Raphael Bob-Waksberg

Raphael Matthew Bob-Waksberg (born August 17, 1984) is an American comedian, writer, producer, actor, and voice actor. He is known as the creator and showrunner of the Netflix animated comedy series BoJack Horseman and the Amazon Prime Video animated series Undone. He is also an executive producer on the Netflix/Adult Swim animated series Tuca & Bertie, created by BoJack Horseman production designer Lisa Hanawalt. Early life Bob-Waksberg was raised in Palo Alto, California with his two sisters, Becky and Amalia. His family is deeply involved in the Jewish community, and Bob-Waksberg was raised Jewish. From 1982 to about 2010, his mother and grandmother ran a Judaica gift and book store titled Bob & Bob Fine Jewish Gifts and Books. His father, David Waksberg, helped Russian-speaking Jews emigrate to the United States and served as CEO of Jewish LearningWorks, a San Francisco-based religious education center, until his retirement in 2020. His father has stated, "When a friend asked me about [BoJack Horseman] after the first season, I said it was about teshuvah." When asked how his culture has influenced his art, Bob-Waksberg replied, "Asking me that question is like asking a fish how much being in water has affected it." He has implied that his family perceived comedy as a viable career path, stating in a Times of Israel interview,Humor was a big part of my childhood. My family was full of comedians. We'd sit around the dinner table and try to one-up each other. It sometimes ended in tears, but usually in laughter...There was a warm and encouraging environment at home. My self-loathing and neuroticism are not because of my upbringing.At 9 years of age, he was nicknamed "Raizin," and insisted on the name until the age of 22. He grew up 8 minutes away from Lisa Hanawalt, art collaborator and close friend. He was in the grade below hers at Gunn High School, which Bob-Waksberg described as "one of those schools where if you didn't take five AP classes and get 1600 on your SATs, you were considered subpar."