This actor, comedian, and writer can do it all! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the funniest bits and appearances from comedian John Mulaney.
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00:00 and out loud I went, "Ugh, this ought to be good!"
00:02 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the funniest
00:08 bits and appearances from comedian John Mulaney.
00:11 It was a star-studded intervention.
00:14 We'll be including his stand-up, film and TV performances, but no award show moments.
00:20 Sorry, Field of Dreams fans.
00:21 Number 20. Stefan's Lawyer - Saturday Night Live
00:26 Any true John Mulaney fan knows that he is the brilliant - or perhaps extremely bizarre,
00:32 depending on who you ask - mind behind the popular SNL character Stefan.
00:36 "This place has everything. Peeps, Ted Talks, Roman J. Israel Esquire."
00:42 But in one of his classic weekend update segments, Mulaney actually makes an appearance.
00:47 He plays Stefan's lawyer, Shy, who consults him on whether or not a certain word is appropriate
00:52 to say on air.
00:54 "Guy, do people still use the word...
00:56 He still manages to make Bill Hader break twice while on screen.
01:05 "Thank you, Sean."
01:07 We can't blame him. Seeing Mulaney in that outfit is enough to make us laugh out loud as well.
01:14 Number 19. Handling the Heat - Hot Ones
01:17 Host Sean Evans has had countless icons in the hot seat of his hit game/talk show,
01:23 but we loved seeing him fire away at John Mulaney.
01:25 "What do you remember about performing at the Note in Wicker Park? Was that like the
01:29 first place that you ever tried stand-up?"
01:30 "Yes!"
01:32 Of course, we all know that he is a masterful joke writer and comic,
01:35 but he still makes us crack up even when so casual and unrehearsed.
01:39 "I'm chewing, I'm chewing, no opinion is forming on the taste. Chewing and chewing,
01:43 all around the mouth the chicken goes. No opinion on the taste. And then suddenly,
01:48 it's like, 'Hey, we have a consensus.'"
01:51 It's fascinating getting insight into his comedic processes,
01:54 especially his comments about his love for writing jokes for others,
01:57 which he also finds joy in even when the jokes he wrote don't land.
02:01 "Can you imagine, 'cause they trusted you?"
02:02 Not to mention, he handled those sauces like a true champ.
02:07 Number 18. Voicing Jack Horner - Puss in Boots - The Last Wish
02:13 Who could possibly be better suited to voice an obscure tall child from an old-timey nursery rhyme?
02:18 "Whoa, that tall child looks terrible!"
02:21 Mulaney puts his characteristic, well, character into the role of Jack Horner,
02:27 making him sound perfectly bratty and jaunty all at once.
02:30 "You're horrible!"
02:31 "You're an irredeemable monster! Oh, what took you so long, idiot?"
02:37 Mulaney's voice acting skills really shine through,
02:41 as he manages to make an evil, heartless villain endlessly entertaining to watch.
02:45 When you watch the behind-the-scenes footage, you can tell that he's making himself laugh with his
02:49 own line readings. We'd love to see an extended blooper reel from this movie.
02:54 We can listen to Mulaney's Jack Horner all day.
02:56 "What did I do to deserve this? I mean, what specifically?"
03:03 Number 17. Do You Wanna Play Restaurant? - John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch
03:09 If you've been watching Saturday Night Live in the past few years,
03:12 you'll know it's no secret that Mulaney has a mild fascination with musical theater.
03:17 "Bugs, with no hesitation, will nest in your pubic hair."
03:22 But he took it to a whole new level with his out-of-the-box children's special John Mulaney
03:28 and the Sack Lunch Bunch. Though made for kids, all of the songs and bits were hysterical and
03:33 relatable for audiences of all ages. "I've never played a restaurant."
03:38 "Oh, please play restaurant."
03:42 While you can't not enjoy him describing his grandmother's relationship with a man named Paul,
03:47 watching Mulaney sing and dance about playing restaurant has got to top the charts. Plus,
03:52 the payoff that the restaurant was closed for a private event is comedy gold.
03:56 "Uh, could I order like an entree?" "Sir, we are closed."
04:00 "Okay, sorry, uh, we will call ahead the next time. Okay."
