Comedian dedicated to spreading as much joy as possible

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This article was published 26/04/2024 (529 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Even after a long day of flight delays and a failed attempt at fulfilling his dream of consuming Canadian sausages and beer at the Toronto airport, T.J. Miller is fast on his feet and wildly funny.

It’s that impressive ability to improvise that has endeared the Colorado-born comedian to audiences across North America — including a run of sold-out shows at Rumor’s Comedy Club that started on Thursday and finishes up with two sets tonight.

“I like doing crowd work — I started out doing improv — so you can expect something different at every show. I’ll go wherever the crowd takes me,” he says while waiting for his luggage to arrive at the Winnipeg airport. “Winnipeg audiences are really interesting, and they like to jump me to the punchline.”

Miller, who travels extensively doing comedy shows, has a fondness for “the Great White North,” and can pinpoint the personalities of most provinces. He’s no stranger to the ‘Peg and has a handful of stories about previous shows here, such as the time a patron shared a little too much information about “adult activities” on a beach.

Nothing really surprises him anymore, but some of his ability to roll with the punches may come from his upbringing and formal education. His mom is a clinical psychologist, and he holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology (with a concentration in persuasion theory and social influence), which contributes to his devil-may-care attitude towards stardom. It also lends itself to his role as a standup comedian.

“I could have become a psychologist and helped a few people in a meaningful way, or I could be a comedian and make people laugh and be happy for a short amount of time, maybe in a less profound way,” says the former star of HBO’s Silicon Valley. “People do come up to me all the time to say, ‘Thanks, you helped me out of a dark place.’ So, it’s very, very rewarding and that really is a big part of why I love doing this.”

It’s also made it possible, he says, to not be self-critical if he doesn’t get a part in a movie. Not that he’s faced a lot of rejection — at 42, he’s a well-known actor whose easily recognizable voice makes heads turn at the Target checkout line when he strikes up a conversation with the cashier.

He voiced Tuffnut Thorston in the first two How to Train Your Dragon films, Gene Meh in The Emoji Movie and Prancer, the over-achieving reindeer who saves the day in Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas.

He’s also appeared in several live-action features, including Office Christmas Party, She’s Out of My League, Deadpool and the forthcoming Deadpool & Wolverine, among many others.

And somehow between comedy tours and YouTube specials, a burgeoning career in the realm of Non Fungible Tokens (NFT) specials, and starring in movies, Miller has found the time to write and develop an “intergalactic Christmas movie like no other Christmas movie,” which he plans to star in and hopes to release for the 2025 holiday season.

It can be exhausting, he admits, which is why it’s critical for him to prioritize his mental and physical health.

He was born with a brain defect, suffered several seizures and has had a golf-ball-sized piece of the frontal lobe of his brain removed. Criss-crossing the country and keeping up with the demanding schedule can lead to manic episodes, but he credits a battery of professionals — along with a strong life philosophy — with his success.

“I live by a Utilitarian philosophy: make the most amount of happiness for the most amount of people,” he says. “I think people can apply that in their everyday lives.

“Before you do anything, consider other people’s perspectives. Everybody’s got something going on and when you think of it from that perspective, the light goes on and then you can do what you can to make them happy.”