8 Seconds

About Tim Washer

After working in corporate communications for years, Tim’s boss encouraged him to pursue a career in comedy, “or at least something other than corporate communications.” So in 1998, he began studying improv under Amy Poehler at the UCB Theater. He performed with Amy on the Comedy Central series Upright Citizen’s Brigade and later, Saturday Night Live. Amy summed up Tim’s comedic talent: “He should consider a job in corporate communications.”

Tim went on to appear regularly on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and to write for The Late Show with David Letterman. But it wasn’t until The New Yorker magazine’s Shouts & Murmurs rejected his essay “The Very First Christmas Newsletter” from Jesus’ mother Mary that he finally knew he had arrived.

Although not a real U.S. Senator, Tim improvised the role of Sen. Beekins in the TV commercial Filibuster, earning the Silver Medal Mark Award despite a poor voting record on the environment. Comedy Central selected the short film series he wrote and produced for IBM, Art of the Sale as a “Staff Favorite,” which was cited in Forbes.com in January 2007 as the example of the “Jon Stewartizing” of corporate communications.

As an on-camera host, Tim has interviewed Austin Powers director Jay Roach, Arrested Development’s Tony Hale, Liar, Liar co-writer Paul Guay and Sony Pictures Entertainment vice chairman Yair Landau. Tim’s Connecticut cable TV series “In Your Community” featured guests including three-time Emmy Award winning producer Rob Dustin and Wedding Crashers cinematographer Julio Macat.

Tim collaborated with The New York Times’ Bob Tedeschi to write, produce and host a comedy show for WSHU affiliate of National Public Radio. He has hosted events with President George H. W. Bush, Academy Award winning composers Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He hosted a panel of Hollywood screenwriters on Capitol Hill for U.S. Congregational Staffers, and served on an entertainment panel at The White House.

He’s performed PowerPoint parodies at corporate events from Las Vegas to Sydney, has collaborated on a TV pilot with Jim Gaffigan, performed with Greg Giraldo and studied under Tom Purcell, head writer for The Colbert Report. Letterman’s talent coordinator Eddie Brill calls Tim “Extremely clever,” and he’s been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Chicago Sun-Times.

Tim has worked as a consultant at Accenture, an account executive at Xerox, as a vice president at Interpublic Group, as head of social media productions at IBM, and as social media manager at Cisco. He holds an MBA from McCombs Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He’s also served a short stint for an unnamed employer in corporate communications.