Already have an account?
Get back to the

Joel McHale Quits Stand-Up to Spend Time With Kids

1297975049_joel mchale 290

Joel McHale would do anything for his children — even at the expense of his own career.

The 39-year-old funnyman — who pulls double duty by hosting E!'s The Soup and starring on NBC's Community — admits he recently took his stand-up act off the road in order to spend more time at home.

Related: PHOTOS: Joel and other stars party with Us Weekly

"I'd like to see my children grow up. I kind of missed it last year," he tells the latest issue of Emmy Magazine. (McHale and wife Sarah Williams are parents to sons Eddie, 5, and Isaac, nearly 3).

Not that McHale isn't grateful for his success. "Acting was always my first love. That's what I trained as," he tells the mag. "I just ended up doing all these other things in between."

Related: PHOTOS: Hollywood's doting dads

Quitting stand-up wasn't the first time McHale was willing to make sacrifices for his family. After uprooting his wife to pursue acting in L.A., McHale vowed they would return to Seattle if his career never took off.

"'Just give me five years to see if it can work,'" he told her at the time. "'And if it doesn't, I'll go back to Seattle and I'll do weather and traffic on a country station, and that'll be fine.'"

Related: PHOTOS: Star dads' personal baby pics

With two hit TV shows under his belt, McHale and his family won't likely be returning to the Emerald City anytime soon.

"Someone once told me that 90 percent of all art is crap, and 10 percent is tremendous. I think it's the same way with TV," he reasons. "And there's just more TV than there was, so the more crap we see, the more great stuff there is. It's getting worse and better at the same time. Anyway, it must be a golden age. I'm on two shows!"

In this article

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!