14 Neil Patrick Harris Jokes and Moments for His 50th Birthday
Ever since he was a kid, Neil Patrick Harris has been the consummate entertainer. While he could’ve just gone through the motions of the typical child star life or doubled down on his Doogie Howser, M.D. fame, he instead chose to conquer the stage, star in a celebrated sitcom, make hilarious cameos and host award shows. Oh, and sing — a lot.
Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.
To celebrate Harris’ 50th birthday, we’ve grabbed some of the best jokes and moments from his ever-expanding career...
Role Reversal on ‘Stark Raving Mad’
In this scene from the late-1990s sitcom, Tony Shalhoub and NPH unleash brutal impressions of each other under the guise of therapy.
When He Pranked the Hosts of ‘The Voice’
The 2015 Academy Awards
Harris has hosted several award shows, but the best moment within those hosting jobs is this spoof of a scene from Birdman (with a short nod to Whiplash, too).
As the Fairy Shoeperson on ‘Sesame Street’
Given that Harris sings and dances as well as any Muppet (not a slam!), he got to show off his singing talents as the Fairy Shoeperson.
Frost/Other People
On Saturday Night Live, NPH posed as David Frost in a sequel spoof trailer to the real film Frost/Nixon. The result was a gauntlet of 1970s references.
Winning a Golden Harmonica from Craig Ferguson
As the Music Meister on ‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold’
As you probably know (especially by now), NPH loves to sing, so it was flawless casting when he provided the voice of the mesmerizing Music Meister in this comedic Batman cartoon.
Being Spider-Man at the 2012 Tony Awards
While he, fortunately, didn’t star in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Harris did web-sling upside down for a Tony Award introduction and kept hanging there so as to commit to the bit.
Getting Confronted With His Crippling Hosting Addiction
As Bart Simpson (Sorta)
Harris got to play an animated version of himself playing Bart Simpson in a TV movie on The Simpsons TV show, which is like the turducken of acting roles.
Barney Stinson’s Transformation
As arguably his most well-known role of Barney Stinson, Harris was ever the dapper-looking gentleman, but every villain has an origin story. In a flashback, we see how the former grungy-looking Barney turns into the suited-up womanizer we know on the show.
‘Neil’s Puppet Dreams’
The man dreams in puppets. That explains enough, right? No? Too bad.
‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’
In the lead role, Harris was able to use his vocal talents to provide quality singing to hilarious lyrics as the wannabe supervillain Dr. Horrible.
Hitchhiking with Harold and Kumar
In a cameo that kickstarted the post-Doogie era for Harris, he portrayed a very creepy, very horny and very heterosexual version of himself in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.
