Brooks Wheelan (born August 21, 1986) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and podcaster. First breaking through as a cast member and writer for the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

series ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' during the 2013–2014 season, Wheelan currently hosts the podcast Entry Level. He has also released a half-hour special for

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, acted in various movies and shows including '' Big Hero 6: The Series'', and opened for

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British and American comedian who hosts ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' on HBO. He started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work ...

at numerous sets.

Early life and education

Wheelan was born in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

, on August 21, 1986, and raised in Manchester, Iowa, the son of Chris and Jim Wheelan. Growing up, his interest mostly focused on science and mathematics. He performed regularly in

Iowa City Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-most populous city. The Iowa City metropolitan area, which enc ...

during his college years. He graduated from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in 2009 with a biomedical engineering degree.

Career

Wheelan started performing

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

in his late teens in

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, then went to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

and

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, before eventually moving to

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where he began to perform stand-up comedy full-time. Before joining ''Saturday Night Live'', he performed stand-up comedy in Los Angeles while he had a job as a biomedical engineer, doing research on eyes and heart valves. In 2013, Wheelan was hired to write for ''Saturday Night Live'' for the 2013–2014 season and was made a cast member the week before the season started. After being fired from ''Saturday Night Live'', Wheelan embarked on a stand-up tour entitled "The Brooks Wheelan Falls Back on Standup Comedy (Sorta) Tour", in reference to his firing. As part of his promotion for the tour he performed on '' Conan''. Wheelan's first stand-up comedy album ''This Is Cool, Right?'' was released on January 27, 2015 to critical acclaim. The Laugh Button called it "one of the best albums of 2015", while ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' wrote, "''This Is Cool, Right?'' is at turns manic, honest, and completely absurd. Brooks crafts jokes not unlike sketches, and has an ear for storytelling that finds universal truths in the examining of his personal life." As part of the promotion for the record, he appeared on ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire variety talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing w ...

''. Wheelan also performed a stand-up set on a September 2015 episode of

's '' The Half Hour''.

''Saturday Night Live''

Wheelan was a recurring guest on ''Saturday Night Live''s ''

Weekend Update ''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast and been featu ...

'' segment, using his stand-up stories as

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s against irresponsible behavior. On the

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining ...

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episode, the commentary centered on having tattoos that have no meaning, with Wheelan showing off three tattoos he had in his youth: a tribal stamp on his left arm meant to look like the one

Anthony Kiedis Anthony Kiedis ( ; born November 1, 1962) is an American musician and lead vocalist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Kiedis spent his youth in ...

from

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has, a nautical star on his right arm, and a weird oceanscape on his side (which came from a doodle he drew in his freshman year of high school, and which does not make sense to him because he grew up in Iowa, which is not a coastal state). On the

Anna Kendrick Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress. Known for playing upbeat and endearing characters in comedies and musicals, List of awards and nominations received by Anna Kendrick, her accolades include nominations for an Aca ...

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

episode, the commentary centered on the dangers of drinking alcohol, and the story of how his friends put

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

down his pants while he was blacked out drunk and Wheelan worrying that he was dying of an undiscovered

sexually transmitted disease A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, or ...

. On July 14, 2014, Wheelan announced through

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that he was no longer a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'', stating, "FIRED FROM NEW YORK IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!". Shortly after his firing, Wheelan admitted that he was not angry and that he was still friends with some of the cast members, and also said that he prefers stand-up.

Impressions on ''Saturday Night Live''

Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

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Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His showmanship, artistry, and flamboyant fashion have had a Cultural impact of Harry Styles, significant impact on popular culture. Styles's musical ca ...

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He achieved his breakthrough with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first su ...

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (with the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the United States, depicting the federal government of the United States, federal government or the country as a whole. Since the early 19th centu ...

''Entry Level with Brooks Wheelan''

On October 24, 2017, Wheelan launched the podcast ''Entry Level with Brooks Wheelan''. In each episode, he interviews a guest on the often low-paying or undesirable jobs they had before they eventually achieved success in the entertainment industry.

Personal life

Wheelan went to Dubuque Hempstead High School in Dubuque, Iowa, where he was crowned homecoming king and became a state qualifier in wrestling.

Filmography

Discography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheelan, Brooks 1986 births Living people American stand-up comedians American male television actors American sketch comedians People from Manchester, Iowa Male actors from Iowa University of Iowa alumni Actors from Cedar Rapids, Iowa 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American comedians Comedians from Iowa