Peter Gwinn is an American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

writer and improviser from

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

. He attended

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...

in Northfield, MN. He was a member of

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

Touring Company from 1997 to 2000. He has taught at both the I.O. and

Upright Citizens Brigade The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Amy Poehler, Matthew Walsh, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, ...

theaters and is the founder of the musical improv group Baby Wants Candy. He is the author of the 2003 book, ''Group Improvisation: The Manual of Ensemble Improv Games''. Gwinn was a staff writer for the TV political satire ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...

'' until 2012-06-14. He has made several on-screen appearances, as Jimmy the director, as a singer in a "Formula 401" sperm commercial and as a barbecue attendee. He has also written and appeared on the 2013 TV series Alpha House, produced by

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

. Colbert announced in the final segment of his 2012-06-14 show that Gwinn was leaving the staff, giving no reason, but playing a clip package that ended with a stuffed effigy of Gwinn being thrown off the roof of the studio building, bouncing off a car into the street, and being run over by a minivan which backed up over the doll, twice, then drove away. Gwinn currently writes for Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me!

Early life

Gwinn was born in Evanston,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

on January He had one sibling, a brother.

References

External links

* Living people American male television writers American television writers Primetime Emmy Award winners American comedy writers Carleton College alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-tv-writer-stub