The birth of Bill Nye Science Guy

Everyone knows Bill Nye Science Guy, right?

Well, it turns out, he started his career on a Seattle comedy show called Almost Live. Almost Live was a sketch show, similar to Saturday Night Live, shown on the local Seattle NBC affiliate KING from 1984-1999.

Bill Nye was one of the Almost Live writers and periodically appeared in various sketches, sometimes as a speed walking superhero (one of his first repeating characters). But my favorite bit was when Bill would come on stage and do some science. In the beginning, the science was terrible, but fascinating. Over time, he got quite good at it and started to develop a national following.

Here’s an example, where Bill returns to the show after he became famous. If you are interested in seeing some of his earliest stuff, go to YouTube and do a search for “Bill Nye Science Guy Almost Live”.

Enjoy.