Robert Smigel is an American actor, humorist, comedian and writer known for
his Saturday Night Live "TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and
voice behind Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog. He also co-wrote both Hotel
Transylvania films and You Don't Mess with the Zohan, all starring Adam
Sandler. Early life
Smigel was born in New York City. His father is Dr. Irwin Smigel, DDS, "The
Father of Cosmetic Dentistry", and the founder and president of the American
Society for Dental Aesthetics. His mother is Lucia Smigel, president and
CEO of Supersmile. He is Jewish and frequently went to Jewish summer camp.
He attended Cornell University, studying pre-dental and graduated from New York
University in 1983 with a degree in Political Science.
Smigel began developing his comedic talent at The Players Workshop in
Chicago, where he studied improvisation with Josephine Forsberg. Fellow students
included Bob Odenkirk. Smigel was also a member of the Chicago comedy troupe "All
You Can Eat" in the early 1980s. Career
Smigel first established himself as a writer on Saturday Night Live by joining
the writing staff when Lorne Michaels returned as executive producer for the
1985–1986 season. Smigel was hired after then-SNL producers Al Franken and Tom
Davis saw Smigel in a Chicago sketch show. After the 1985–1986 season proved
to be a disappointment with critics, in the ratings, and with Brandon Tartikoff,
Michaels fired most of the cast and writers, retained the cast and writers
who were standouts during the otherwise dismal season, and hired new ones for
the 1986–1987 season. This is when Smigel began to write more memorable
sketches, including one where host William Shatner urged worshipful
attendees at a Star Trek convention to "get a life." Smigel rarely appeared on
screen; although, he was credited as a feature player in the early 1990s and
has played a recurring character in the Bill Swerski's Superfans sketches.
While on a writers' strike from Saturday Night Live following the 1987–88 season,
Smigel wrote for an improvisational comedy revue in Chicago with fellow SNL
writers Bob Odenkirk and Conan O'Brien called Happy Happy Good Show.
Smigel co-wrote Lookwell with Conan O'Brien for NBC. The pilot never went to
series, but it has become a cult hit and has screened live at "The Other
Network", a festival of un-aired TV pilots produced by Un-Cabaret, featuring
live and taped intros by Smigel. Smigel later became the first head writer at
Late Night with Conan O'Brien, where he created numerous successful comedy bits,
including one where Smigel performed only the lips of public figures which
were superimposed on photos of the actual people.
In 1996, Smigel wrote and performed on the short-lived Dana Carvey Show, a
primetime sketch comedy program on ABC. Despite its premature end, the show
provided Smigel the opportunity to debut his first cartoon, The Ambiguously Gay
Duo. Upon the show's cancellation, Smigel continued developing more cartoon
ideas the following summer and would begin airing them on Saturday Night Live
under the TV Funhouse banner. Smigel would later claim, "My whole career came
out of the impulse to do cartoons on The Dana Carvey Show."
Smigel's most famous creation, however, would be the foul-mouthed puppet
Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, who mercilessly mocks celebrities and others
in the style of a Borscht Belt comedian. This character debuted on Late Night
with Conan O'Brien in February 1997 and would continue to make appearances on
the show, as well as others, for many years to come.
Smigel continued to establish himself on Saturday Night Live by producing
infamous, provocative, short animated segments under the title TV Funhouse,
which usually satirizes public figures and popular culture. It spawned a TV
show on Comedy Central featuring a mix of puppets, animation, and short
sketches, although only eight episodes were aired. Smigel occasionally appears
in films. According to interviews, Smigel helped punch up the scripts for
Little Nicky and The Wedding Singer. Smigel acted alongside fellow SNL writer
Bob Odenkirk in Wayne's World 2 as a nerd backstage at an Aerosmith concert.
His contributions were uncredited. No TV Funhouse segments were produced
for the 2009–10 season of SNL, and his future with the show is unknown.
Currently Smigel is working on an animated sitcom for Fox called Animals.
Fox has not made any official statement regarding the show. Additionally, Smigel
played a gay mailman in the Adam Sandler film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
and Yari the Mechanic in the "Mister Softee" episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
In 2000, he voiced a sage bulldog in "Little Nicky". Smigel, along with Adam
Sandler and Judd Apatow, wrote the script for the film You Don't Mess with
the Zohan in which Smigel played Yosi, an Israeli electronics salesman. Smigel
is also one of the executive producers of the film which is a first for him
despite his frequent collaborations with Sandler. Presently living in New York,
he co-wrote and co-executive produced the films Hotel Transylvania and Hotel
Transylvania 2, in which he voiced Marty, a fake version of Dracula, and
Harry Three-Eye, respectively. In the 5th Season of the FX Show Louie Smigel
got a story credit on the episode "Cop Story" because an incident like that
really happened to him, down to the cop crying in his apartment while Smigel
went out, found the missing gun and carried it home, terrified that anyone
would notice. Michael Rapaport's character wasn't based on the guy Smigel
knew, however, since all Smigel ever told Louis CK about was the gun itself.
Smigel has a wife, Michelle, and has a child with autism. They serve on the
board of New York Collaborates for Autism, a non-profit organization
founded in 2003 to address the needs of individuals and families who are living
with autism. He voiced Ray and a parody of the Star
Wars character, Emperor Palpatine, in the first episode of Robot Chicken Star
Wars, as well as the monster 100 in the episode of the same name of Aqua Unit
Patrol Squad on Cartoon Network's [adult swim].
Recurring characters on SNL Carl Wollarski, from "Bill Swerski's
Superfans" Hank Fielding, with "The Moron's
Perspective" on Weekend Update One of the Hub's Gyros employees
Avi, the "Sabra Price is Right" announcer
Bighead, in "The Ambiguously Gay Duo" cartoons
Celebrity impressions Recurring characters on Late Night with
Conan O'Brien Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog
"Clutch Cargo" celebrity interviews One of the "Nicknames for Conan" guys
One of the "Ameri-clan" guys Voice of "The Late Night Emergency
Guest" mannequin Gibberish Speaking Ronald Reagan on the
Phone Ira, Conan's publicist
Filmography Further reading
DiGiacomo, Frank. "Triumph Sniffs a Hit". The New York Observer.
References External links
Robert Smigel at the Internet Movie Database
Interview with The AV Club