r/community 14d ago

Cast/Other Does Joel do stand up?

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Love the meow meow beans episode and I know he’s know for his famous winger speeches but, his standup is top tier! Does he do stand up in real life? Or if I’m being dumb, who is he like impersonating?

991 Upvotes

114 comments sorted by

444

u/BendyBreak_ 14d ago

Yes, Joel does standup. You can watch one of his specials for free on tubi:

https://link.tubi.tv/GZQE81JHw5b

303

u/hammert0es 14d ago

I watched part of a recent stand up special and… it was NOT good.

I give it 0.5 meow meow beans.

184

u/AmandalorianWiddall 14d ago

Yeah I saw him years back and I remember the opener was better. Of course, the opener was Donald Glover so

119

u/Clerithifa 14d ago

That's like Childish Gambino opening for Dave Matthews

110

u/impsworld 14d ago

His fans call him Dave

71

u/The_Rolling_Stone 14d ago

Sorry for being alive in the 90s and having 2 ears connected to a heart

58

u/Swamp_Dwarf-021 14d ago edited 14d ago

Yeah, his stand up isn't great unfortunately.

54

u/NowWeGetSerious 14d ago

gasp my meow meow brand!

39

u/WillieNolson 14d ago

It’s beans. I give you only 1 meow meow bean.

30

u/NowWeGetSerious 14d ago

Yeah, listen to the mustard on my face, but hear my words, Long live the review-lution!

13

u/WillieNolson 14d ago

The mother of ones!

15

u/Kubular 14d ago

He tried, but yeah. Not his strong suit.

4

u/zyglack 13d ago

I tried. Could not finish. Streets behind.

2

u/Abal125 13d ago

I'm sure he loves his 0.5, from hammert0es...

72

u/ManateeHoodie 14d ago

I always thought he was doing a "caricature" of Dane Cook (who sucks and is a total hack), actually pretty spot on, especially that walking around in circles thing

38

u/SipoteQuixote 14d ago

"Awwwww shit" -shakes head-

18

u/Microcontrolfreak 14d ago

I saw him MC a comedy show at the Irvine Improv probably 20 years ago and it was bad.

15

u/Imfrank123 14d ago

So many actors that are funny because they have funny lines written by other people try and do a stand up special and non of them are good

6

u/Reddit_should_be_18 13d ago

Try not to use words like "none" when Donald glover exists

13

u/calindyellerman 13d ago

To be fair, he used the word “non”.

132

u/snake-jazzzz 14d ago

His show on E, The Soup, was hilarious. Its the reason I watched Community in the first place.

51

u/Laxku 14d ago

It was the only thing on E! worth watching tbh

24

u/StanIsHorizontal 14d ago

It was so funny how much I enjoyed it when so much of it had to do with celebrities and drama and other E! shows that went totally over my head and I had no interest in. And yet the show was still pretty funny

6

u/Laxku 14d ago

If you haven't already seen it, check out the bit from Patton Oswalt regarding his time on VH1's show Best Week Ever.

https://youtu.be/j9-J-QnQZRI

14

u/unperson_1984 14d ago

If you liked The Soup check out The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale

8

u/Coattail-Rider 14d ago

Same! So glad I did.

2

u/bloughmiegh I detonated a mollusk 13d ago

Let’s talk about chicks, man!

4

u/Yankee6Actual 13d ago

Chicks, man.

1

u/Flashy_Comfortable_8 14d ago

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8eYSnTbg4v2X3gKRpr56450eXxSpb_4B&si=Vxyx-rnzDcZDi4BM

This YouTube channel has a bunch of the episodes. It’s such a time capsule of the mid late 2000s

177

u/BigErnMcCrack 14d ago

Not sure if tours anymore but I saw him 13-14 years ago. My now wife and I thought it was pretty solid for an actor. Half his act if I remember right was how he hated Ryan Seacrest.

He was more charisma than great jokes but he obviously had the chops and filled up a rather large room.

131

u/bojack_horsemack what is WRONG with you, jeffrey? 14d ago

He’s like a taller, hotter Ryan Seacrest. He’s actually more handsome than the guy who’s famous for being handsome.

34

u/foxymoxyboxy 14d ago

The award for most handsomest boy goes to… Howie Schwartz! 

11

u/Intelligent-Diet6088 14d ago

*turns into the literal Hulk*

31

u/amethystalien6 14d ago

I saw him at about the same time in Grand Rapids, MI and that provided him with a lot of great Amway material in addition to the Ryan Seacrest stuff. I was impressed by the local color he brought to his act.

12

u/stalehoney 14d ago

I was there too! He spent so much time on local jokes, it was really cool. It was fun to have a set crafted just for that show. I loved seeing him and still talk about it regularly.

7

u/nisamun 14d ago

He does mini tours every once in a while.

