Eric Hoffman Bio
Pancyfancer Publishing founder Eric Hoffman (aka Eric Von Hoffman) is an American actor, writer, producer, author, cartoonist and comedian. He is known for his groundbreaking work as a writer-performer on the influential HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show with Bob and David, and as the co-author of the how-to humor bible Comedy By The Numbers, published by McSweeney’s.
Hoffman was born in Angola, Indiana on May 12, 1963. He grew up in nearby Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his mother, Kari Aldrich Bentz (Kari Hoffman), was the host of her own daytime television show Kari’s Korner on the ABC affiliate WPTA Channel 21. While in Indiana, Eric produced Super 8 films and appeared on the syndicated TV comedy series Night Shift with Kevin Ferguson. He also performed in local nightclubs and on public access television with his sketch group The Pithfield Paratroopers, which included friends Pete Collins, Tim Perkins, Kevin Knuth, Mike Hollander, Jeff Michael, Ryan Day, Rod Lauer, and many more. Hoffman produced two comedy specials for Channel 10, The Styrofoam Dummyhead Show and Rude Boy.
He made his first trek to California in 1983 after studying film, art and theater at Ball State University. At one point, Hoffman was doing uncredited construction on the movie Dreamscape at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, which coincidentally is where he would later work with Bob Odenkirk on the script for their film Girlfriend’s Day. It was also during this time that Hoffman made his first professional screen appearance as an extra in HBO’s Philip Marlowe, Private Eye, directed by Eric’s “editing-style idol,” Peter Hunt from the James Bond films. While in LA, Hoffman was also a staff cartoonist for Laugh Factory Magazine. He was also lucky enough to have seen early club performances by comedians Gary Shandling and Sam Kinison, among others.
Hoffman joined the army in 1985, and spent much of his time in Germany where he was involved with rock group The Gnarlers, composed of fellow soldiers and German citizens, including Dan Pezzulo, Ray Wentworth, Adam Swarek, Renate Arnzen and Michael Arnzen (Bram Stoker Award Winning Horror Author). Original songs like You’re Going To Jail, Shuttle Love, You Can’t Party, and Religion It’ll Fuck Your Life Up became local hits at their concerts and club performances.
After military service, Eric relocated in 1988 to attend school at Columbia College Chicago. While at Columbia he studied with Sheldon Patinkin, Alan Wilder, Estelle Specter, and refreshed his comedy skills in Norm Holly’s Comedy Workshop course, where he met future collaborators Dino Stomatopoulis, Mike Monterastelli, JP Lubow, and many others. Columbia College is where Eric met his wife, Marcy Hoffman-Konlon.
Hoffman was also a writer-producer and provided Ralph’s voice for the children’s program The Ralph the Robot Show for Elk Grove Television - Channel 6. In Chicago, Eric played the Stranger in Big Game Theatre’s riveting production of Lanford Wilson’s drama Balm in Gilead, directed by Anna Shapiro.
Eric was a part of the creative team at the Annoyance Theatre Chicago from 1991 to 1995, though his first show there was as part of the original cast of Dino Stamatopoulos’ play, Trent: A Light Tragedy with Music. Founder Mick Napier’s creative freedom at the Annoyance allowed Hoffman’s inventive mind to flourish, and he either co-wrote, directed, or understudied over thirty original productions. He co-wrote two shows with Mike Monterastelli, Bastards! and Goombahs! (winner New City’s Top 5 Shows of the Year 1992). He also collaborated with Monterastelli, Ed Furman, Matt Walsh, Mark Sutton, David Adler and Jodi Lennon on the comic-book show Brainwarp: The Baby Eater (winner New City’s Best Late Late Show; winner Perform Ink’s Best Shows of the Year 1992).
Other original Annoyance productions included Abe Lincoln: Sex Alien, Fingerball, The Stinky Onion Gang, Fashion Fascists, and The Bean Can Tour, the Annoyance’s first late-night sketch show on which Hoffman was a show coordinator.
