# Which celebrities are comfortable making fun of themselves or their work publicly **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221 "2010-12-07T02:11:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/21 "2010-12-07T04:26:27Z")
Christopher Walken and The Rock both have a self-deprecating sense of humor and have no problem looking ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/22 "2010-12-07T04:33:54Z")
Definitely Conan and Joan Rivers. First two I thought of. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/23 "2010-12-07T04:34:58Z")
George Clooney is great with this. Especially Batman and Robin. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/24 "2010-12-07T04:43:34Z")
Paris Hilton, actually, displayed a surprising level of maturity and humility two years ago when she hit back at John McCain for using her as a negative example. She simultaneously mocked herself and him. Either she’s smarter than we give her credit for, or she’s got a great PR agent. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/25 "2010-12-07T04:45:11Z")
The Ricky Gervais show EXTRAS had a lot of celebs who did parodies of themselves. One that I particularly enjoyed was Patrick Stewart who plays an egotistical version of himself hawking a godawful script about a guy who goes around making women’s clothes fly off (“too late… he’s seen everything”). Robert DeNiro has done several self deprecating performances on SNL and even redid his Taxi Driver “you talkin’ to me?” spiel in the godawful Bullwinkle movie. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/26 "2010-12-07T05:09:44Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The Ricky Gervais show EXTRAS had a lot of celebs who did parodies of themselves. One that I particularly enjoyed was Patrick Stewart who plays an egotistical version of himself hawking a godawful script about a guy who goes around making women’s clothes fly off (“too late… he’s seen everything”). What I came in to post. Also notably hilarious: Harry Potter trying to act like an adult, smoking and pretending to know about condoms, Orlando Bloom sending up his sex symbol status, and epcially Kate Winslet: “And I don’t think we really need another film about the Holocaust, do we? It’s like, how many have there been? You know, we get it - it was grim, move on. No, I’m doing it because I’ve noticed that if you do a film about the Holocaust - guaranteed Oscar!” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/27 "2010-12-07T05:24:46Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Kate Winslet: “And I don’t think we really need another film about the Holocaust, do we? It’s like, how many have there been? You know, we get it - it was grim, move on. No, I’m doing it because I’ve noticed that if you do a film about the Holocaust - guaranteed Oscar!” And how freaking prophetic:D I’ve wondered if that almost kept her from winning the Oscar. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/28 "2010-12-07T05:35:02Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Paris Hilton, actually, displayed a surprising level of maturity and humility two years ago. Have you seen “Repo”? Great stuff.. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/29 "2010-12-07T08:01:56Z")
I thought Halle Berry was a good sport for appearing at the Razzies to pick up her award for Worst Actress for _Catwoman_ and accepting with a speech that mocked her overly-tearful Oscar acceptance speech. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/30 "2010-12-07T09:14:52Z")
Robert Goulet was the king of this. Pia Zadora was pretty good about it, too; aksed about her nomination for the Golden Turkey award for **Butterfly** , she said “I’d hate to be nominated and not win it!” My kinda girl. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/31 "2010-12-07T10:02:50Z")
I started a similar thread a while ago asking if anyone made fun of their real life self more than Matt Damon, but I think it soon sank. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/32 "2010-12-07T10:03:59Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > And how freaking prophetic:D I’ve wondered if that almost kept her from winning the Oscar. Hence this little quip from Ricky Gervais. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAweiV944qI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAweiV944qI) I was also going to mention pretty much everyone who guest starred on Extras. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/33 "2010-12-07T10:15:57Z")
I hated Ryan Seacrest until I saw him in _Knocked Up_. He’s earned my indifference. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/34 "2010-12-07T11:23:16Z")
Here’s Patrick Stewart on [Extras](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_cwI1Xj4M), it really is worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/35 "2010-12-07T11:24:35Z")
> [@Monkey\_Chews](#): > > I thought Halle Berry was a good sport for appearing at the Razzies to pick up her award for Worst Actress for _Catwoman_ and accepting with a speech that mocked her overly-tearful Oscar acceptance speech. Same with Sandra Bullock who won an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year. She showed up at the Razzies with a little red wagon filled with copies of _All About Steve_ for the audience members. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/36 "2010-12-07T12:55:34Z")
Bear in mind that celebrities are \*expected \*to make fun of themselves from time to time. You can never be sure if they’re really not taking themselves seriously, or just doing what their publicists tell them. Actors are never not acting; sometimes they play self-deprecating characters. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/37 "2010-12-07T13:03:26Z")
Barry Manilow has addressed criticisms of his songs and style by appearing on _The Tonight Show_ and _Murphy Brown_ (both places that tweaked him about it)and playing directly to the criticisms. One time he came on Tonight playing an accordion. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/38 "2010-12-07T13:29:05Z")
Adam West voices a character named Adam West, the Mayor of Quahog, on _Family Guy_. It’s never been explained _why_ Adam West is the Mayor of Quahog, Rhode Island – he just is. And he’s a non-sequitor spewing fool. In fact, a number of celebs have played less-than-flattering versions of themselves on _Family Guy_. James Woods and Rush Limbaugh come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/39 "2010-12-07T13:30:34Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Shatner is the king of this. I must agree here. Shatner has made a new career out of being the best Bill Shatner impersonator in the business. It is nearly impossible to mock a man who deliberately mocks himself in public. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221/40 "2010-12-07T14:26:36Z")
I loved [this](http://www.google.ca/search?q=Google+TV+Kevin+Bacon&hl=en&prmd=ivno&source=univ&tbs=vid:1&tbo=u&ei=u0P-TIgpqLGcB6LzvdIL&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CCEQqwQwAg) Google TV ad with Kevin Bacon for just this reason. People making fun of themselves are much more amusing than those making fun of others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-are-comfortable-making-fun-of-themselves-or-their-work-publicly/563221.md?page=3)