An Anders Holm commencement speech is what you might expect; a winding, twisting journey through “Ders” fictional fun, peppered with appropriable poignancy, punctuated by wisdom.
Anders Holm, UW commencement speech
The writer, creator, producer and star of Comedy Central’s Workaholics is a bright guy. You can’t write and produce a hit show–picked up for its 4th and 5th season–without some serious brain power and machiavellian moves. After graduating from UW with a degree in history, Anders moved to Los Angeles and fought his way to the top. Arguably he worked harder than most, ultimately taking his work to the web, proving his brand of comedy by building an audience first. It’s all about the fans, and Anders got them by investing his own time, money and hardwork. The result: his brand of comedy has redefined the classic network half-hour comedy structure.
Anders, on the surface, appears to just be having fun. In truth, he’s a comic force, a tentpole producer network executives throw millions at hoping some of their genius will trickle down to other creatives shepherding shows.
And, of course, Anders swam and still swims. Moveover, he dips back into the pool, mining the swim culture for some of his funniest creative moments.
Anders Holm, Worhaholics writer, creator, producer and star
Anders was a sprint specialist, a 20 point 50 freestyle at UW. In short, he’s got chops. He’s been there and done that. He shares with us, the millions around the world in the swim community, the same experience of lap after lap of hard work and the satisfaction of personal achievement. If you swim or ever swam, you should stop by his show. (Most SwimSwam readers know Ders, but a few older readers may have not taken the plunge into the Workaholics cannon. Do it. You’ll be glad you did, though it’s not for the faint of heart. Be warned! Anders takes comedy to its absolute mind-bending, gut-busting end.)
Anders, thankfully, continues to give-back to the sport. Aside from building his Workaholics character from the groundup thoroughly chlorinated, Anders follows the sport, acting as the celebrity Twitter analyst when swimmers break records, win world championships or Olympic gold medals…. In sum, Anders promotes swimming, and for that we love him.
Anders is a proud Badger, and he stopped in to see his old team before the commencement speech, showing his support to UW’s NCAA Champion and rising backstroke star, Drew teDuits:
@ders808 @BadgerSwimDive it was great meeting you! Maybe we’ll get a chance to race another time! #letsgetweird pic.twitter.com/Wp1e7Nc6qa
Anders has been nice enough to stop-in at SwimSwam. See his videos below:
Anders Holm on 2012 Olympic Trials.
Anders Holm on the Olympic Village.
Anders Holm “Olympic” drop-in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySZsBstXKOY Here’s a relay they did on his visit.
Anders is such a class act.