Bruce McCulloch (born May 12, 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta) is an actor, writer, comedian, and film director. He is best known for his work as a member of The Kids in the Hall, a popular Canadian comedy troupe, and as a writer for Saturday Night Live. McCulloch has also appeared on series such as Twitch City and Gilmore Girls. He directed the films Dog Park, Stealing Harvard and Superstar. He has also written and directed the romantic comedy Comeback Season which toured the festivals before going to DVD in 2007. He is currently the writer of ABC's Carpoolers, which is slated for Fall '07.
As a member of The Kids in the Hall comedy troup, McCulloch frequently contributed surreal monologues or songs. He also used their television series to experiment as a director, producing downbeat and often jokeless short films such as “Love and Sausages,” a twisted love story revolving around two workers at a dark, sterile sausage factory.
Memorable characters included the Flying Pig, Cabbage Head, talkative schoolchild Gavin, pop starlet Tammy, and grumpy middle-aged man Gordon. While adept at playing the quiet “straight man,” many of his portrayals are of people who fidget nervously.
McCulloch has released two albums: 1995’s Shame-Based Man (praised by All Music Guide as the “most remarkable of comedy albums: one that bears (frequent) repeated listenings.” ) and 2002’s Drunk Baby Project. As with his television work, these feature a mixture of music and monologues.
McCulloch also directed the music video for the Tragically Hip’s song “My Music at Work,” from their 2000 album Music @ Work. McCulloch has stated on his website that he is close friends with Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie. The video shares much in common with many Kids in the Hall sketches, including its office setting, camera angles, and some thematic elements. In it, the members of the Hip are depicted as co-workers in a stereotypical office building. Fed up with the bleakness of their work-a-day routines, they unite to form a rock band during their off-hours. The video cuts between several sketches showing the blandness and banality of corporate work, a humorous sequence showing Downie printing flyers for one of the band’s shows (only to be caught by his boss playing the photocopier like a musical instrument), and the band performing on-stage (presumably at the show for which the flyers were being printed).
McCulloch played Fred Wright in the 1987 TV mini-series Anne of Avonlea.
McCulloch is a notable graduate of Mount Royal College located in Calgary, Alberta.
