he's revolutionized television with "Atlanta," where he won Emmys for acting and directing, and delivered the most thought-provoking video of the year with "This Is America" as Childish Gambino. Oh, and he also does standup and writes his own show, and he'll probably be president someday.

The birthday boy himself parlayed his UCB experience into a starring role on the Geico-themed sitcom, "Cavemen." It only lasted seven episodes, but it opened the door for Kroll to join two different wildly successful comedies: the character showcase "Kroll Show," where he played everyone from Bobby Bottle Service to a rich dick Aspen, and the heavily-improvised "The League," where Kroll played vile fantasy football antihero Rodney Ruxin. He also spun a "Kroll Show" character into a Broadway show, "Oh Hello," with his longtime collaborator John Mulaney. Last year, he even crossed over into kids movies, with the role he was born to play: Professor Poopypants.

The "Steve Martin of Improv," Matt Walsh was an original member of UCB and one of the four cast members from the original "Upright Citizens Brigade" show on Comedy Central. He's been in tons of movies, including many in the Todd Phillips canon (where he usually plays "Walsh"). Still, his definitive role is the beleaguered, always-broke Mike McClintock on HBO's "Veep," which has earned him two Emmy nominations. And last year Walsh achieved every actor's dream by appearing in "NBA 2K17."

Ed Helms went from "Daily Show" correspondent to playing a rage-aholic a capella obsessive on "The Office," but he was blasted into stardom with "The Hangover." Helms was so devoted to the film, featuring a great deal of improvisation by the actors and a song by Helms, that he willingly sacrificed a tooth to the effort. This month, you can see him running around with Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner in the film "Tag."

Aubrey Plaza was performing sketches and improvising at the UCB Theatre when she had a career-changing week of auditions. Over the course of seven days, she was cast in "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World," Judd Apatow's "Funny People," and "Parks and Recreation." She played April Ludgate for seven years on "Parks" and, over the course of the run, played the lead in "The To Do List." She later appeared opposite noted improv great Robert De Niro in "Dirty Grandpa" as his equally filthy paramour. 

"Dope Queen" Jessica Williams started her performing career at UCB in Los Angeles before moving to New York and becoming the youngest "Daily Show" correspondent ever at age 23. Now at the ripe old age of 28, Williams has starred in a Netflix movie, "The Incredible Jessica James," has her own HBO show with Phoebe Robinson called "2 Dope Queens," and will prove she doesn't always play Muggles in the upcoming sequel to "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them."

Horatio Sanz was a founding member of UCB, way back in the Chicago days, and still performs at the Theatres to this day. He joined "SNL" in 1998 and remained for eight years — playing a variety of characters, subbing on the Weekend Update to cover maternity leaves and periodically cracking up with Jimmy Fallon. After leaving the show, Sanz lost over 100 pounds, wrote on "Nick Swardson's Pretend Time," and currently nurtures a new generation of comedians with Mas Mejor Broadway Video digital studio for emerging Latino talents.

Kay Cannon got her start at Second City in Chicago, but once she began her award-winning run writing for "30 Rock," she performed at UCB in New York nearly every Saturday night as part of the long-form improv show "Let's Have A Ball." Subsequently, she co-produced "New Girl" and created the Netflix show "Girlboss," but her biggest hit was her screenplay for the a capella sensation, "Pitch Perfect," for which she also wrote the two sequels. This year she moved into the director's chair with "Blockers," which turned out to be a big hit at the box office and, despite the R rating, a surprisingly sweet feminist sex comedy.

Kemper's comedy career seems as "Unbreakable" as her character, Kimmy Schmidt. She first got attention with a one-woman show at UCB NY called "Feeling Sad/Mad," which led to roles in some memorable (and NSFW) Derrick Comedy videos, and then a five-season role as receptionist Erin Hannon on "The Office." She went on to star in blockbusters like "Bridesmaids" and "21 Jump Street" before landing the lead role in "Kimmy Schmidt," which has yielded two Best Actress Emmy nominations — so far!

Adam McKay was a founding member of UCB in Chicago and has gone on to be one of the most influential, prolific voices in comedy ever since. He reached NYC ahead of the rest of the group, having been hired by "Saturday Night Live," where he served as head writer for two years. He co-founded "Funny Or Die" with Will Ferrell and directed his two-year-old daughter Pearl in one of the site's earliest viral hits. His filmography is truly staggering, writing and directing movies like "Anchorman," "Stepbrothers" and "The Other Guys," in which he played the pivotal role of "Dirty Mike." McKay stepped away from straight comedy in 2015 with "The Big Short" and won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Maybe that's why he still hasn't announced future collaborations with Pearl.

Bobby Moynihan was on countless UCB teams as he was coming up and performed with Horatio Sanz's "Kings Of Improv" tour. He also wrote for the UCB-affiliated sketch show "Human Giant" and was a regular on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" before being cast on "SNL." He spent nine seasons on the show, playing memorable characters like Drunk Uncle, the Second-Hand News Guy on Weekend Update, and of course, "Ass Dave" — along with his identical twin brother, "Butt Dave." 

