How Do You Know 'Mulaney' Guest Star Pete Holmes?

When it comes to comedy, it's hard to think of anyone much nicer than John Mulaney... except maybe Pete Holmes. Holmes has made a career of laughing with his friends — which could be someone he's known for years, a stranger, and most definitely you — and making fun of himself almost exclusively so that you can laugh along with him. And even though he's one of the better known comedians and podcast hosts, he still manages to fly mostly under the radar to your average Sunday night Fox viewer. However that should change this Sunday when Holmes guest stars on Mulaney as Father Trey.

Bringing his winking charm to Mulaney's show this week is nothing new though, as these two have been pals for years. Holmes helped (or helped destroy) Mulaney's proposal to his now wife, their shows were picked up right around the same time, and they even dress the same in their uniform of plaid shirts and patterned skinny tie. By this point, most TV-watchers are fairly familiar with Mulaney's hilarious stand-up, his time writing for SNL, and his maybe-it'll-get-there sitcom; but if you're not familiar with his pal, Holmes, it's time to get weird.

E-Trade Baby

Holmes has done a lot of random things in his career — New Yorker cartoonist, warm-up comedian for The Daily Show, writer for I Hate My Teenage Daughter — but by far the most random is his role as the voice of the E-Trade baby from the commercials that everyone kind of hated loving.

Stand-up Comedy

While doing all of that weird stuff, Holmes was also gaining success in his bread and butter, stand-up. He put out his first comedy album, Impregnated with Wonder (just a dead-on description of his whole sparkly-eyed thing), and followed it up in 2013 with Nice Try, The Devil.

The Pete Holmes Show

Holmes' biggest break by far was being chosen as the host of the late night show to accompany Conan on TBS, also produced by O'Brien, himself. Unfortunately, the show was canceled after two seasons, but many of it's best bits live on on the internet. I myself have fallen into no less than three YouTube black holes while writing this article. The Pete Holmes Show featured random combinations of the things that make Holmes who he is, like continuing former College Humor sketches that saw him playing super heroes...

Interviewing sports stars who he knows very little about...

and bringing on his comedian friends to just generally be funny with him.

You Made It Weird

Of course, the podcast that inspired it all started in 2011, and also featured Holmes doing what he does best, chatting with other funny people, laughing at their jokes, and playing off of them with his own. Luckily, you can still catch You Made It Weird on the Nerdist network.

Image: TBS