Born on Jan. 24, 1974, Helms, graduated from Westminster High School in Atlanta, and after graduating from Oberlin, moved to New York City to pursue his comic aspirations. For years, he worked the comedy club circuit, paying his dues with nightly performances at all the major NYC clubs, as well as studying improvisation with The Upright Citizens Brigade. All of these appearances eventually garnered him enough notice, that he landed a prime spot on the Fall 2002 season of “Comedy Central's Premium Blend” (1997- ). Helms also added to his growing resume with an impressive number of national TV ads, including voice over work for such campaigns as Doritos, Burger King and Advair asthma medication. He also appeared onscreen with NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in a 2002 Super Bowl spot for Budweiser.

A working actor as well, Helms made the requisite TV guest appearances, showing up on shows “Arrested Development “ (Fox, 2003-06) and "Cheap Seats: Without Ron Parker” (ESPN, 2004- ), as well as providing more voice over for the character of "Angel” on the Cartoon Network's series, “Weighty Decisions.” In April of 2002, Helms got his first big break by joining Comedy Central’s hit faux news show, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” where he killed with his hilarious contributions to such segments as “Digital Watch” and “This Week in God.” During his time on “The Daily Show,” Helms also contributed to the show’s tongue-in-cheek Comedy Central spin-off, “The Colbert Report” (2005- ).

By 2006, Helms had watched his fellow “Daily Show” correspondent, Steve Carell, move on to A-list success on the big and small screen. So it was fitting that in July of that year, NBC announced that Helms would be joining the beloved cast of “The Office” – but not initially as a member of the Scranton-based Dunder-Mifflin company – rather, as the head imbecile at the Stamford branch that regular Jim Halpert (Jim Krasinski) flees to after an office romance-gone-bad. As Andy Bernard, Helms stole most scenes from his castmates – especially after the Scranton branch absorbed the Stanford branch after only a few episodes, bring Helms and Carell face-to-face in the same office. Bernard’s instant schmoozing of boss Michael Scott (Carell) is met with instant disdain and jealousy by Scott’s former second-in-command, Dwight (Rainn Wilson). Helms shone most particularly when he used his real-life banjo-playing skills to serenade office receptionist Pam (Jenna Fischer) with his falsetto version of the Kermit the Frog classic, “Rainbow Connection.” The comic’s connection to Carell continued outside of Dunder-Mifflin, when he was cast as Ed Carson in the big-budgeted and highly-hyped sequel to “Bruce Almighty” (2003) – “Evan Almighty (2007) – this time, starring Carell in the lead instead of the former film’s star, Jim Carrey.