In 1995, Eric developed the two-man show The Idiotic Death of Two Fools with Gary Rudoren and Mike Monterastelli, which they later performed at the 1995 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. Hoffman also originated the idea for the Donkey Improv events at the Annoyance.
Hoffman moved to Indianapolis in 1995 to begin work on his first feature film, Talent, which he starred in, associate produced, and co-wrote with director Joe Lamirand. Talent played at several festivals, and won the Breakthrough Film Award at the Saguaro Film Festival 1998. The cast featured many members of the Chicago acting and comedy communities, including Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Jim Zulevic, Pat Walsh, Erin Philyaw, Audrey Kissel, Michael Coleman and Mick Napier.
Eric returned to Los Angeles in 1997, and helped form the unique sketch group The Dickie Bell Twist Dance Party along with Bill Chott, Mike Monterastelli, Scot Robinson, and Michael Berson providing music. The group began as a recurring act within the That Jeff Garlin Thing show at Bang Theatre, and went on to perform shows at IO West, The Comedy Store, HBO Workspace, and the Upright Citizens Brigade NY.
He has self-published two issues of his fondly-remembered comic book Spine-biting Mystery Funnies, which featured contributions from Matt Walsh, Mike Monterastelli, Bill Chott and Scot Robinson. Eric was also the house cartoonist for Barracuda Magazine, the modern stag mag, under the pseudonym Chic Tongue.
In 1998 Eric became a staff writer and occasional performer on the landmark sketch series Mr. Show with Bob and David on HBO. In the fourth season, Hoffman contributed to several pieces, including Bugged Drug Deal, Spite Marriage, and Teardrop Awards. He also appears as the “Cha-Ching Fireman,” and he drew the Batman-style fight blurbs (TAINT!) for The Windbreaker link.
Hoffman has written and performed in several shows at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood, including The Red Sandwich Christmas Hour, Comedy Death Ray, and The Story of the Three Jaw Crusher - a one-man show with 8 people, directed by Matt Walsh, which was the first new production mounted at the UCB Franklin Avenue location. Eric was a regular performer in many shows in the LA comedy scene, including The Lampshades and the Paul F. Tompkins Show at Largo.
Eric has written-produced the short films: Sunday Detective Film Theatre, Nerd Hunter 3004 (both originally produced for Rob Schrab and Dan Harmon’s Channel 101), and produced a series of Snuz Brother shorts for the original Superdeluxe.
2007 saw the publication of Comedy By The Numbers, the how-to humor bible co-written with Gary Rudoren and published by McSweeney’s. The book was edited by Naomi Odenkirk and executive produced by Bob Odenkirk. The book enjoyed a second printing in 2010. Eric and Gary performed their book reading/variety show at such fun places as the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre NY and the Just For Laughs Festival 2007 with guests Bob and David. Bob Odenkirk also directed a series of promo short films for Superdeluxe, which were shot and edited by Neil Mahoney. An audiobook version was released by AST Records titled Comedy By The Numbers: Book-on-tape CD. Eric provided the illustrations for the book, featuring the stoic character “Webster.”
Hoffman has appeared in many films, including My Big Fat Independent Movie, The Brothers Solomon, and UCB’s Wild Girls Gone. He’s been in several television shows, including the Bob and David HBO pilot David’s Situation, Andy Richter’s Home for the Holidays, Malcolm in the Middle, Crossballs: The Debate Show, Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil. In 2011, Eric executive produced and wrote the Adult Swim pilot Guy Suavé: Homicidal Spy, starring Rich Fulcher.
2015 saw the reunion of the original Mr. Show crew in the Netflix sketch series W/Bob and David.
In 2017, Eric and Bob Odenkirk co-wrote the Netflix original movie Girlfriend’s Day - a greeting card noir - starring Odenkirk, Amber Tamblyn, and Stacy Keach.
In 2022, Hoffman and Bill Chott collaborated on their first diy comedy special Uninstall, with guest stars Mike Monterastelli, JP Lubow, Lisa Kockeritz, and Kimmy Robertson.
