Steve Earl Higgins (born August 13, 1963) is an American writer, producer, announcer, actor, and comedian. He has served as the announcer and sidekick of ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...

'' since 2014, and as a writer and producer of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' since 1995. Prior to ''The Tonight Show'', he was the announcer for ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,

'' from 2009 to 2014. Early in his career, he was part of the sketch comedy trio ''The Higgins Boys and Gruber'', who had their own eponymous sketch series on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

from 1989 to 1991.

Early life

Higgins was born on August 13, 1963, in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, to Marian (née Coppola) and Harold Higgins, who managed the custodial operations in West Des Moines schools. He was one of five children, including his brothers

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

and

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

. Higgins formed the comedy troupe "Don't Quit Your Day Job," with brothers David and Alan and friend Dave "Gruber" Allen. They performed at notable places in Iowa including the Hotel Kirkwood, Corky's, and the Spaghetti Works.

Career

Don't Quit Your Day Job eventually moved to California, where they started performing in Los Angeles and soon got their big break on the

sketch comedy series ''The Higgins Boys and Gruber''. Following a very lean year after their third year performing the group was suddenly relegated to selling donated "merch" at yard sales in the Mississippi backwoods. These forays into sales usually netted the group lunch money or at least Vienna sausage money. In 1989, Higgins performed at The Vic Theatre in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's '' One Night Stand'' television series, along with his brother Dave, and Gruber. Alongside Nick Bakay, Higgins performed in 1993 at the ''Girly Magazine Party'' show at Theatre/Theater in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, Los Angeles. They played "a sleazoid male chauvinist comedy duo who exchange off-color ethnic jokes and prance around in suits and ties like

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...

on PCP". His brother, Dave, performed in the show and in a separate act. Higgins was praised for his ability of knowing "when to go over the top and when to rein it in", and how he was able to be "acutely tuned in to the comings and goings around them and know how to play off each other". Soon after, Higgins went on to become a writer for the short-lived

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

programs '' Trashed'' and ''

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''. From 1995 to 1997, Higgins was the co-head writer of ''

''. Since 1997, he has served on the writing staff of the show, and since 1996, he has served as a producer of the show. In 2000, he played the inspirational AV teacher in the last episode of ''

Freaks and Geeks ''Freaks and Geeks'' is an American teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season. The show is set in a suburban high school near ...

''. He has been nominated for several

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, including Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program in 2008, for his work on ''Saturday Night Live'' and as a writer. In a 2012 interview with ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'', former ''Saturday Night Live'' writer

Michael Schur Michael Herbert Schur (born October 29, 1975) is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor. He started his career as a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' (1998–2004) before gaining acclaim as a writer and producer of the si ...

revealed that Higgins was the inspiration for the ''Parks and Recreation'' character

Andy Dwyer Sir Andrew Maxwell "Andy" Dwyer Order of the British Empire, KBE () is a fictional Character (arts), character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation'' portrayed by Chris Pratt. Originally meant to be a temporary character, Andy was so likabl ...

after Higgins would playfully fight with him when they worked together at ''SNL''. From 2009 to 2014, Higgins served as announcer on ''

''. When

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...

was selected by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

to succeed

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno ( ; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show'' from 1992 until 200 ...

, Higgins was brought on as announcer for ''

''. From 2013 to 2015, Higgins voiced Mr. Awesome in the

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

original series '' The Awesomes''. He voiced the character "Chadwick the Edible Blargmonger" in the 2014 animated special '' Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas''. In 2017, he won an Emmy for his work on SNL. In July 2015, while Jimmy Fallon was recovering from surgery after suffering a serious injury to his finger, Higgins was hospitalized for

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a tick-borne disease caused by species of ''Borrelia'' bacteria, Disease vector, transmitted by blood-feeding ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. It is the most common disease spread by ticks in th ...

. He returned to the ''Tonight Show'' fully recovered and on the same night as Fallon's return.

Personal life

Higgins married Ellen Niedert Higgins in 1990, and they have four children together. Their son John Higgins (a part of the Please Don't Destroy group), was hired to write on ''SNL'' in 2021.

References

External links

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Steve 1963 births Living people 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American comedy writers American male comedians American male screenwriters American male television actors American male television writers American television writers American sketch comedians American television personalities American television producers Comedians from Iowa Steve Higgins Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Primetime Emmy Award winners Screenwriters from Iowa Radio and television announcers Writers from Des Moines, Iowa Writers Guild of America Award winners Higgins family (show business) American people of Italian descent American people of English descent