04:04 Number 16. Peace Be With You - The Comeback Kid
04:08 Unsurprisingly, Mulaney's third stand-up special is filled to the brim with cleverly told stories
04:13 and memorable bits. The delivery of his joke about the real estate agent insisting on him
04:18 building a nursery is nothing short of classic. "This is an on-fire garbage can."
04:22 "Could be a nursery." However, our highlight of The Comeback Kid is his shocking discovery
04:33 of the revised Catholic call and response to Peace Be With You. "And everyone said,
04:38 'And with your spirit.' And I was like the one pre-Y2K asshole going, 'And also with you.' What?"
04:46 His exasperation at the change to the religious practice is hilarious, whether you're able to
04:50 relate to it or not. "Because that's what needed revamping in the Catholic Church."
04:55 But if you've experienced the surprising switch-up yourself, this joke is undoubtedly gonna crack you
05:01 up. Number 15. Being Mean to Pete Holmes - Crashing - Never Meet Your Heroes
05:06 The series Crashing chronicles a fictionalized version of comedian Pete Holmes' rise to stardom.
05:12 "This is exciting for me. I'm a really big fan." "Oh, so you didn't hear what I just said."
05:17 In one episode, John Mulaney plays himself, but oh so evil. Holmes meekly asks Mulaney to bump
05:24 his spot at a stand-up gig, and not only does he refuse, he softly tears him to shreds as he does
05:30 so. He appears in a later episode as well, and isn't any nicer. "Sounds like there's been a
05:36 little bit of confusion. Um, it's most likely because we have the same surname." "Oh, do you
05:42 f*cking think, Agatha Christie?" Everyone's so accustomed to the friendly, unassuming demeanor
05:47 Mulaney adopts on stage, so seeing him so against type is as funny as it is flabbergasting. But
05:53 don't worry, Holmes and Mulaney are actually good friends in real life, so this must have been a
05:57 ton of fun for both of them. "I'm so sorry, I did not ask him." "Oh, you don't have to apologize. I
06:02 fully know it's him." Number 14. Totally gay. Big Mouth. "When you're gay, every day is a non-stop
06:12 cabaret. You've got style and flair. You're loved everywhere, except for North Carolina!"
06:19 You may not be into stand-up comedy, but you're almost definitely into Netflix, and if that's
06:24 the case, you're aware of Big Mouth. Netflix's animated comedy about puberty and all the
06:29 awkwardness that comes with it. Working alongside his frequent partner in crime, Nick Kroll,
06:33 more on him later, Mulaney plays seventh grader and one of the central figures on the show,
06:37 Andrew Glauberman, along with a range of other characters. "The hell is there no child ghost
06:43 confidentiality anymore?" Early in season one, there's a memorable episode where Andrew questions
06:47 his sexuality, and it all culminates in an over-the-top, spot-on, queen-style musical number,
06:53 which features the ghost of Freddie Mercury, plenty of phallic imagery, and of course,
06:58 a memorable Mulaney solo. "I'm gay. He's absolutely undeniably gay."
07:09 Number 13. Mulaney vs. Seinfeld. Comedians in cars getting coffee. Talk about a meeting of
07:17 the minds. These two all-time great comedians were bound to have incredible banter together,
07:22 and they certainly delivered. They take a trip to an antique rug store together,
07:38 where they discuss haggling, the experience of death, and even come up with an idea for
07:43 a beverage for the elderly called "Actually Old." Really, there are too many great
07:52 one-liners in this episode to mention. You'll have to watch it for yourself. The fact that
07:56 Mulaney not only holds his own, but consistently goes head-to-head with Seinfeld shows just how
08:01 serious his comedic chops are. "It's no surprise to me that the Tic Tac is such a popular product.
08:06 Oh yeah, that's a good product." Number 12. Parodying Sondheim. Documentary now.
08:11 If you have yet to watch this mockumentary series, this is your sign. "Hi Judy, hi Dee Dee.
08:17 You've been doing something wrong for about three weeks, and it's been annoying me. I
08:20 wanted to talk to you about it right now." Documentary Now was created by an epic crew
08:24 of SNL alum, and each episode skewers a different style of doc with a fantastic cast of characters.
08:30 In season three, they parody the real documentary chronicling the cast album recording of Company,
08:35 in which John Mulaney plays Simon Sawyer, a caricature of composer Stephen Sondheim.
08:39 "It's a bureaucratic apartment co-op board fantasy fulfillment song."