Hoffman currently resides in California with his family, where he’s working on several scripts with Odenkirk, and his Guy Suavé Trilogy of graphic novels.
Hoffman was born in Angola, Indiana on May 12, 1963. He grew up in nearby Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his mother, Kari Aldrich Bentz (Kari Hoffman), was the host of her own daytime television show Kari’s Korner on the ABC affiliate WPTA Channel 21. While in Indiana, Eric produced Super 8 films and appeared on the syndicated TV comedy series Night Shift with Kevin Ferguson. He also performed in local nightclubs and on public access television with his sketch group The Pithfield Paratroopers, which included friends Pete Collins, Tim Perkins, Kevin Knuth, Mike Hollander, Jeff Michael, Ryan Day, Rod Lauer, and many more. Hoffman produced two comedy specials for Channel 10, The Styrofoam Dummyhead Show and Rude Boy.
He made his first trek to California in 1983 after studying film, art and theater at Ball State University. At one point, Hoffman was doing uncredited construction on the movie Dreamscape at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, which coincidentally is where he would later work with Bob Odenkirk on the script for their film Girlfriend’s Day. It was also during this time that Hoffman made his first professional screen appearance as an extra in HBO’s Philip Marlowe, Private Eye, directed by Eric’s “editing-style idol,” Peter Hunt from the James Bond films. While in LA, Hoffman was also a staff cartoonist for Laugh Factory Magazine. He was also lucky enough to have seen early club performances by comedians Gary Shandling and Sam Kinison, among others.
Hoffman joined the army in 1985, and spent much of his time in Germany where he was involved with rock group The Gnarlers, composed of fellow soldiers and German citizens, including Dan Pezzulo, Ray Wentworth, Adam Swarek, Renate Arnzen and Michael Arnzen (Bram Stoker Award Winning Horror Author). Original songs like You’re Going To Jail, Shuttle Love, You Can’t Party, and Religion It’ll Fuck Your Life Up became local hits at their concerts and club performances.
After military service, Eric relocated in 1988 to attend school at Columbia College Chicago. While at Columbia he studied with Sheldon Patinkin, Alan Wilder, Estelle Specter, and refreshed his comedy skills in Norm Holly’s Comedy Workshop course, where he met future collaborators Dino Stomatopoulis, Mike Monterastelli, JP Lubow, and many others. Columbia College is where Eric met his wife, Marcy Hoffman-Konlon.
Hoffman was also a writer-producer and provided Ralph’s voice for the children’s program The Ralph the Robot Show for Elk Grove Television - Channel 6. In Chicago, Eric played the Stranger in Big Game Theatre’s riveting production of Lanford Wilson’s drama Balm in Gilead, directed by Anna Shapiro.
Eric was a part of the creative team at the Annoyance Theatre Chicago from 1991 to 1995, though his first show there was as part of the original cast of Dino Stamatopoulos’ play, Trent: A Light Tragedy with Music. Founder Mick Napier’s creative freedom at the Annoyance allowed Hoffman’s inventive mind to flourish, and he either co-wrote, directed, or understudied over thirty original productions. He co-wrote two shows with Mike Monterastelli, Bastards! and Goombahs! (winner New City’s Top 5 Shows of the Year 1992). He also collaborated with Monterastelli, Ed Furman, Matt Walsh, Mark Sutton, David Adler and Jodi Lennon on the comic-book show Brainwarp: The Baby Eater (winner New City’s Best Late Late Show; winner Perform Ink’s Best Shows of the Year 1992).
Other original Annoyance productions included Abe Lincoln: Sex Alien, Fingerball, The Stinky Onion Gang, Fashion Fascists, and The Bean Can Tour, the Annoyance’s first late-night sketch show on which Hoffman was a show coordinator.
In 1995, Eric developed the two-man show The Idiotic Death of Two Fools with Gary Rudoren and Mike Monterastelli, which they later performed at the 1995 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. Hoffman also originated the idea for the Donkey Improv events at the Annoyance.
