John Mulaney details his failed detective career

Comedian John Mulaney was a guest on Late Night where he told host Seth Meyers all about his amateur police work.

Mulaney made his his ninth appearance on Late Night last night, bringing him into a first place tie with Martha Stewart. Mulaney argued that Stewart’s cooking segments hardly qualify and that he is the outright leader. Such a distinction comes on the heels of his Emmy victory for his comedy special Kid Gorgeous at Radio City.  However, Mulaney revealed that he was not so successful at his attempt to identify who burglarized his car:

Mulaney, a former Saturday Night Live writer, continues to be one of the best storytellers both on stage and as a late night guest. For proof, watch him explain the “Stefon” character from SNL on Conan or talk about his stand-up on The Tonight Show. His references or delivery may not be for everyone but he does seem most at ease with Meyers, a friend and one time SNL colleague.

With the success of Kid Gorgeous at Radio City, it is hard to hear Mulaney discuss detective work and the police without thinking of the famous Detective J.J. Bittenbinder. The comedian has a hilarious bit about Bittenbinder and his “Street Smarts” presentation he gave to children about the dangers of criminals and seeming inevitability of murder. The physical description and quotes Mulaney reveals about the Chicago detective seem too ridiculous to be true until you find clips on YouTube of Bittenbinder. If you haven’t seen the special, the comedian gave an abridged version on The Late Late Show with James Corden:

John Mulaney’s stand-up special Kid Gorgeous at Radio City is streaming on Netflix. You can also hear him as the voice of Andrew on the animated series Big Mouth created by Nick Kroll also streaming on Netflix.