Minnesota comic Joe Mande offers peek into writers' rooms for 'Hacks' and 'The Good Place'

Joe Mande is returning to Minnesota just to tape his new comedy special. But he jokes that he may stick around if his beloved Timberwolves keep racking up victories.

"It kind of messes up my stand-up," said Mande, who will do two shows at Minneapolis' Parkway Theater on Jan. 14. "I usually talk about how bad they are."

If he did move back to Minnesota, Hollywood would be losing one of its hottest writers. Mande, who graduated from St. Paul's Central High School in 2001, is on a winning streak of his own.

Mande looked back at his contributions, both as an actor and writer, during a Zoom call from his Los Angeles home:

"Parks and Recreation": He joined the writing team for the final three seasons and played Morris Lerpiss, a recurring character obsessed with the internet. "That was a well-oiled machine with superstars in both the cast and in the writers' room. It took me a couple of weeks to find my footing. I used to open for Aziz [Ansari] so he was an easy guy to write for. I learned early on that I'm very good at writing for very stupid characters. That's my bread and butter."

"Master of None": Before "P&R" ended, Ansari was already developing his next project with Alan Yang. They eventually recruited Mande. The series was acclaimed for its unique take on relationships and religion. "That was a strange transition. It was a much more artistic, prestige-y show than 'Parks.' There were a lot of interesting story lines about things like being Indian. It was cool to get a peek at that point of view."

"The Good Place": Mande couldn't tell anyone that the first season was mostly a ruse. The twist — the characters were not really in heaven — wasn't revealed until the 13th episode. "There were cast members that didn't know until the table read. The original way it was marketed, NBC had to pretend it was a typical, almost saccharine sitcom. It was kind of frustrating, because people thought we were just cutesy. Than the twist came and everything exploded."

"Modern Family": Mande was writing for "Good Place" when he got cast in the recurring role of Ben, who works for Pritchett's Closets & Blinds. He would end up in 13 episodes. "I had to fight the urge to start writing extra jokes. I had to remind myself that wasn't my job there. It was a pretty exciting and complicated time. Those are good problems to have."

"Hacks": Mande helps make sure that the life of the lead character, a veteran stand-up comic played by Jean Smart, feels authentic. "The eternal rule in the writers' room is that everything she says has to be in joke format, especially when she's not onstage. Jean is brutally honest. She'll tell us when a joke is not funny enough. Then it's back to the drawing board."

Stand up: Mande isn't about to abandon live comedy. "In TV, you say a joke out loud. It might go in the script, but the chances it stays there are very small. Then it has to make it through editing. If it does, you have to wait six months to see it on screen. There's something satisfying about your pitch making it that far, but there's something equally satisfying when you think of a joke at the airport and you can do it that night. Those are two totally different scratches — and I'm constantly scratching."

Joe Mande

Where: 7 & 9:30 p.m. Jan. 14, Parkway Theater, 4814 Chicago Av. S., Mpls.

Tickets: $20. theparkwaytheater.com