Marc Evan Jackson

Jackson co-founded the Detroit Creativity Project, which teaches Detroit public school students improv as a vehicle for improving their communication skills, along with Hagenlocker, Key, Margaret Edwartowski, and Larry Joe Campbell. The Project, which was inspired by a statement by Detroit mayor Dave Bing, was founded after a series of cookouts held at Jackson and Hagenlocker's home with other actors, writers, and directors who had connections to the city. In 2015 the program will expand to teach 500 students in 19 different schools.

Jackson has appeared as attorney Trevor Nelsson in half a dozen episodes of Michael Schur's comedy series Parks and Recreation, and was later cast as Kevin Cozner in Schur and Dan Goor's series Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Jackson had a supporting role in the Amazon pilot The Rebels, which premiered online in 2014 but was not picked up for a full series. In February 2014, it was announced that Jackson would play the role of Jim in the Fox pilot titled Fatrick, along with Marcia Cross. Jackson continued his affiliation with Schur by taking on a recurring role in his new comedy The Good Place as Shawn, who is first identified as the judge of conflicts between the Good Place and the Bad Place, but is later revealed to be a supervisor of the Bad Place; his fellow 313 member Maribeth Monroe (who plays Mindy St. Claire) is also a recurring regular. Jackson also hosts the official The Good Place: The Podcast for NBC.

In October 2013, Jackson appeared as Marcus Vanston in a live performance of the popular podcast Welcome to Night Vale. This episode, titled "The Debate", was released on May 1, 2014.

In January 2012, Jackson stood in for Bradley Cooper to play the part of Ben in a staged reunion performance of Wet Hot American Summer at the San Francisco Comedy Festival.

Jackson starred in a web series in 2011 directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts called Fox Compton. He has gone on to work with Vogt-Roberts many times, including on the film The Kings of Summer in 2013, Kong: Skull Island in 2017 and in the television series Mash Up on Comedy Central. Jackson has also made guest appearances in a number of other television series, including Key & Peele, Psych, Arrested Development, Happy Endings, The Middle, 2 Broke Girls, Modern Family, Kroll Show, Hello Ladies, and Black-ish. In 2012, Jackson starred in Suit Up, a web series co-produced by DirecTV and Fox Digital Studio, as Jim Dunnigan. Suit Up was the first of Fox Digital Studio's series to be picked up for a second season.

After meeting Mark Gagliardi and Ben Acker at Second City Hollywood, Jackson was invited to one of the first rehearsals of what would become the Thrilling Adventure Hour and became a member of the WorkJuice Players, playing Sparks Nevada in the regular segment "Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars". The show has been running as a live stage show since 2005 and has been published as a podcast since January 2011. Jackson also appeared in the film Drones, which was written by Acker and Blacker and directed by Amber Benson and Adam Busch.

Jackson married veterinarian Beth Hagenlocker on April 27, 2002. They live in Venice with their cats Penny, Charlie, and Snug.

Jackson moved to Los Angeles in 2001. He taught improv at Second City Hollywood. He joined the long-form improv group called "The 313" in 2003. The 313 is named for Detroit's area code and is made up of mostly former Detroit residents, including Keegan-Michael Key, Larry Joe Campbell, Joshua Funk, Nyima Funk, Andy Cobb, Maribeth Monroe, and Jaime Moyer. The 313 continues to perform at comedy festivals around the country, including Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Detroit.

Jackson started his improv career with River City Improv, a group associated with Calvin College, after attending a rehearsal to play the piano. Jackson later joined The Second City Detroit, becoming a member of the main company in 1998. While at Second City Detroit he participated in the 1999 show "Phantom Menace to Society."

During summers, Jackson worked as a deck hand on the MV Americana. After graduating from college, he spent a few years working on schooners, both in Michigan, as a deck hand on the schooner Malabar, and in Maine, as first mate on the Mercantile. He also worked as a producer and host for WGVU, a National Public Radio affiliate in Michigan, replacing Bill Freeman as the host of the Morning Show in 1997.

Marc Evan Jackson (born August 21, 1970) is an American comedian and actor best known for his work as Sparks Nevada in the Thrilling Adventure Hour, Kevin Cozner in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Trevor Nelsson in Parks and Recreation, Dr. Murphy in 22 Jump Street, and Shawn in The Good Place.

Jackson was born in 1970 in Buffalo, New York. He grew up in nearby Amherst, New York, along with his two siblings, a brother and a sister. He graduated from Amherst Central High School in 1988, and obtained a bachelor's degree from Calvin College in 1992 with a major in philosophy and minors in political science and environmental studies. While in college, he also participated in theatre productions.