Kattan was born in Sherman Oaks, California. His father, Kip King (né Jerome C. Kattan), is an actor and voice actor who appeared on the series Reno 911! as Larrie Plum. His mother, Hajnalka E. Biro, was in Playboy in the 1960s. His father is of Iraqi Jewish descent and his mother is a Hungarian-born Buddhist.[1] The two divorced when Kattan was a toddler and his mother re-married to Marc Joslyn. Kattan is engaged to model Sunshine Tutt.[2]

Kattan was a member of the improv/sketch comedy troupe The Groundlings in Los Angeles; his father was an original member of the troupe.

He moved to New York City to work on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2003. His recurring characters included Mr. Peepers, Mango, Azrael Abyss, Kyle DeMarco from The DeMarco Brothers, Gay Hitler, Suel Forrester (known for the term "dagitybo") and, most notably, one half of the Butabi Brothers with fellow SNL (and Groundlings) cast member Will Ferrell, known for their trademark head-bobbing (Kattan and Ferrell continued the characters in 1998's A Night at the Roxbury).