Life and Career
Steve Higgins was born on August 13, 1963 in Des Moines, Iowa to Marian (née Coppola) Higgins and Harold Higgins, who managed the custodial operations in West Des Moines schools. Along with his brothers, David Anthony and Alan and Dave Allen, he toured in the comedy troupe Don't Quit Your Day Job and performed at notable places in Iowa including the Hotel Kirkwood and The Spaghetti Works. They eventually moved to California where they started performing in Los Angeles where they soon got their big break on The Higgins Boys and Gruber. In the early 1990s, Higgins was a writer for the MTV programs Trashed and The Jon Stewart Show. He has been nominated for several Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program in 2008, for his work on Saturday Night Live and as a writer.
In addition to being a television series, The Higgins Boys and Gruber was also a sketch comedy trio featuring the Higgins brothers (Steve & David Anthony Higgins) and comedian Dave Gruber Allen. In 1989, Higgins performed at The Vic Theatre in Chicago, Illinois for HBO's One Night Stand television series, along with his brother Dave, and Gruber. With Nick Bakay, Higgins performed at the Girly Magazine Party show at Theatre/Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California in 1993, acting as "a sleazoid male chauvinist comedy duo who exchange off-color ethnic jokes and prance around in suits and ties like Steve Martin on acid". His brother, Dave, performed in the show and in a separate act. Steve Higgins was praised for his ability of knowing "when to go over the top and when to rein it in", and how he was able to be "acutely tuned in to the comings and goings around them and know how to play off each other".
In a 2012 interview with The A.V. Club, The Office and Parks and Recreation co-creator and former SNL writer Michael Schur revealed that Steve Higgins was the inspiration for the Parks and Recreation character Andy after Higgins would playfully fight with him when they worked together at SNL.
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