Jason Mantzoukas began performing at UCB in New York way back in 1998 and still regularly teaches and performs — including a weekly show called "Soundtrack" where performers improvise a whole show based on one audience's iPod playlist. His wild looks and manic energy have made him an unforgettable part of countless shows and movies, especially "The League," which also employed him as a writer. You've seen him everywhere but particularly in his recurring roles on "Enlightened," "Kroll Show," and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." And he doesn't just improvise. Mantzoukas also co-wrote the screenplay for "Ride Along." He's also been cast in "John Wick 3," a movie in which his character will undoubtedly be murdered.

Zach Woods as been a UCB improviser since before he could vote. By 16, the lanky Woods was taking classes and performing in a sketch group with Bobby Moynihan. Although, he was probably already six feet tall by then. There's something about his appearance and demeanor that suggests "haunted past," as with his roles on "The Office" and "Silicon Valley." But he's also proved he can handle Armando Iannucci's snappy dialogue with his roles in "In The Loop" and "Veep." Plus he's known as one of the best improv teachers UCB has to offer. Despite most of his characters' dark pasts, Woods has a very bright future.

Nicole Byer came out of UCB in New York and was an immediate sensation in standup, acting — and literally anything she tries. Her energy, raunchiness and overall hilariousness landed her on MTV shows, "Ladylike" and "Girl Code." Plus her own autobiographical show, "Loosely Exactly Nicole." Currently she hosts the Netflix show "Nailed It!," where untalented amateur chefs try to recreate elaborate desserts, but Byer is the real treat.

Aziz Ansari started his performing career at UCB, where he first began collaborating with his "Human Giant" compatriots Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel. His career skyrocketed right away. He went on to "Parks And Recreation," released four stand-up specials before creating writing, directing and starring in "Master Of None." For "Master of None," he won an Emmy for writing and a Golden Globe for acting. He even became a best-selling author with his book "Modern Romance: An Investigation," though we are guessing there won't be a sequel.

Even as Paul Scheer's body of work grew and grew, he still put on "Crash Test," his hour-long show with Rob Huebel, twice a month at UCB. (It's also the name of their Comedy Central special, recorded on a moving bus.) Scheer did two seasons of "Human Giant" with Huebel and Aziz Ansari, then moved on to seven delightful seasons as Andre on "The League," where he also wrote episodes. He created "NTSF:SD:SUV::" and the bizarre, "Arscheerio Paul Show," where Scheer recreates Arsenio episodes from the early '90s.

Ron Huebel is the third "Human Giant" member, but even before that sketch show he worked with Michael Moore on "The Awful Truth" and "Bowling for Columbine," showing the kind of range he has. That range is why he appears in half the comedies in Hollywood, dramas like "The Descendants" and "Transparent." Plus podcasts, plus a recurring two-man show with Rob Riggle called "Kung Fu Grip," and presumably at some point he sleeps.

The creators and co-stars the fantastic USA sitcom "Playing House," Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair have been performing together since their UCB days. They had a previous sitcom, "Best Friends Forever." They are also known for their guest appearances together and in character on comedy podcasts, including their own, "Womp It Up!." Even when they're not a team, they'll often be on the same shows like "Veep" and "Review," but they belong together. So someone pick up their next project together!

Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson met in 2006 while taking classes at UCB, and they partied hard. Glazer did a show with her brother Elliot called "High School Talent Show," while Jacobson had a solo show called "Welcome To Camp." By 2009, they had a web series called "Broad City," which two years later was adapted into the TV show of the same name. Outside of "Broad City," Glazer created and starred in a show called "Time Traveling Bong," while Jacobson published two coloring books and illustrated a best-seller called "Carry This Book," about imagined contents of celebrity bags.

Jack McBrayer is best known as the guileless — and ageless — Kenneth the Page on "30 Rock," though he really did grow up in rural Georgia, before going to college, Second City and then the UCB. Like a lot of UCB performers, McBrayer made countless appearances on "Conan" while starting out. Post-"30 Rock," he does a tremendous amount of voice acting, most notably in "Wreck-It Ralph." And he may be the only UCB performer to ever have a pillow fight with Mariah Carey.

UCB is one of the finest places to develop characters, and Andy Daly is one of the finest character actors in comedy. One of the first people to study at UCB after they relocated to New York, Daly steals scenes in all his projects — from his part as a Benjamin Franklin impersonator on "The Office," to announcer Dick Pepperfield in "Semi-Pro" to his lead role in the darkest comedy on television, "Review." But nothing shows off his talent more than "Nine Sweaters," an album starring nine of his characters from a nine-week residency at UCB.

Sasheer Zamata began performing at UCB in 2009, and within five years, she was a cast member on "Saturday Night Live." Before that, she was in countless UCB Original videos and co-wrote the web series "Pursuit of Sexiness" with Nicole Byer. After leaving "SNL," she put out a standup album called "Pizza Mind" and appeared in "I Feel Pretty." She even voiced a character in "Call Of Duty," proving her killer talent on or off stage.