Alex Zerbe was born in Seattle Washington in the eccentric neighborhood of Capital Hill.
Unlike his older brother Matt, who excelled at athletics, Alex took a non-tradition route in his interests and became fascinated with the game of chess. Alex competed at the highest level of youth chess in the country claiming 3 regional titles but stopped playing entirely after a stunning loss to the 8-year-old Russian prodigy Vladimir Plavenkov.
Alex realized how much pressure he was putting on himself to be the best and took a break from chess. He took an acting class at the local community center. The teacher was amazed with Alex’s natural comic timing and acting ability and cast him in a local production of the Odd Couple. Alex played a minor role but impressed the director enough to get invited to audition for King Lear.
With the regional chess championships a month away and a much-anticipated rematch with his Russian nemesis on the horizon Alex decided to focus on his acting and not compete in the chess championships.
That decision paid off when he was cast as the title role in King Lear making him the youngest actor to ever play King Lear in Washington at only 13.
With his acting career blossoming Alex’s brother Matt introduced him to a game called Hacky Sack. Alex became quickly infatuated with the challenging game and became determined to become better than his brother who was already globally recognized as one of the best in the world.
Alex decided to put acting on the back burner and focus on school and Hacky Sack practice. After graduating early from high school he decided to put his practice to the test and traveled to Europe to compete in the world Hacky Sack championships. His practice paid dividends when he took 8th place upsetting his brother who finished an uncharacteristic 13th.
Winning his brother’s approval was something new for Alex and it sparked a competitive spirit between him and his brother. Alex was determined to learn other skills that his older brother had mastered like juggling.
When he returned to Seattle he bought all the books and videos he could afford and started practicing 4 hours a day. He was determined to become a better juggler than his brother who was performing professionally around the world.
Alex stayed in Seattle paying the bills by acting in local commercials and performing his new skills on the street at the historic Pike Place Market. Alex applied his acting and natural comic timing with his new juggling ability and entertained thousands of people on the streets of Seattle.
After a year of performing his show on the streets and at parties Alex convinced Matt to move to Seattle and perform a juggling show that Alex called the Brothers from Different Mothers!
After getting his AA from Seattle Central Community College, Alex now lives in a beautiful house in Olympia Washington.
He is currently part of an improvisational group called Big Monkeys No Brains that performs comedy improv at schools.
He is also the co-founder of the Seattle Juggling and Footbag Festival and All Four Limbs show, an annual event and the only one of its kind in the world.
When he is not performing with his brother he spends his time playing drums, acting, riding his bike and writing comedy. He is currently the resident expert on Jerry Lewis for The National Association for Creative Arts.
