Barinholtz was born in the Rogers Park area of Chicago, Illinois, and was raised in its Lake View neighborhood, the son of Peggy and Alan Barinholtz, an attorney. Barinholtz has described his parents as "liberal people with great senses of humor," and has said that he was raised in a "very funny home." Barinholtz is Jewish, and attended Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, before attending The Latin School of Chicago for high school. He had planned on becoming a politician, but decided to move to Los Angeles, California, to be an actor instead. He worked at a telemarketing company and as a busboy before starting a career in comedy.\n', '

Barinholtz also attended Boston University and after dropping out, he worked for the Chicago Transit Authority before starting his comedy career. In a 2013 interview, he said he dropped out of school because he hated it and was doing poorly.\n', '

In a 2012 phone interview, Barinholtz said he was inspired to pursue a career in comedy after attending a comedy show at The Vic Theatre and seeing several other comedians. Afterwards, he started taking comedy classes at The Second City, ImprovOlympic and Annoyance Theatre, and was not successful at first, but chose to stick with it. His younger brother Jon Barinholtz is also an actor and comedian.\n', '

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