Watch Michael Keaton Talk About His Humiliating Short-Lived Stand-Up Comedy Career

Jerry Seinfeld, Louis CK, and Dave Chappelle have nothing to worry about from Michael Keaton. The star of The Founder stopped by the The Tonight Show on Tuesday and recounted his very abbreviated career as a stand-up comedian.

Turns out that before Keaton made a name for himself as Batman or Beetlejuice or earned his Oscar nomination for his work in Birdman, he was hustling as a stand-up comedian in Pittsburgh. Host Jimmy Fallon is well-acquainted with what it takes to make it in stand-up and the two stars swapped war stories of playing in clubs with no microphones and bars where no one expected a comedy act.

Keaton struggled to find his bit, and decided that he might be “the wacky guy” who used props in his routines. “Only Steve Martin was great with props,” noted Keaton, but this didn’t stop him from trying it out with a rubber chicken. “It was humiliating,” said Keaton. Luckily his fall back career of acting worked out pretty well for him.

Watch above.