# THAT person is a stand up comedian? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 23, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642 "2012-10-23T18:02:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/1 "2012-10-23T18:02:05Z")
A lot of times you’ll see stand up comics in roles you wouldn’t suspect a comic to be in. This is for both TV and movies. Robin Williams has a bunch of these (Good Will Hunting, Awakenings)…as well as George Carlin as “the conductor” in Thomas the Engine (or whatever the show is) Then there are the obvious stand up comics is comedy roles - Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Jerry Seinfeld What actors/actresses have you been stunned to find out were actually stand up comics? I know some of the smaller roles on Breaking Bad are done by stand up comics (Saul’s two guys and Jesse’s two drug dealer friends) But two examples that I had no idea that they were comics were: Kevin Pollack - from A Few Good Men Mary Lynn Rajskub - Chloe from 24 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/2 "2012-10-23T18:24:00Z")
I remember **Richard Belzer** (Det. Munch from _Homicide_ and _Law & Order: SVU_ from a stand-up show on Showtime in the late-70s/early-80s. His IMDb bio says he was the warm-up comedian for the first season of _Saturday Night Live_ and appeared on a couple early episodes. > [@edwards\_beard](#): > > Kevin Pollack - from A Few Good Men There was a thread a while ago about movies in which one character imitates another. _A Few Good Men_ is mentioned because of the scene where Tom Cruise briefly quotes and imitates an earlier scene with Jack Nicholson. On youtube there is footage of Kevin Pollack’s act where he acts out a scene from the original _Star Trek_ as it might have been done with famous actors in the roles. It includes Jack Nicholson. _A Few Good Men_; three Nicholsons for the price of one. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/3 "2012-10-23T18:33:04Z")
[Greg Behrendt,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Behrendt) who was a writer for Sex & the City and coined the phrase “He’s just not that into you” which became a best selling book and launched him to his own daytime talk show for a spell. I was surprised to find out he’s mostly a stand-up comic and a pretty well respected one at that. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/4 "2012-10-23T18:34:52Z")
Also, I think a lot of people of more recent generations would be shocked to learn that **Woody Allen** started out as a stand-up comic, as did **Bob Newhart**. Both had great success with their comedy careers before making it big in film/tv. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/5 "2012-10-23T18:42:19Z")
Aren’t a lot of the cast of The Big Bang Theory comedians ? In the U.K, . a series of Agatha Christies, Miss Marples mysteries (Though titled Marple , I believe) are comedians(Often highly disguised) who play their roles straight. As a matter of curiousity, if anyone knows why this happened please let me know as its been driving me mad . My own theory is is that they all use the same casting agency who got the contract to supply actors. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/6 "2012-10-23T18:46:20Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > [Greg Behrendt,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Behrendt) who was a writer for Sex & the City and coined the phrase “He’s just not that into you” which became a best selling book and launched him to his own daytime talk show for a spell. > > I was surprised to find out he’s mostly a stand-up comic and a pretty well respected one at that. I remember he had some Comedy Central specials, which I enjoyed, and then he disappeared for a while and next thing I know there’s this chick book by a Greg Behrendt and his wife and it reminded me of the comedian so I looked it up and Holy Crap! that comedian wrote that chick book. Here’s a snippet. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IMeAX5rz3q4/hqdefault.jpg "Attractive Man?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMeAX5rz3q4) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/7 "2012-10-23T18:47:14Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I remember **Richard Belzer** (Det. Munch from _Homicide_ and _Law & Order: SVU_ from a stand-up show on Showtime in the late-70s/early-80s. His IMDb bio says he was the warm-up comedian for the first season of _Saturday Night Live_ and appeared on a couple early episodes. I was surprised to see the rather young Mr. Belzer as a stand-up comic in _Scarface_. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/8 "2012-10-23T18:54:08Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Aren’t a lot of the cast of The Big Bang Theory comedians ? I think the only one who could remotely be called a stand-up comic would be Simon Helberg and that’s kind of stretching it. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/9 "2012-10-23T18:58:34Z")
I remember being shocked when I found out Jay Mohr was a standup comedian. All I had ever seen him in was bit non-comedic roles, and had completely missed his couple of years on SNL. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/10 "2012-10-23T19:02:18Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > Kevin Pollack He’s a great stand-up and [an absolutely brilliant impressionist](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xKXbOVbAvE&feature=related). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/11 "2012-10-23T19:09:51Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I remember **Richard Belzer** (Det. Munch from _Homicide_ and _Law & Order: SVU_ from a stand-up show on Showtime in the late-70s/early-80s. His IMDb bio says he was the warm-up comedian for the first season of _Saturday Night Live_ and appeared on a couple early episodes. A highlight of Belzer’s standup routines in the Seventies was his Mick Jagger impression. Every now and then, when he’s on a talk show, the host will convince him to do a bit of the Jagger routine. He was the first person I ever heard describe Jagger as “a rooster on coke.” Belzer couldn’t sing like Jagger, but he had the moves down PERFECTLY. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/12 "2012-10-23T19:15:23Z")
My memory (fuzzy though it is) remembers Belzer’s line as being that Mick was like a rooster on acid. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/13 "2012-10-23T19:18:06Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > A highlight of Belzer’s standup routines in the Seventies was his Mick Jagger impression. Every now and then, when he’s on a talk show, the host will convince him to do a bit of the Jagger routine. > > He was the first person I ever heard describe Jagger as “a rooster on coke.” Belzer couldn’t sing like Jagger, but he had the moves down PERFECTLY. So he had “Moves like Jagger”? 😉 ---
**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:** [October 23, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/14 "2012-10-23T19:21:53Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I think the only one who could remotely be called a stand-up comic would be Simon Helberg and that’s kind of stretching it. Yeah, I thought he was sitting down. Anyhow, a lot of young actors will try stand-up, and a lot of stand-ups will try acting. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/15 "2012-10-23T19:22:53Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > He’s a great stand-up and [an absolutely brilliant impressionist](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xKXbOVbAvE&feature=related). Also a hell of a poker player. He took a vicious beat to get knocked out of the World Series this year. Oh, I just checked, it’s “Pollak”. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/16 "2012-10-23T19:25:26Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I think the only one who could remotely be called a stand-up comic would be Simon Helberg and that’s kind of stretching it. Yes you’re right, for some reason I thought Parsons had been a Stand Up, but Bernadette actually was. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/17 "2012-10-23T19:34:47Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > A highlight of Belzer’s standup routines in the Seventies was his Mick Jagger impression. Every now and then, when he’s on a talk show, the host will convince him to do a bit of the Jagger routine. > > He was the first person I ever heard describe Jagger as “a rooster on coke.” Belzer couldn’t sing like Jagger, but he had the moves down PERFECTLY. I don’t think it takes much convincing. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/18 "2012-10-23T19:39:44Z")
Joe Rogan who is a host for Fear Factor (best reality show on tv) and does color commentary for Ultimate Fighting Championship (mixed martial arts) does standup. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/19 "2012-10-23T19:51:26Z")
[Whoopi Goldberg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoopi_Goldberg#Early_work) got her start in stand-up, and even had a one-woman Broadway show. Steven Spielberg fought to get her cast as the lead in The Color Purple. And the rest is history. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642/20 "2012-10-23T19:53:13Z")
Joss Whedon is known for hiring comics for his TV shows and movies–he figures that he’s going to ask them to do something funny someday, and if they’ve been a comic, he knows they can do it. Serious actors can’t necessarily do comedy. The one I know of is Michael Hitchcock, who played the scientist in Serenity who was experimenting on River Tam’s brain. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-person-is-a-stand-up-comedian/638642.md?page=2)