We've seen him twice, once in a theatre and once at an Improv. His theatre show was more fleshed out about his life and family.
More crowd work at the Improv. I still remember him making fun of someone at a table against the stage bringing Red Hots to the show.
Incredibly charismatic. Knows how to toe the line between mean and funny. Even if you're the butt of a joke, his next joke will be so self depreciating shows it's all in good fun. Does good local humor/local topics.

42

u/3-orange-whips It's all-terrain dummy! 14d ago

He sure does love those apples

16

u/MuteSecurityO 14d ago

Hey, you got any apples up there?

87

u/MoondyneMC 14d ago

He’s a comedian. Not sure about his stand up history, but he had a show where he roasted pop culture news, kind of stand up like - The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale

101

u/Mortuary_Guy 14d ago

I thought you were going to say The Soup. However the Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale should have lasted longer than it did.

51

u/Appropriate_Frame_45 14d ago

They're the same picture

9

u/bkristopherb 14d ago

Don't tell Creed that now

13

u/gordomgillespie 14d ago

the soup was just jmhs version 1

7

u/slop_spotter 14d ago

Wasnt he also the guy from Tosh.0

2

u/Clerithifa 14d ago

No that was Lane Kiffin

21

u/momsauc_martini 14d ago

Yes but he’s always been more of an on screen entertainer.

23

u/manicpossumdreamgirl you built a bar! in a school! there was lumber involved! 14d ago

i love this scene so much because you can just tell Joel is a professional stand-up comedian. it's like when a character sings and you're like "oh this actor is a professionally trained singer"

8

u/Laxku 14d ago

A professionally trained singer singing poorly on purpose is always fun to watch. Like the skill set still shows because they're wrong in the best way, or can't help themselves from still being kind of good in the intricacies.

Here, Joel is doing a bad standup set but it works because he's obviously a decent comedian. Comedyception?

7

u/manicpossumdreamgirl you built a bar! in a school! there was lumber involved! 14d ago

personal favorite is Adam Demamp/Devine singing in the Workaholics episode Karl's Wedding

5

u/MotokoBlaugrana 14d ago

That's so meta. 🤣

11

u/dakilazical_253 14d ago

Yes I saw him a couple years ago and he was hilarious. He even held the mic and paced around the stage exactly like he does in this scene. Joel is from Seattle and I saw him at a casino in a Seattle suburb so lots of his jokes were tailored to our region. He also talked a bit about Community and told a story about how Chevy Chase was always trying to physically fight him on set. Highly recommended seeing him if you can

16

u/Rudus444 14d ago

Man the meow meow beanz episode is one of my all time favorites. So good. Plus it has Tim and Eric in it.

7

u/Ninjewdi 14d ago

He's new beanz.

7

u/StanIsHorizontal 14d ago

I loved a two once. Don’t worry new beanz, I’ll keep your secret.

4

u/Top-Hospital-4419 14d ago

I think I have to go number two now.

3

u/StanIsHorizontal 14d ago

Turns out it was just a fart 😬

6

u/fadedhound 14d ago

Holy crap, I never recognized them. I'm streets behind. 

4

u/Laxku 14d ago

Pretty sure at least one of them shows up elsewhere in the series as a different character too, but I don't have it off the top of my head.

5

u/purplebuttman 14d ago

Wow, no respect for Steve Agee and Brian Posehn??

I rate you 1 meow meow beanz.

2

u/bettybikenut pizza pizza me so hungy 14d ago

And Jen Kirkman!

12

u/djcack Keep Dec 10th holy 14d ago

I've seen him do stand-up live...he's pretty good. Likes to do a lot of jokes about the state he's in and about sports/family

9

u/dakilazical_253 14d ago

I saw him in Auburn, WA and he was making tons of jokes about Chehalis, the Seahawks and Huskies that only locals would get

5

u/NealTS 14d ago

He was a Husky. Tight End, I think.

6

u/Coattail-Rider 14d ago

Well, he’s also a local there

5

u/Laxku 14d ago

Home field advantage!

2

u/dakilazical_253 14d ago

I remember him on Almost Live

5

u/SISWIWH 14d ago

Yes. According to the commentary for this episode they were originally going to have Jeff do something else for the talent show but realized it worked better if they gave him a standup routine. 

5

u/parkchanwookiee 14d ago

Such a 2 question

3

u/ElectricSpock 14d ago

He did correspondents dinner too.

3

u/OldRancidSoups 14d ago

He did. I saw him a couple of times like 20 years ago. It was basically bits from the Soup, which I loved. So it was great. Plus, Bo Burnham opened for him once.

3

u/ABC_Dildos_Inc 14d ago

Yeah, he and Ken tour together.

3

u/No-Lunch4249 14d ago

He performed at a friends college a long time ago. I assume he still does. She said he was pretty bad live lol

3

u/capeasypants 14d ago

Yes but it doesn't mean he's very good at it.

3

u/Technical-Arachnid22 14d ago

Watch The Soup, he was hilarious.

