SSG Robert Henline, (Ret.)
The Well-Done Comedian
Bobby Henline is a retired Army Staff Sergeant, last serving with the 82nd Airborne Division. He spent 14 years in the Army, completing four tours. While on his fourth tour in Iraq, three weeks after his arrival, an IED exploded under his Humvee – April 7, 2007 is a day he will never forget. The four troops with him were killed. Henline stumbled out of the wreck, a human torch. He was extinguished by the soldier he had replaced in the Humvee. With burns covering almost 40% of his body, fractured bones in his face, and his head burned to the skull, Henline was put into a medically induced coma and flown back to the USA with a slim-to-zero chance of surviving.
During his initial six-month hospital stay, Bobby remained upbeat, positive, and relied on humor to get him through each day. Putting nurses in headlocks, trying to keep other wounded soldiers’ spirits up by telling them jokes, and singing a ditty over and over garnered the attention of his occupational therapist. She challenged him to go to an open mic night and try his hand at comedy, making him promise with a pinky swear. He kept his promise, and that experience started a new chapter in his life in 2010. He has been doing comedy whenever and wherever he can ever since.
A few of the most notable clubs Henline has performed in include Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club, Las Vegas; Laugh Factory, Chicago; Hollywood Improv, Los Angeles, Zanies Nashville, Cozzys Comedy Club, Newport News.
Henline’s story and lived experiences have been featured in film, print, and electronic media, including the documentaries Comedy Warriors: Healing Through Humor, Healing Bobby, Surviving Home, and Weight of Honor; on CNN, PBS KET, NPR, Today.com, and Time.com; Time Magazine, People Magazine, The Huffington Post, Guideposts, and Readers Digest; as well as on television in movies that include Sophie and the Rising Sun and Man’s Best Friend; he played Pyro Paulie in the Showtime series “Shameless“; and has been on hundreds of radio shows and podcasts around the world.
Henline is also a motivational speaker and travels the world sharing his inspiring story and comedy.