4 Smart Comedians Who Are Great At Playing Idiots

Sometimes the smartest people do the stupidest things. The gentleman below demonstrate this axiom, and intentionally so. Hopefully, this list might make you think twice about the self-deprecating idiots in your life. They might not cure cancer with dick jokes, but that doesn't mean they're properly dull.

1. Ken Jeong and Jim Rash

Jeong and Rash play Community’s quasi villains, Señor Chang and Dean Pelton, respectively. The two are known to share an ominous, yet dumb guffaw together. Separately, ironically, they are more likely to contribute to society productively then the collegiate educators they portray. 

Rash has is the final writing credit on Alexander Payne’s family drama The Descendants. This means that Rash was more than just a comedian punching up jokes, he was the dominant force behind a proper re-write of the acclaimed film. Rash and the other writers won the Oscar that year for best adapted screenplay.

Jeong started his acting career as the crucial OB-GYN in Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up. This role was fitting, because up until that time, Jeong was a practicing physician. His medicinal chops come out in a scene-stealing onslaught of technical jargon and comically horrible table manner (“Non-malfeasance, bitch!”). Jeong stands as proof of the comedic potential of scientific knowledge in an immature imagination.

2. Nolan Gould

Gould famously came out as a card carrying Mensa member with an IQ of 150. However, Gould's portrayal of Luke Dunphy on Modern Family is most definitely a slack-jawed one. The youngest member of the sitcom's nuclear family has a penchant for ill-conceived hobbies like tight rope walking, and a less than comprehensive understanding of screen doors.

3. Joe Rogan

Perhaps the most surprising person on this list, Joe Rogan is a household name for his appearances as a commentator at televised UFC matches. He is also a major figure in the stand up comedy world, wherein he routinely works the crowd with raunchy goofball material.

Be careful what assumptions you might make about the intellectual curiosity of the four time Tae Kwon Do champion of Massachusetts, for he is more than capable of dealing you a hard roundhouse kick ... of knowledge. A basic YouTube search of his name reveals a Joe Rogan that is primarily a sharer of fascinating investigations of thought, such as the cerebral power of carefully monitored psychedelic drug usage, existential explanations on the nature of modern life, and theories on evolution. 

4. Steve Martin

Martin is now is primarily a bluegrass banjo player, bird watcher, and New Yorker blogger. However, needless to say, the former comedian earned his fame doing stand-up comedy about farts, and on Saturday Night Live with bits like the "Wild and Crazy Guys."

Even more asinine are Steve Martin's latter day films (read: sins) such as the Pink Panther remake. Pieces of trash pay money by the truckload, which Martin uses to acquire more and more pieces for his vast art collection, which includes works from Picasso, Lichtenstein, and Edward Hopper. Perhaps the best summation of the combined love of museum culture and silly goof balling is evident in Steve Martin's SNL master work, the "King Tut" sketch, embedded above.