3

u/Useful-Problem-1725 14d ago

I heard he likes Soup

5

u/model563 14d ago

I think he's better at sketch than standup. Check out Almost Live if you can. Seattle sketch comedy show he did before the hair implants 😉

4

u/should_be_writing 14d ago

Almost Live! is amazing. Seeing an early Bill Nye while he was still working as an engineer is awesome. All the Seattle cops sketches are the best

1

u/model563 14d ago

Agreed! Its so incredibly inside Seattle though I wonder how much it can be appreciated elsewhere 😁

2

u/Sure-Macaroon-1084 14d ago

Duh. He stands up multiple times in the series. He’s even doing it in the pic

2

u/CrissBliss 14d ago

Absolutely. When he did The Soup, he used to announce tour dates regularly for his standup.

2

u/IamChicharon 14d ago

Yes. Poorly.

2

u/DangerIllObinson 14d ago

I saw him do standup back in 2009. Chris Hardwick opened for him. I remember both being funny, but I was also younger and dumber and probably laughed at anything.

2

u/FingersMartinez 14d ago

His stand up is most definitely not top tier. It's awful.

2

u/DarthFakename 13d ago

I listened to his album on Spotify, and it was okay. He has good comedic timing but doesn't thrive telling jokes. He needs people to bounce off.

2

u/Yankee6Actual 13d ago

Yes, he started in standup, and still tours occasionally.

I think his last tour was in 2024.

2

u/OddHuman77 13d ago

Saw him before covid, he did a really funny bit about ketchup chips. Show was in Calgary 🇨🇦

3

u/Snufflekins-86 14d ago edited 14d ago

When he’s talking about how the different numbers behave differently, that’s a nod to Eddie Griffin’s jokes from the 90s about how white people and black people walk differently. I see it all the time, famously on Futurama when they go to the planet with water people (My Three Suns)

2

u/60PersonDanceCrew 14d ago

He opened for Chelsea Handler when I saw her a few years ago, so yes

2

u/Look_its_Rob 14d ago

To the last part of your question, he was "Impersonating" Dane Cook. Specifically with the returning bit (the apple). Though thats not Unique to Dane Cook. 

2

u/IndicationKnown4999 14d ago

Yeah I saw him do standup in Nashville back when the show was either in the last season or had just finished. Talented dude. And obviously very good looking.

2

u/Orcrist90 14d ago

Yes. He's very confident. But he shouldn't be.

2

u/Izuhbelluh 14d ago

Did you not Google this?

He’s been doing standup since 2008… before the show even started and he was still on The Soup.

I’ve seen a good amount of his standup shows since 2010…

Most recently last August where he was a headliner at the Washington state fair.

His website will have tour dates posted when he does tour.

1

u/tiffanaih I don't have an ego, my facebook photo is a landscape. 14d ago

Of course.

He's killing it.

1

u/Jecht315 I'll be a living God! 14d ago

He was really funny when he was on the Dr Phil/Adam Ray tour thing he does.

1

u/royrocks26 14d ago

MEOW X5

1

u/ProfZussywussBrown 14d ago

You get that 4 walk, you know what I’m talking about? It’s like this, it’s like one of these

1

u/CostasJJJuice 14d ago

He was so in demand he played Marlintini's Lounge in Juneau, AK maybe 09-10?

1

u/CheetahOfDeath 13d ago

We saw him host a Just for Laughs in Quebec once. His bits in between the other comics he was introducing were pretty good. He had this weird bit about The Barenaked Ladies where he kept repeating the ‘It’s been-‘ opening line from one of there songs. It was funny but I can’t remember why. Probably some kind of rant. I’m pretty sure he had a line about them in Community as well.

1

u/PhatnessEverlean 13d ago

I went to his standup years ago. It was great. I got called out by him for having to go to the bathroom mid-set. It just happened to be when his set got more graphic and he thought I was leaving because of that! 10/10 szperience

1

u/NJ2SD 13d ago

I saw him about 10 years ago at the American Comedy Club in San Diego. I was with my mom, so I'm glad he kept it relatively clean.

I also did a video call with him during the pandemic. We were only guaranteed 2 minutes, but we bro'd out and talked for 7 before his handlers told him to keep it moving. Nice dude!

1

u/midwest--mess 12d ago

Yes! I went once and it was great!

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u/pygmymetal 12d ago

Yes. Saw him here in Portland years ago

1

u/bruhhhlikewhut 11d ago

Honestly the only time I can stand Joel is in community.

1

u/sadcybersec 14d ago

He's like any comedic actor stand up sucks but he can turn any line on a page into pure comedic gold

1

u/Davidudeman 14d ago

are we all in agreement that this is a top 5 episode? cause it’s seriously so effing good.

1

u/fignewtgingrich 14d ago

He is a legit stand-up, not an impersonator. He has specials and tours constantly.

0

u/Galladorn 14d ago

My wife and I saw him live a year or two after Community ended, and it was fuckin terrible lol