Born on June 10, 1974, in Circle Pines, MN, Adsit cultivated an interest in improv and sketch comedy when he joined the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago. During a period between 1994-98, Adsit performed alongside Rachel Dratch and Tina Fey, both of whom went on to certain fame as cast members on “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 1975- ). Adsit was the comic force behind breakout revues entitled “Piñata Full of Bees” and “Paradigm Lost,” as well as a sketch entitled “Gump,” performed with fellow improv alum Adam McKay. The show was widely considered in comedy circles to be one of Second City’s all-time best. Meanwhile, Adsit appeared in the PBS documentary about Second City improv, “Second to None” (1997).
Between comedy gigs, Adsit landed several acting and voiceover jobs, including the short subject, “Reflections from the Heart of a Child,” where he played a father suffering from alcohol and drug addiction. The short was required viewing in drug and alcohol counseling classes across the country. Meanwhile, he recorded character voices for the pinball machine, “Medieval Madness.” It was while still living in Chicago, that he landed his first small television role on the series “Early Edition” (CBS, 1996-200), playing both a cab driver and the recurring role of Grabowski. Adsit moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s, where he landed bit parts and guest starring roles on television and in film.
Adsit’s first major work was on the cult favorite “Mr. Show” – the sketch comedy brainchild of Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, where he played several parts in a variety of skits. He also guest starred in the series of HBO comedy shorts, “Tenacious D,” playing the duel part of a complaining neighbor and a demon in a 1999 installment called “The Greatest Song in the World.” He went on to appear in numerous television series, including, “Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place” (ABC, 1998-2001), “Felicity” (Fox, 1998-2002), “Dharma & Greg” (ABC, 1997-2002) and “Ally McBeal” (Fox, 1997-2002). He also portrayed a director on the “Friends” episode, “The One with Ross and Monica’s Cousin,” before landing a small part during the second season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Among his feature films roles were “The Italian Job” (2003), where he played an actor rehearsing his lines in a car; “The Terminal” (2004), where he played a cab driver; and “The Bad News Bears” (2005), where he played a Little League baseball umpire. He also had bit parts in “Without a Paddle” (2004), “Be Cool” (2005), and “Kicking & Screaming” (2005). In 2006, he played a father dropping off his kids at the faux college in “Accepted,” and an assistant movie director in the Christopher Guest comedy, “For Your Consideration.”
Back on television, he had a small role on “The Office,” playing a photographer in the second season episode, “Conflict Resolution,” and provided a series of voices to the bizarre stop-motion antics on the Seth Green cult comedy hit, “Robot Chicken” (Adult Swim, 2005- ). He continued his connection to animation with “Morel Orel,” (Adult Swim, 2005- ), a stop-motion series that spoofed animated religious shows of the 1970s, like “Davey & Goliath.” Adsit was the voice of Clay Puppington, the father of lead character Orel, God and several others. “Moral Orel” also marked Adsit’s first foray into writing and directing.
As his luck with have it, Adsit was then approached by fellow Second City alumnus Tina Fey to play a regular role on “30 Rock” in the part of Pete, the beleaguered producer of the fictional sketch comedy series “The Girlie Show” and her character’s best friend. Despite Adsit’s extensive comedy background, Pete was a decidedly down-to-earth character, a normal person in a sea of offbeat characters and one of the few friends that Fey’s character Liz Lemon could count on. Like many of his co-stars who also appeared in the opening credits, Adsit did not appear in every episode, but he often shared screen time with stars Alec Baldwin, who played a domineering corporate executive boss, and former “S.N.L.” cast member Tracy Morgan, who played a temperamental star of the show. Adsit brought a centered quality to the show, although he was not without his hang-ups – in one particular scene admonishing one of his off-screen children to stay away from “Daddy’s special juice,” during a stress-filled night at home.