Patrick Bristow

Bristow's screen career got moving in the early 1990s, when he landed a role in *So I Married an Axe Murderer* (1993), the Mike Myers comedy that's aged surprisingly well. Two years later came *Showgirls* — Paul Verhoeven's gloriously unhinged Las Vegas epic — where Bristow played Marty Jacobsen, a choreographer whose withering line readings became one of the film's more quotable pleasures. It's a small role, but he doesn't waste a second of it. Television is where Bristow really found his footing, though. His recurring role as Peter Barnes on *Ellen* (1994–1998) kept him at the center of a show that was, by its final seasons, making television history (Wikipedia). That run alone would be enough for most careers — but Bristow kept working. The *Seinfeld* episode "The Wig Master" (Season 7) gave him a memorable guest spot that fans still bring up, and he followed that with appearances on *Mad About You*, *Curb Your Enthusiasm*, *Malcolm in the Middle*, and *CSI: Crime Scene Investigation*, among others. From 2005 to 2008 he played Patrick on *The Suite Life of Zack & Cody*, which — honestly, that's a genuinely fun show, and his presence there makes sense given his background in broad physical comedy. Film work continued alongside the TV grind: *The Longest Yard* (2005) and *Pain & Gain* (2013) both feature him, the latter being one of the stranger blockbusters of that decade. Off-screen, his work with The Groundlings as a teacher and director, and his co-creation of the Jim Henson Company's *Puppet Up Uncensored* with Brian Henson, show an artist who isn't content to just take the next audition — he's been actively shaping comedic spaces for other performers too (Wikipedia). The Groundlings connection in particular feels central to understanding who Bristow is as a craftsman.