Bert Kreischer in Jacksonville

Florida made Bert Kreischer. He grew up in Tampa, went to Jesuit High School there, and studied English at Florida State University in Tallahassee. A 1997 Rolling Stone profile cast him as the ultimate college partier, and the story helped inspire the film National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002).

He started doing stand-up at Potbelly's in Tallahassee before moving to New York. On stage he usually loses the shirt early and settles into long, true stories told at full volume. The best known is the tale behind his nickname, The Machine, which became a 2023 feature film with Kreischer playing himself.

TV hosting came early with Hurt Bert on FX (2004), then Bert the Conqueror and Trip Flip on Travel Channel. His specials include The Machine (Showtime, 2016), then Secret Time (2018), Hey Big Boy (2020), Razzle Dazzle (2023) and Lucky (2025) on Netflix. He filmed Lucky in Tampa.

Podcasts are a big part of his world. He launched Bertcast in 2012, hosts the cooking show Something's Burning, and co-hosts 2 Bears, 1 Cave with Tom Segura. His book Life of the Party came out in 2014.