The popular and funny Progressive ads featuring people coming down with various cases of “responsibility” — AKA turning into their parents has helped make live sporting events timeouts and other hiccups in our immediate video gratification much more tolerable. (If you watch sports or anything else on TV you have likely seen the ads for Progressive insurance, right after that GEICO ad…)
One of the very best of the Progressive “becoming our parents” ads is “Guys Night Out” when new homeowner Tom Pritchard suddenly transforms into a version of his father. It makes Tom’s relationships with his friends a little awkward, especially when they hit the club.
The actor playing Tom Pritchard, who dorkily greets women on the dance floor with a firm (and very out-of-place) handshake, is Chris Witaske. The 35-year-old Second City alum is a natural for the goofy role of Tom — and Witaske absolutely crushes it. (Typical YouTube comment: “I literally laughed out loud during this whole commercial I loved it.”)
If you want to see more of Chris Witsake, you don’t have to wait for his next Progressive spot. Witsake made his TV debut on New Girl in 2014 and has appeared on Arrested Development, Drunk History, Teachers, and more. Witsake is a major character (Chris Czajkowski) in Judd Apatow’s Netflix series Love. He’ll appear in the film What Men Want starring Taraji P. Henson in 2019.