08:44 Not only does he absolutely nail the role, he also co-wrote all of the songs featured,
08:49 which are all outlandishly funny. Mark our words,
08:52 one day we will see a Mulaney-penned musical hit Broadway.
08:56 Number 11. The one thing you can't replace. New in Town. Mulaney's New in Town might just be his
09:07 most quotable special, but maybe that's just because we've had so much time to re-watch it.
09:12 "And I said no, you know, like a liar." Either way, there's no shortage of funny
09:18 moments to mention. We can't forget Mulaney's crazy story about the time he was accidentally
09:22 given a prostate exam. "And this was the actual sound I made. I went 'Ohhhhhhhhh.'"
09:29 Though what we know about his substance use at the time does give that joke a different lens,
09:34 we think even Mulaney would agree that the story is still brilliantly told. But of course,
09:38 we'd be remiss not to mention the unbelievable tale of his high school friend who would steal
09:43 antique photographs from house parties. How absolutely barbaric. "Why do you do this?"
09:49 "And Alex said, 'Because it's the one thing you can't replace.'"
09:57 Number 10. Spider-Ham and outtakes. Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse.
10:04 "This could literally not get any weirder." "It can get weirder. I just washed my hands,
10:10 that's why they're wet. No other reason." The animated film of 2018 was, by all accounts,
10:17 Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse. And John Mulaney's role in it was at once surprising
10:21 and a stroke of genius. He voiced Spider-Ham, a criminally underrated member of the comic book
10:27 universe. "Do animals talk in this dimension? Because I don't want to freak him out."
10:31 Since Mulaney is basically an old-timey Looney Tune brought to life anyway,
10:35 he gives a spot-on performance. "Aww, did that feel like a cartoon?"
10:40 But what's perhaps even funnier is the story he told Jimmy Fallon concerning the secrecy around
10:46 the project. When he first got involved, he wasn't fully aware of what he'd signed on for.
10:51 "Which is how a lot of kidnappings begin." So when he was told to 'have fun with it,'
10:56 he took perhaps too many creative liberties. But no worries, we got outtakes.
11:01 "And how the f*** is he gonna do that? And how the f*** exactly is he gonna do that?"
11:07 Number 9. Mulaney and Pete Davidson. Saturday Night Live and in real life.
11:12 "The third article that comes up, this is real, it says, 'Who is John Mulaney,
11:18 Pete Davidson's friend?'" Hey, even they admit this pairing is a bit unexpected.
11:24 "When we walk around it looks like an NBA coach and like a troubled rookie."
11:30 But Mulaney and Davidson are a classic odd couple. Hey, there's a sitcom idea. You can tell these
11:35 guys are genuinely friends. Their banter is perfect, and the way Mulaney's straight-laced
11:40 demeanor plays off Davidson's more loose style is great. "And why would someone on a whim
11:46 choose from all to order him? Who's this guy?" Whether they're attending a Steely Dan or Bob
11:52 Dylan concert together, swapping outfits, wearing matching shirts with Mulaney's wife at the time
11:57 on them, or appearing on SNL to espouse the virtues of their new favorite film,
12:02 "You remember when Clint Eastwood berated an empty chair at the Republican National Convention?"
12:07 "It's like if that was a movie." It is a ride for audiences. Honestly,
12:12 how could anyone not love this bromance? "I think he may have dumped me for Pete Davidson."
12:16 "Oh no, that's so sad. Well, he's very hot right now." Oh, sorry, Nick Kroll.
12:21 Number 8. George St. Gieglinde. Oh, Hello! on Broadway and Kroll Show.
12:26 Oh, hello. One may say that George St. Gieglinde was the role that John Mulaney was born to play.
12:32 Alright, it's us saying that. "We are gonna have so much fun tonight."
12:37 He and Gil Faison, played by Nick Kroll, are two old men living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan,
12:43 pranking unsuspecting schmucks with big old tuna sandwiches. What a life! "You're on a prank show
12:48 called Too Much Tuna, Jeff. What are you, liking it or not?" "No, I'm not." Each "Oh, Hello!" sketch
12:52 from Kroll Show is better than the next. Their signature schtick simply does not get old.
12:57 The characters were so loved, they brought them to Broadway, which later became its own Netflix
13:02 special. Gieglinde is a perfect showcase of Mulaney's love-hate relationship with New York,
13:07 and his spectacular character acting. "I guess I just have one question." "Of course."
