Biography
Kirk Diedrich began his acting career at an early age, when he was cast as Patent Clerk #2 in his elementary school production of "Thomas Edison: The Electric Light Man." His teacher was so impressed with his ability to remember lines and not screw them up in front of parents, she cast him as John McHenry, the Ed Sullivan/Ed McMahonesque host of "That's Entertainment!" the following year. But, his rise to success was halted quickly when, the following year, he was not picked as one of the irascibly cute Von Trapp children for a local community theater's production of The Sound of Music. Stunned that they didn't recognize his brilliance, he retreated from the limelight and consoled himself with books and doodling. Alas, the call of the stage was constant and he was unable to resist the roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd. In high school, he was drafted by his singing teacher into a production of Li'l Abner where he played one of the "before" husbands.
After abandoned attempted journeys alternately as an artist, a dentist, a mortician and gravedigger, Kirk attended the prestigious theatre school, Wayne State University, to follow in the steps of Lily Tomlin, Jeffrey Tambor and, Max Wright, the dad from "ALF". There, he began writing plays. For a short while, he belonged to an acting troupe, "Miniature Sun presents" that toured Detroit area coffeehouses (remember those?) with their off-beat and insightful gaze on the ironic foibles and melancholia of modern life. Highlights from this period include, Best Director in 1994 for his harrowingly minimalist production of Howard Korder's "Search and Destroy" and winning Best Actor in 1992 for his turn as Jacob Jerome in Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memiors."
Kirk pursued this love of theatre across the country to Boston, where he attended Brandeis University for Dramatic Writing. There his plays "Last Call" and "Burnt" were performed as part of Brandeis' Annual Festival of the Arts. He also performed in several productions at Brandeis and at area regional theatres like The Turtle Lane Playhouse.
After graduating, he moved to California. He has been seen in commercials and on stage in his favorite format, writing and performing sketch comedy. He is a member of and the Director of both the Main Company and the Bravo Company at the ACME Comedy Theatre where Adam Carolla, Alex Borstein and Joel McHale got their start. Like Phil Hartman, Kirk supplements his acting with graphic design for music acts, theatre and films. He has worked on the Jimmy Kimmel show, as Hurley in the parody "Lost: The Musical", on the award-winning web series "There Will Be Brawl", and with Adam Sandler on MTV in a promo for his movie "Click."
