Top 20 Hilarious John Mulaney Moments
#20: Stefon’s Lawyer
“Saturday Night Live” (1975-)
Any true John Mulaney fan knows that he’s the brilliant– or perhaps extremely bizarre, depending on who you ask– mind behind the popular SNL character Stefon. But in one of his classic Weekend Update segments, Mulaney actually makes an appearance! He plays Stefon’s lawyer Shy, who consults him on whether or not a certain word is appropriate to say on air. While the cameo is brief, he still manages to make Hader break twice while on screen! We can’t blame him– seeing Mulaney in that outfit is enough to make us laugh out loud as well!
#19: Handling the Heat
“Hot Ones” (2015-)
Host Sean Evans has had countless icons in the “hot seat” of his hit game-slash-talk show, but we loved seeing him fire away at John Mulaney! Of course, we all know that he’s a masterful joke-writer and comic, but he still makes us crack up even when so casual and unrehearsed. It’s fascinating getting insight into his comedic processes– especially his comments about his love for writing jokes for others. Which he also finds joy in even when the jokes he wrote don’t land: [“imagine, because they trusted you?”] Not to mention, he handled those sauces like a true champ!
#18: Voicing Jack Horner
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (2022)
Who could possibly be better suited to voice an obscure, tall child from old-timey nursery rhyme? Mulaney puts his characteristic– well, character– into the role of Jack Horner, making him sound perfectly bratty and jaunty all at once. Mulaney’s voice acting skills really shine through, as he manages to make an evil, heartless villain endlessly entertaining to watch. When you watch the behind the scenes footage, you can tell that he’s making himself laugh with his own line readings! We’d love to see an extended blooper reel from this movie– we can listen to Mulaney’s Jack Horner all day!
#17: “Do you wanna play restaurant?”
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“John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch” (2019)
If you’ve been watching “Saturday Night Live” in the past few years, you’ll know it’s no secret that Mulaney has a mild fascination with musical theater. But he took it to a whole new level with his out of the box children’s special “John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch.” Though made for kids, all of the songs and bits were hysterical and relatable for audiences of all ages. While you can’t not enjoy him describing his grandmother’s relationship with a man named Paul, watching Mulaney sing and dance about “playing restaurant” has got to top the charts. Plus, the payoff that the “restaurant” was closed for a private event is comedy gold.
#16: Peace Be With You
“The Comeback Kid” (2018)
Unsurprisingly, Mulaney’s third stand-up special is filled to the brim with cleverly told stories and memorable bits. The delivery of his joke about the real-estate agent insisting on him building a nursery is nothing short of classic. However, our highlight of “The Comeback Kid” is his shocking discovery of the revised Catholic call-and-response to “peace be with you.” His exasperation at the change to the religious practice is hilarious, whether you’re able to relate to it or not! But if you’ve experienced the surprising switch-up yourself, this joke is undoubtedly going to crack you up!
#15: Being Mean to Pete Holmes
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“Crashing” (2017-19)
Never meet your heroes! The series “Crashing” chronicles a fictionalized version of comedian Pete Holmes’ rise to stardom. In one episode, John Mulaney plays himself– but oh, so evil. Holmes meekly asks Mulaney to bump his spot at a stand-up gig, and not only does he refuse, he softly tears him to shreds as he does so. He appears in a later episode as well, and is– isn’t any nicer. Everyone’s so accustomed to the friendly, unassuming demeanor Mulaney adopts onstage, so seeing him so against-type is as funny as it is flabbergasting. But don’t worry, Holmes and Mulaney are actually good friends in real life– so this must have been a ton of fun for both of them!
#14: "Totally Gay"
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“Big Mouth” (2017-)
Some of John Mulaney’s best, and most popular, work in the late 2010s has been done on “Big Mouth”, the animated Netflix show that is quite unlike anything that came before it. Mulaney plays Andrew Glouberman (along with a range of other characters), a 7th grader and one of the central figures of the show. Early in season one, there’s a memorable episode where Andrew begins to question his sexuality, and it all culminates in an over-the-top musical number called “Totally Gay”, which features the ghost of Freddie Mercury and oh so much more.
#13: Mulaney vs. Seinfeld
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“Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” (2012-19)
Talk about a meeting of the minds! These two all-time great comedians were bound to have incredible banter together– and they certainly delivered! They take a trip to an antique rug store together, where they discuss haggling, the experience of death, and even come up with an idea for a beverage for the elderly called “Actually Old.” Really, there are too many great one-liners in this episode to mention– you’ll have to watch it for yourself! The fact that Mulaney not only holds his own, but consistently goes head-to-head with Seinfeld shows just how serious his comedic chops are!
#12: Parodying Sondheim
“Documentary Now!” (2015-22)
If you have yet to watch this mockumentary series, this is your sign! “Documentary Now!” was created by an epic crew of SNL alum, and each episode skewers a different style of doc with a fantastic cast of characters. In season three, they parody the real documentary chronicling the cast album recording of “Company,” in which John Mulaney plays Simon Sawyer– a caricature of composer Stephen Sondheim. Not only does he absolutely nail the role, he also co-wrote all of the songs featured, which are all outlandishly funny. Mark our words– one day we’ll see a Mulaney-penned musical hit broadway!
#11: The One Thing You Can't Replace
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“New in Town” (2012)
Mulaney’s “New in Town” might just be his most quotable special– but maybe that’s just because we’ve had so much time to rewatch it! Either way, there’s no shortage of funny moments to mention. We can’t forget Mulaney’s crazy story about the time he was accidentally given a prostate exam. Though what we know now about his substance use at the time does give that joke a different lens, we think even Mulaney would agree that the story is still brilliantly told! But of course, we’d be remiss not to mention the unbelievable tale of his high school friend who would steal antique photographs from house parties… how absolutely barbaric.
