Background
Wheelan was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and raised in Manchester, Iowa, the son of Chris and Jim Wheelan.
Wheelan was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and raised in Manchester, Iowa, the son of Chris and Jim Wheelan.
He graduated from the University of Iowa in 2009 with a biomedical engineering degree.
Growing up, his interest mostly focused on science and mathematics. He performed regularly in Iowa City during his college years. Wheelan started performing stand-up comedy in his late teens in Iowa, then went to Kansas City and Chicago, before eventually moving to Los Angeles where he began to perform stand-up comedy full-time.
Before joining Saturday Night Live, he performed stand-up comedy in Los Angeles while he had a job as a biomedical test engineer, testing on eyes and heart valves.
In 2013, Wheelan was hired to write for Saturday Night Live for the 2013–2014 season and was made a cast member the week before the season started. After being fired from Saturday Night Live, Wheelan embarked on a stand-up tour entitled "Brooks Wheelan Falls Back On Standup Comedy (sorta) Tour", in reference to his firing.
As part of his promotion for the tour he performed on Conan. Wheelan"s first stand-up comedy album, This is Cool, Right?, was released on 27 January 2015 to critical acclaim.
The Laugh Button called it, "One of the best albums of 2015." While the Authorised Version Club wrote, "This Is Cool, Right? is at turns manic, honest, and completely absurd.
Brooks crafts jokes not unlike sketches, and has an ear for storytelling that finds universal truths in the examining of his personal life." As part of the promotion for the record, he appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Wheelan also has a Comedy Central half-hour stand-up special airing in summer 2015. Saturday Night Live Wheelan was a recurring guest on Saturday Night Live"s "Weekend Update", using his stand-up stories as public service announcements against irresponsible behavior.
On the Bruce Willis/Katy Perry episode, the commentary centered on having tattoos that have no meaning, with Wheelan showing off three tattoos he had in his youth: a tribal stamp on his left arm meant to look like the one Anthony Kiedis from Red Hot Chili Peppers has, a nautical star on his right arm, and a weird oceanscape on his side (which came from a doodle he drew in his freshman year of high school, and which does not make sense to him because he grew up in Iowa, which is not a coastal state).
= Impressions on Saturday Night Live Rand Paul Jared Leto Harry Styles Kid Rock Matthew McConaughey Slash Uncle Sam.
On 14 July 2014, Wheelan announced via Twitter that he was no longer a cast member of Saturday Night Live, stating: "FIRED FROM NEW YORK Information Technology"South SATURDAY NIGHT!".