Hoffman moved to Indianapolis in 1995 to begin work on his first feature film, Talent, which he starred in, associate produced, and co-wrote with director Joe Lamirand. Talent played at several festivals, and won the Breakthrough Film Award at the Saguaro Film Festival 1998. The cast featured many members of the Chicago acting and comedy communities, including Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Jim Zulevic, Pat Walsh, Erin Philyaw, Audrey Kissel, Michael Coleman and Mick Napier.
Eric returned to Los Angeles in 1997, and helped form the unique sketch group The Dickie Bell Twist Dance Party along with Bill Chott, Mike Monterastelli, Scot Robinson, and Michael Berson providing music. The group began as a recurring act within the That Jeff Garlin Thing show at Bang Theatre, and went on to perform shows at IO West, The Comedy Store, HBO Workspace, and the Upright Citizens Brigade NY.
He has self-published two issues of his fondly-remembered comic book Spine-biting Mystery Funnies, which featured contributions from Matt Walsh, Mike Monterastelli, Bill Chott and Scot Robinson. Eric was also the house cartoonist for Barracuda Magazine, the modern stag mag, under the pseudonym Chic Tongue.
In 1998 Eric became a staff writer and occasional performer on the landmark sketch series Mr. Show with Bob and David on HBO. In the fourth season, Hoffman contributed to several pieces, including Bugged Drug Deal, Spite Marriage, and Teardrop Awards. He also appears as the “Cha-Ching Fireman,” and he drew the Batman-style fight blurbs (TAINT!) for The Windbreaker link.
Hoffman has written and performed in several shows at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood, including The Red Sandwich Christmas Hour, Comedy Death Ray, and The Story of the Three Jaw Crusher - a one-man show with 8 people, directed by Matt Walsh, which was the first new production mounted at the UCB Franklin Avenue location. Eric was a regular performer in many shows in the LA comedy scene, including The Lampshades and the Paul F. Tompkins Show at Largo.
Eric has written-produced the short films: Sunday Detective Film Theatre, Nerd Hunter 3004 (both originally produced for Rob Schrab and Dan Harmon’s Channel 101), and produced a series of Snuz Brother shorts for the original Superdeluxe.
2007 saw the publication of Comedy By The Numbers, the how-to humor bible co-written with Gary Rudoren and published by McSweeney’s. The book was edited by Naomi Odenkirk and executive produced by Bob Odenkirk. The book enjoyed a second printing in 2010. Eric and Gary performed their book reading/variety show at such fun places as the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre NY and the Just For Laughs Festival 2007 with guests Bob and David. Bob Odenkirk also directed a series of promo short films for Superdeluxe, which were shot and edited by Neil Mahoney. An audiobook version was released by AST Records titled Comedy By The Numbers: Book-on-tape CD. Eric provided the illustrations for the book, featuring the stoic character “Webster.”
Hoffman has appeared in many films, including My Big Fat Independent Movie, The Brothers Solomon, and UCB’s Wild Girls Gone. He’s been in several television shows, including the Bob and David HBO pilot David’s Situation, Andy Richter’s Home for the Holidays, Malcolm in the Middle, Crossballs: The Debate Show, Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil. In 2011, Eric executive produced and wrote the Adult Swim pilot Guy Suavé: Homicidal Spy, starring Rich Fulcher.
2015 saw the reunion of the original Mr. Show crew in the Netflix sketch series W/Bob and David.
In 2017, Eric and Bob Odenkirk co-wrote the Netflix original movie Girlfriend’s Day - a greeting card noir - starring Odenkirk, Amber Tamblyn, and Stacy Keach.
In 2022, Hoffman and Bill Chott collaborated on their first diy comedy special Uninstall, with guest stars Mike Monterastelli, JP Lubow, Lisa Kockeritz, and Kimmy Robertson.
Hoffman currently resides in California with his family, where he’s working on several scripts with Odenkirk, and his Guy Suavé Trilogy of graphic novels.