Albert Charles Kreischer Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, reality television host, and actor. He is widely known as Bert Kreischer. In 1997, which was Kreischer’s sixth year at Florida State University, he was ranked the number one “partier” by The Princeton Review in their annual list of the top “party schools” in the United States, of which Florida State was ranked Number one. Clearly, Kreisher made a name for himself.
Kreischer is married with two daughters and lives in Los Angeles with his family. Kreischer is also an author. He released his book Life of the Party: Stories of a Perpetual Man-Child in 2014 which tells the tale of how he came into his career. Bert Kreischer was featured on Bert the Conqueror in 2010.
Bert Kreischer’s Career
Kreischer’s career in stand-up comedy at a bar and nightclub called Potbelly’s in Tallahassee, Florida. A tape of his comedy was sent to a talent agent who invited him to New York City to perform. Kreischer worked the door at the now-defunct Boston Comedy Club. From 2000-2001 he was the co-host of The X Show. In 2001 he made his acting debut starring in the CBS pilot, Life With David J. In 2004 he worked as the host of the television series Hurt Bert. The same year he played a role in an episode of The Shield. In 2004, he starred in the DVD release of National Lampoon Live: New Faces Volume 2. The same year one of his stories appeared on an episode of the animated Comedy Central series Shorties Watchin’ Shorties.
In 2009, Bert Kreischer also hosted shows on Travel Channel and stands among one of the network’s most popular hosts. Kreischer as a well-known stand-up comedian has performed internationally and has appeared on late-night talk shows such as Late Show with David Letterman, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. He also appeared regularly as a guest on Rachael Ray from 2011 to 2015. In 2012, Kreischer launched a podcast, Bertcast. Kreischer has also been a guest on podcasts such as WTF with Marc Maron, and The Joe Rogan Experience.
The Origin Of ‘the Machine’ Story
Kreischer is also known for his storytelling while shirtless. His most popular story is about how he allegedly helped the Russian mafia rob a train while on a college trip to Russia; during which he earned the nickname, The Machine. “The Machine” was a story Kreischer told at parties, backstage, or in meetings for years, but never onstage. Until 2011 when he told it on The Joe Rogan Experience after Rogan insisted he do so.
Rogan insisted that Kreischer told the story stating that his listeners demanded it of Kreischer if they saw him live. In 2016 Showtime released a special titled, The Machine. Kreischer put the story on his YouTube channel. The joke went viral from there with over 50 million views on Youtube currently. A movie adaptation of this story titled, The Machine was released in 2023 with Bert Kreischer played himself in the movie.
Impact Of The Story On Bert Kreischer
Kreischer’s only achieved minor success in his career as a stand-up comedian. Before the blowout of the story, he was at a professional low point. However, little did he know that the story he once only told at parties, backstage, or in meetings, but never onstage for years was what was going to change his life forever.
Bert Kreischer has attributed some of the success of his career to Joe Rogan. He stated that Rogan was the one who really kind of changed his career in that he insisted he start telling these stories onstage. Ever since, Kreischer’s career and life have been forever changed, taking him from a struggling stand-up comedian to selling out clubs to selling out large theatres, and more recently, large drive-in tours.
There Is A Movie Adaptation Of The Story
The story of The Machine was adapted in 2023. The American action comedy film is directed by Peter Atencio. In September 2018, following the story’s viral success, Legendary Entertainment acquired the rights to turn Kreischer’s true story stand-up routine into a feature film adaptation. Filming began in Serbia in April 2021. The movie was released in the United States on May 26, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing.
It featured Mark Hamill as his father, Albert. In the movie, father and son are kidnapped by Russian gang members and brought back to answer for the wild adventure Kreischer went on 20 years ago. The film did not make a mark at the box office grossing a little over $10 million against a $20 million production budget. The film made just over $2 million on its first day. The movie was released alongside The Little Mermaid, Kandahar, About My Father, and You Hurt My Feelings.
Where To Watch The Film Or Stand-Up Special
Following the push by Joe Rogan, Bert Kreischer released the stand-up special series on his YouTube channel in December 2016. His channel has over 1 million subscribers. The video titled The Machine – Bert Kreischer: THE MACHINE has the highest views on his channel with over 50 million views.
The special is also on his Facebook account which is currently at 40 million views. Showtime released the special Bert Kreischer: The Machine in 2016. The movie, The Machine, is also available on Netflix from September 2023.
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