13:11 "How does it end?" "Why don't we find out together?"
13:20 Number 7. Delta Airlines. New in Town. We already mentioned New in Town,
13:24 but there are too many great moments to confine to just one entry.
13:28 "And then I go, 'Can I please go home on an airplane?' And they go, 'No! In fact,
13:34 we're gonna frame you for murder, and you're gonna go to jail for 30 years.'"
13:40 He starts by adorably outlining how his life has improved since he started dating his then-girlfriend,
13:45 later-turned-wife, and now ex. "Roping in cows and getting milk out of them was never anything
13:51 you were known for, John." Like, for example, without his lady-by-a-side, he is a total pushover,
13:57 and will let some random garbage airline "So let's just make one up, let's call it like Delta
14:01 Airlines. So I'll book a ticket." walk all over him. Next time you experience travel troubles,
14:06 you will A) think about this bit and nod ruefully yet knowingly, and B) sing the following to
14:12 yourself. "Because we're Delta Airlines, and life is a f**king nightmare." Number six, movie recaps.
14:20 Okay, here's the pitch. John Mulaney recounts all movies. Seriously, that's it. We've already seen
14:27 him discuss The Mule with Davidson on SNL, but Mulaney must be a cinephile because he has this
14:31 tendency to take a famous movie and basically retell the story in a way that's both insightful
14:36 and hilarious. "But he does have this best friend who's, you know, a disgraced nuclear physicist."
14:45 He actually did it twice in his 2015 special The Comeback Kid. First, he takes Back to the Future
14:52 to task, trying to imagine what the creators were thinking when they devised that premise. "Now you
14:56 say they go to the past, how about we call it Back to the Past? No, no, no. Back to the Future?
15:05 Right, but they go to the past.
15:06 Yeah." Then he essentially recreates the climactic scene of The Fugitive as a sort of cutaway during
15:14 a kick-ass story about Bill Clinton. "So Kimball finds out about all of this, and of course he's
15:18 furious, and he bursts in the ballroom and he goes, 'You switched the samples!'" Both bits are some of
15:23 his best work, and that's why Mulaney on movies needs to happen, and it needs to happen now. "Now
15:29 I hear they're making a sequel to I, Tonya. It's called I, Nancy. It's about a nice lady who gets
15:34 her knee bashed in by some trailer park assassin, and then 25 years later has to see a great
15:40 award-winning movie about how she's not the victim." Number 5. His star-studded intervention, Baby J.
15:46 Through overcoming his struggles with substance use, Mulaney managed to release an unforgettable
15:52 comedy hour that is as raw and honest as it is funny. While opening up, he shares an intimate
15:57 story about his intervention and boasts how fabulously well-cast it was. "It was maddening!
16:03 Fred Armisen was serious. Do you know how off-putting that is?"
16:10 He also outlines his experience in rehab and how no one there knew who he was, driving him mad.
16:19 "Please don't repeat this. It was in the newspaper that I was in rehab, and I left it out."
16:27 He wraps up the special with a breakdown of an interview he gave prior to his sobriety,
16:33 which is aptly described as a, quote, "wide-ranging conversation."
16:37 The overall tone of this special is notably darker than his others, but we can't commend
16:42 Mulaney enough for his ability to create humor from such a hard time in his life.
16:46 "Good night, Boston. Thank you very, very much."
16:48 Number 4. His Law and Order obsession.
16:53 Various. Seriously, he talks about it constantly.
16:55 If you've ever seen John Mulaney perform, you're probably aware that he loves crime dramas.
17:01 Specifically, he is a super fan of the Law and Order franchise.
17:05 "Guy who, while being questioned by homicide detectives, will not stop unloading crates."
17:12 Throughout his stand-up, he's talked about Law and Order tropes,
17:15 the horrific things people say on SVU, he's even got a bit about how much he loves iced tea.
17:19 "You work in the sex crimes division."
17:22 But he loves no Law and Order star as much as Jerry Orbach.
17:27 And his extravagant rom-com idea about the two people who received Orbach's eyes after he died
17:32 takes his love of the franchise to another level.
17:35 "New Line Cinema presents Love at First Sight.
17:43 This summer, love is spelled with two I's."
17:48 Honestly, Mulaney could probably do a full hour of Law and Order material,
17:51 and we would be fine with that.
