Comic, actor, and podcaster Brooks Wheelan joined WNIJ’s Jason Cregier again, to discuss his Entry Level podcast, bad jobs, fishing experiences as a youth and why being liked by any President as a comedian is not ideal.
Wheelan will headline Janesville’s Comedy Cabin this coming Friday and Saturday.
(This interview has been edited for clarity)
Jason Cregier: Why did you leave Los Angeles to come to Janesville, Wisconsin in the middle of winter?
Brooks Wheelan: I have just finished a six-city run with John Oliver and Seth Meyers, so I will be winding down from those shows.
JC: What is it like playing shows with those guys?
BW: It is super fun, but also at the same time, I really do enjoy performing in places like Janesville, because it is more like where I am from (Wheelan was born and raised in Iowa).
When we perform for rich people, I am slightly annoyed with them for living in big cities and having lots of money, I think to myself, “you guys suck.” Not that people in Janesville do not have money — wow, I am really talking myself into a corner (laughs). It is just nice to be back in the Midwest, all these New York City Upper East Side elitists annoy me, and Janesville rules.
JC: I follow your Instagram account, and I see you are a prolific traveler. If the water is frozen, do you plan on ice fishing in Janesville during your stay?
BW: I would like to ice fish, it sounds fun. Sipping cider in a little hut while you fish? Sounds awesome. I enjoy the Western United States, I enjoy the Sierra Nevadas, Yosemite, and Joshua Tree. I grew up camping in Iowa on the rivers getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and yelled at by my dad. I thought camping sucked back then, your dad is getting so mad and there are bugs. Now, I go camping out west and there are no dads or bugs. And it is great.
JC: On your podcast Entry Level, you chat with other comics, actors, musicians, and entertainers about jobs they had before they worked in their respective industries full time.
Your own story is entertaining, about your job as a teenager at a movie theater in Iowa. Would you tell us a bit about that?
BW: We were charging people adult prices, but then telling the computer it was child prices and then pocketing the rest of the extra money. It then devolved to 3,000 children at the movies according to the system, and then everyone got fired and they shut the movie theater down.
JC: When you are doing the standup shows with John Oliver and Seth Meyers, do they ever mention the fact that they draw the ire of the President of the United States for doing a comedy television show?
BW: It is crazy that the President of the United States is mad at these guys. Although, you are doing something right if the President of the United States is mad at you. It is only good.
No comic wants the President to be like “those guys rock.” The President always sucks. If you are the President, you are not cool. You are a huge cop. You are just a big old cop. The President is the top cop. I do not need you to think I am cool, that is not great. I would never want to be on President Obamas Spotify “Wrapped List,” and he is as cool as you can be as President. I just do not need him to be like, “I like that guy.”
JC: Brooks Wheelan will be at the Comedy Cabin in Janesville, Wisconsin this Friday and Saturday night, Brooks, thanks for joining us today.
Thanks for having me, it was great to see you.