#10: Spider-Ham (& Outtakes)
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (2018)
The animated film of 2018, by all accounts, was “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, and John Mulaney had a role that was at once surprising, and kind of perfect. He voiced the character of Spider-Ham, a criminally underrated part of the comic-book universe. He gives a spot-on performance, but perhaps even funnier is the story he told Jimmy Fallon concerning the secrecy around the project. At the time, he wasn’t fully aware of what the intended audience was, so when he was given some creative liberties with the script, he ended up cursing up a storm. Luckily, he was willing to share the outtakes!
#9: Mulaney & Pete Davidson
“Saturday Night Live” (1975-) (& In Real Life)
John Mulaney and Pete Davidson have a friendship that is interesting but relatable, because Mulaney comes off as very straight-laced and Davidson is well... not. Whether they're swapping outfits for an Instagram post, appearing on SNL Weekend Update to discuss their new favorite film, or attending a Steely Dan concert together, it's always a wild ride for audiences to bear witness to. Their banter is perfect, and they really do play off each other well. Mulaney’s wife even made the two men matching t-shirts, that just so happen to prominently feature her on them.
#8: George St. Geegland
“Oh, Hello on Broadway” (2017) & “Kroll Show” (2013-15)
Ohhhhh… hello. One may say that George St. Geegland was the role that John Mulaney was born to play– alright, it’s us saying that. He and Gil Faizon– played by Nick Kroll– are two old men living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, pranking unsuspecting schmucks with big ‘ol tuna sandwiches. What a life! Each “Oh, Hello” sketch from “Kroll Show” is better than the next– their signature schtick simply doesn’t get old. The characters were so loved, they brought them to “Br’dway,” which later became its own Netflix special! Geegland is a perfect showcase of Mulaney’s love-hate relationship with New York, and his spectacular character acting!
#7: Delta Airlines
“New in Town” (2012)
We already mentioned “New in Town”, but there are too many great moments to confine to just one entry. He has countless great bits, but one of the funniest is from his second stand up special, “New In Town”. He talks about the trouble he has traveling, namely because he’s such a pushover and will let an airline walk all over him. The funniest part of this whole joke is at the beginning, where he says he won’t name the terrible airline he has flown with, and then gives it the fake name of “Delta Airlines”.
#6: Movie Recaps
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Various
Though he discusses films like “The Mule” with Davidson on “SNL,” it’s in his comedy specials that Mulaney has become known for taking a well known movie, and basically retelling the story in a way that is both insightful and hilarious. He did it twice in his 2015 special “The Comeback Kid”, covering both “The Fugitive” and “Back to the Future”. He essentially recreates the climactic scene of “The Fugitive” for his audience as a segue during one of his stories, and takes “Back to the Future” to task, imagining what the creators were thinking when coming up with it. Both bits are some of his best work, and we’d be happy to see him do this with any number of other properties.
#5: His Star-Studded Intervention
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“Baby J” (2023)
Through overcoming his struggles with substance abuse, Mulaney managed to release an unforgettable comedy hour that is as raw and honest as it is funny. While opening up, he shares an intimate story about his intervention, and boasts how fabulously well-cast it was. He also outlines his experience in rehab– and how no one there knew who he was, driving him mad. He wraps up the special with a breakdown of an interview he gave prior to his sobriety, which is aptly described as a “wide-ranging conversation”. The overall tone of this special is notably darker than his others, but we can’t commend Mulaney enough for his ability to create humor from such a hard time in his life.
#4: Law & Order
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Various
If you’ve ever seen John Mulaney perform well...pretty much anything, you know that he’s a fan of “Law & Order”. He brings the show up in so many of his bits, and seems to have a real love-hate relationship with it. In his first ever special, he talks about how much he watches it, and how it has prepared him to find a dead body at any moment. In his 2012 special, “New in Town”, he talks about the horrific things people say on SVU, and talks about his love for Ice-T’s appearances on the show- including his trouble understanding sex addiction. Why does this never get old?
#3: Diner Lobster
“Saturday Night Live” (1975-)
John Mulaney was a writer on SNL for years and in 2018 returned to the show as the host. For the occasion, he brought back one of the skits he had written that never saw the light of day: Diner Lobster. In it, a diner customer (played by Pete Davidson) shockingly orders the lobster, and what follows is an over the top musical sequence that plays off of the Broadway classic, “Les Misérables” that is just as absurd as it is funny. And if you’re looking for the spiritual successor of this skit, look no further than “Bodega Bathroom”, which has many of the same comedic beats.
#2: Horse Loose in a Hospital
“Kid Gorgeous” (2018)
Mulaney’s 2018 stand up special, “Kid Gorgeous”, won him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, and trust us when we say it was well-deserved. While there are plenty of standout moments (like his memories of J.J. Bittenbinder's STREET SMARTS), the real centerpiece of the show is his political observation. Without ever mentioning Trump’s name, he compares his election to a horse being set loose in a hospital, and it’s perhaps the best assessment of the political situation we’ve seen this far. Trust John Mulaney to make us all laugh in such a tumultuous time.
#1: Salt & Pepper Diner
“The Top Part” (2009)
It’s a real testament to just how funny John Mulaney is that our number one pick is going to be a bit from his first ever stand up special, “The Top Part”. He tells a story from his childhood about how he and a friend went to a place called the Salt & Pepper Diner, and essentially terrorized the patrons of this fine establishment by putting seven dollars into the jukebox and playing "What’s New Pussycat" by Tom Jones as many times as they could afford, with a brief intermission of "It's Not Unusual". It’s a simple story, but the way that Mulaney tells it will have you falling off your chair with laughter.
Which John Mulaney bit is your absolute favorite? Let us know in the comments!