17:53 "And he would just keep talking, and it would slowly fade out and say,
17:56 'Executive Producer Dick Wolf.'"
17:58 Number 3. Diner lobster, Saturday Night Live.
18:02 Mulaney was an SNL writer for years,
18:05 and he got to revisit his old stomping grounds as host in 2018.
18:09 One of the benefits of being the host instead of a little rat writer
18:12 is that you can bring back old skits that you wrote and love that never saw the light of day.
18:16 That is how we got Diner Lobster.
18:18 "Lobster number one!"
18:25 In this sketch, a diner customer, played by Pete Davidson, shockingly orders the lobster.
18:30 And what follows is an extravagant and prop-heavy musical sequence
18:34 that riffs on the Broadway classic Les Miserables.
18:37 "Do you hear the lobster scream?
18:39 Screaming and screaming, a crawling place.
18:42 It's the screaming of the lobster, and it's what we're here to witness."
18:46 This surprisingly spot-on parody is as funny as it is absurd,
18:50 and its popularity earned it a spiritual successor
18:52 when Mulaney returned host in 2019 with Bodega Bathroom.
18:56 "Who can sell you condoms?
19:00 And Arizona iced tea?
19:03 Or loosey cigarettes and plantain chips?
19:07 The Bodega Man can!"
19:08 Number 2. There's a horse loose in the hospital.
19:12 John Mulaney, Kid Gorgeous at Radio City Music Hall.
19:15 "It's never happened before.
19:17 No one knows what the horse is gonna do next, least of all the horse!"
19:21 Mulaney's 2018 stand-up special Kid Gorgeous won him a Primetime Emmy Award
19:25 for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special.
19:28 And trust us when we say it was well-deserved, despite what his then-wife said.
19:32 "And she said to me, 'I just can't fly across the country to watch you lose.'"
19:36 There are many stand-out moments.
19:39 Like his memories of Detective J.J. Bittenbinder's street smarts.
19:42 "Street smarts!"
19:43 But Mulaney's uncharacteristic take on politics sticks out the most.
19:47 And no, we're not talking about his building a gazebo in the middle of the Civil War bit.
19:51 "Ever walk into the park with your betrothed and it starts to rain,
19:54 but you still want to hold hands?
19:55 Well, may I introduce you to, and my condolences again to everyone,
19:59 the gazebo!"
20:00 Without ever mentioning his name,
20:02 he compares Donald Trump's election to a horse being set loose in a hospital.
20:06 And it's perhaps the best assessment of the political situation we've seen.
20:10 Leave it to Mulaney to find a way to talk politics without talking politics.
20:13 "And then other people are like, 'Well, if there's gonna be a horse in the hospital,
20:16 I'm gonna say the N-word on TV.' And it's like, those don't match up at all!"
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20:35 [Music]
20:37 Number 1 - The Salt and Pepper Diner - The Top Part
20:41 "The fourth time it plays, you're either thinking, 'Whoa,
20:43 someone just played 'What's New Pussycat' four times,
20:47 or at least someone played it twice and it's a really long song.'"
20:51 Prepare to have Tom Jones stuck in your head for the rest of eternity.
20:54 You know, it's a testament to just how funny John Mulaney is,
20:57 that our number one pick is a bit from his first ever stand-up special, The Top Part.
21:01 He tells a story from his childhood about how he and a friend went to a place called
21:05 the Salt and Pepper Diner, and essentially terrorized the patrons of this fine establishment
21:09 by putting $7 into the jukebox and playing 'What's New Pussycat' by Tom Jones
21:14 as many times as they could afford.
21:16 "Bwah, bah, what's new pussycat? And he goes, 'God damn it!'
21:20 and pounds on the table, and silverware flies everywhere."
21:24 With a brief and diabolical intermission of 'It's Not Unusual'.
21:27 "Dum, da-dum, it's not unusual, and the sigh of relief."
21:32 It's a simple story, but the way Mulaney tells it will have you falling off your chair with laughter,
21:37 and believing those claims that he is the best joke writer of his generation.
21:41 "They unplugged the jukebox after 11 plays, and that was the best meal I've ever had."
21:48 Which John Mulaney bit is your absolute favorite? Let us know in the comments.
21:53 "If you're comparing the badness of two words, and you won't even say one of them,
21:57 that's the worst word."
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22:08 [Music]