# Actors / comedians who played a worse version of themselves **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [February 18, 2024, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737 "2024-02-18T18:22:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/101 "2024-02-21T05:24:54Z")
How about Robert Stack playing himself hosting a fake episode of _Unsolved Mysteries_ in _BASEketball_? > [@Robert Stack](#): > > Theory One: He’s hanging by his neck in his fucking closet. I mean, I think it’s great, but might squeak in as an edge-case of “worse version of his presenter persona”… ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/102 "2024-02-21T11:37:07Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Bacon also parodied himself in the _Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special._ Although he doesn’t play himself as being bad he does play himself as a self-absorbed Hollywood schmuck. I saw him do a short film about his making of a noir movie with a water fowl as a key character. It was hilarious, and that version of himself is not one young filmmakers should look to for inspiration. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/103 "2024-02-21T11:38:40Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > During the infamous “Philadelphia Incident”… I’m from Philly and I’ll need you to narrow this down. We have an incident every couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/104 "2024-02-21T12:21:59Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > I’m from Philly and I’ll need you to narrow this down. We have an incident every couple of days. I laughed! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/105 "2024-02-21T12:40:18Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Not sure if it counts but Chris Elliot played himself on David Letterman If we broaden “playing himself” to include “portraying himself in a book,” Chris Elliott counts for his books [_Daddy’s Boy: A Son’s Shocking Account of Life with a Famous Father_](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/399959.Daddy_s_Boy) and [_The Guy Under the Sheets: The Unauthorized Autobiography_](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17707732-the-guy-under-the-sheets). And in somwhat the same vein, there’s Norm Macdonald’s [_Based on a True Story: A Memoir_](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28686959-based-on-a-true-story). ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/106 "2024-02-21T14:40:02Z")
He was booed during a comedy show in Philly years ago, and went on a legendary(?) [12-minute rant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEKNLxjZLNU). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/107 "2024-02-21T14:47:32Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I laughed! Me too. I miss that town. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/108 "2024-02-21T15:11:14Z")
What @planetcory posted. IIRC, there was a comedy tour in town that got delayed. The crowd got drunker and drunker and very belligerent. The other comics wouldn’t go out, but Bill Burr tore up his prepared material and went out and insulted the crowd for 12 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/109 "2024-02-21T15:18:43Z")
And just for the sake of some random Chris Elliot trivia: the actor who plays Natalie ‘Sugar’ Berzatto on _The Bear_ is his daughter, Abby Elliot. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/110 "2024-02-21T15:22:13Z")
Albert Brooks plays himself in Looking for _Comedy in the Muslim World_, and writes his character as desperate for a Presidential Medal of something, and as unable to read an audience. It’s an underrated movie, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/111 "2024-02-21T15:43:32Z")
That wasn’t Burr playing a darker version of himself. That was Burr’s actual darker side bubbling to the surface. The man doesn’t take any shit on stage. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/112 "2024-02-21T15:57:29Z")
I didn’t say it was. Burr was accused of being a racist upthread, and I originally brought up the incident as an example of him denouncing racists. It’s a sidetrack to the thread’s theme. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/113 "2024-02-21T16:04:14Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > Adam Sandler played himself in an episode of _Undeclared_, going back to the dorm with a bunch of student fans and then sleeping with one of them. Also, he appeared on _Brooklyn Nine Nine_ as himself: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJRm\_dLKJNk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJRm_dLKJNk) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/114 "2024-02-21T16:08:32Z")
Conan O’Brien himself did (and wrote?) this on The Simpsons, in Bart Gets Famous, in which he, as a talk show host, was only interested in hearing Bart’s meme line “I didn’t do it”, but was also quick to dismiss him as unoriginal for saying the line. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/115 "2024-02-21T17:05:29Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > What @planetcory posted. IIRC, there was a comedy tour in town that got delayed. The crowd got drunker and drunker and very belligerent. The other comics wouldn’t go out, but Bill Burr tore up his prepared material and went out and insulted the crowd for 12 minutes. Not exactly. It was the Opie and Anthony Traveling Virus Tour. Great shows, great line ups. Probably the best comics of the time. They drew a rowdy crowd at each show but this one was worse. It was at what was then called the Tweeter Center in Camden. It’s literally under the bridge to Philly so it was a Philly crowd. Lots of tailgating before the show so the crowd was blitzed. Well respected Philly comic Dom Irrera went up and the crowd didn’t even give him a chance. He wasn’t a regular on the radio show and was probably not a good fit in the best of circumstances. Burr was scheduled to go on next and after he saw what the crowd did he threw out his material and started ranting. There weren’t any comics that refused to go on but a few cut their time short. It took a little while for Burr to get back to normal because after that people wanted him to come in and trash their city and he had an act to do. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/116 "2026-04-17T16:43:14Z")
The new episode of _Ghosts_ has (mild spoiler, obviously) the kid who played young Sheldon playing as the kid who played young Sheldon. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/117 "2026-04-17T17:43:38Z")
The first one who came to my mind was Carl Reiner playing Alan Brady on _ **The Dick Van Dyke Show** _. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/118 "2026-04-17T17:51:13Z")
\*ahem\* I know, who reads the OP on a two year old post, but… > [@solost](#): > > No, actors and comedians who played worse versions of their literal identities. Larry David playing ‘Larry David’ on Curb, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/119 "2026-04-17T17:56:11Z")
Are we only talking tv series? If not, I feel Penn & Teller count. They played characters named Penn Jillette and Teller, who were magicians, in _Invisible Thread_ and _Penn & Teller Get KIlled_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/120 "2026-04-17T17:58:02Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Which got me to thinking, there are a lot of times an actor, especially a comic actor and usually for comedic purposes, has played a more unlikeable, annoying version of themselves. The OP did not state specifically that the character has to have the same name, and Alan Brady was for all intents and purposes an unlikeable, annoying version of Carl Reiner. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737.md?page=7)