A San Francisco native, Schneider dropped out of junior college and began frequenting Haight-Ashbury cafes and comedy clubs. He moved to L.A. where he met future "SNL" colleague Adam Sandler and performed stand-up comedy before heading to NYC. He became an "SNL" writer in 1990 and, within three years, evolved into a featured performer and finally a repertory member.

Schneider began appearing in films with the sports comedy "Necessary Roughness" (1991), playing a sportscaster in the Richard Laymer mode. He was more widely seen as a tip-mongering bellboy in the blockbuster sequel "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (1992) . After more substantial parts in two lesser films of 1993 ("Surf Ninjas" and "The Beverly Hillbillies"), Schneider fared well in an uncredited bit in "Demolition Man" (1993), as a wimpy cop of the future, and was a similarly hapless sidekick to Sylvester Stallone in "Judge Dredd" (1995). He was teamed with Bebe Neuwirth as a vaguely anthropomorphic character in "The Adventures of Pinocchio" and then played a typically unpleasant crew member in the lame comedy "Down Periscope" (both 1996).

Schneider returned to series TV co-starring in the NBC sitcom "Men Behaving Badly" (1996-98). Based on an even ruder British show, the first season teamed him with Ron Eldard as unrepentant male chauvinist roommates. Schneider was unhappy with the direction of the show and for the second season, the sitcom underwent changes. Eldard's character was married off and a new roommate (Ken Marino) introduced. The comic had hoped to infuse the series with some of the vinegar wit of its British counterpart.

Despite the short-lived nature of his series, Schneider was able to catapult from the small screen into full-fledged movies stardom, thanks largely to the support of his close friend and former "SNL" castmate Adam Sandler, who both cast the comic in his films and developed starring vehicles for him. Schneider appeared in comedic cameo and supporting bits in the Sandler-starring flicks "The Waterboy" (1998), "Big Daddy" (1999), "Little Nicky" (2000), "Mr. Deeds" (2002), as a voice in "Eight Crazy Nights" (2002), and as Ula in "50 First Dates" (2004). The actor also took the lead in the Sandler-produced comedy "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" (1999), playing a schnook who becomes an unlikely paid lothario. The slapstick comedy co-written by Schneider , which aimed its humor low and broad , was a modest surprise hit and led to subsequent films of a similar vein, including "The Animal" (2001)—as a schnook who takes on animal traits after multiple organ transplants—and "The Hot Chick" (2002)—as an arrogant high school beauty transformed in a schnook. Though hardly high-art, the films provided crowd-pleasing belly laughs to ensure Schneider's star status.

After a brief, but annoying cameo in the surprisingly successful remake, “The Longest Yard” (2005), Schneider returned as the low-life gigolo willing to give it up for ten bucks in the unnecessary sequel, “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo” (2005). Dragged back into the life by his old pimp (Eddie Griffin), Deuce plies his wares—such as they are—in Amsterdam, where European women seem to be just as lonely as American women. With gags that included the removal of a larynx and a woman with a penis for a nose, not to mention a steady stream of venomous jokes aimed at foreigners and gays, “European Gigolo” stayed true to the fifth grade humor of the original. The paltry take at the box office promised there would be no third installment.