Before he was The Counselor of Love, Barry was just known as Barry. Nondescript Barry grew up in a suburb of Chicago as the youngest of four siblings who resented him for being so perfect. Growing up in a home with an outdoor pool afforded Barry many friends, especially in the summertime. He excelled at many sports summers on various traveling all-star baseball teams. But, since there was no checking in baseball, hockey rose up to become his first love.

In his teens, Barry was the goaltender for the Midwest Champion Evanston Wildkits Hockey Team and traveled to Europe representing the United States. Later he attended Northwestern University where he became part of the famous Mee-Ow show Improv troupe. Their director, Dan Patterson, Executive Producer of Who's Line Is It Anyway? took the troupe to Scotland to perform in the Edinburgh Festival where they had a successful month-long run and critical acclaim.

After college, Barry moved to Los Angeles where he began his standup career. After two years of performing in comedy hot spots like Moscow, Idaho, and Lake Ontonangon, Michigan, Barry became a regular at The Improv. He soon began being seen on numerous TV shows including The Tonight Show, Evening At The Improv, MTV's Half-Hour Comedy Hour, and Comedy Central.

Along the way, he began dating a beautiful princess he knew from his collegiate days. After a whirlwind romance of five years, they made their living arrangement official by marrying in 1993. Since Barry has been successful in a relationship, the no longer nondescript Barry has been dubbed The Counselor Of Love preaching the benefits of love and marriage. His easy going, clean act is loved by audiences ranging from 18-80, couples as well as singles looking to find that "perfect" person.