r/CaughtMyEye • u/detectiverobert • 8h ago
Comedian Joel McHale’s flight was canceled, so he took a nearly 6-hour Uber ride from Rochester, NY, to NYC to make his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. He paid $692 for the ride, tipped the driver $200, and covered his gas costs.
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u/thegypsyqueen 8h ago
That really not a lot of money for 12 hours of driving
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u/davenTeo 8h ago
I thought the same, but it is clear of $75-80/hr with him covering gas with the tip. It is worth it for many people.
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u/InevitableBudget510 8h ago
Uber is taking at least half of the fare
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u/Alt4816 7h ago edited 7h ago
If uber took half the fare (but none of the tip) then he made $546 which would be $45.5 per hour.
This was also 8 years ago when Uber was running on VC money and wasn't as cheap with its drivers.
And we're assuming he picked up no riders on the way back.
He should at the very least been able to pick up a rider in NYC going to Westchester, northern NJ, or Rockland countyedit: He couldn't pick up a fare leaving NYC proper due to local regulations but could still have picked up some along the way.
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u/icrbact 7h ago
He definitely wasn’t, because to pick up riders in NYC you need a special license/permit.
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u/Alt4816 7h ago edited 7h ago
You're right that an uber did need to have a TLC license to operate in NYC in 2018. I thought the requirement for that and uber actually following those requirements was more recent than that. Which means he did leave NYC without picking up a fare but he still could have picked some up along the way. There are people that live in between NYC and Rochester even if there are gaps of low population.
The math I did was assuming zero fares along the way.
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u/SoapyMacNCheese 7h ago
Sure, but most fares along the way would be enough of a detour that they would just be delaying his travel home. It’s not like picking up fares in Ithaca is more lucrative than just picking up fares in Rochester after he gets back.
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u/Alt4816 7h ago edited 7h ago
Sure, but most fares along the way would be enough of a detour that they would just be delaying his travel home.
Not necessarily. If he found someone in Westchester headed to Poughkeepsie or someone in Poughkeepsie headed to Albany then he lucked out with basically zero detour. Or if he went through NJ if he found someone in Hudson or Bergen County headed to Morristown or someone in Morristown headed to Scranton.
Basically if he took 87 home then he needed people headed north until he past Albany then he needed people headed west. If he took 80 through NJ home then he needed people heading west until Scranton where he needed people headed north.
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u/Important_Capital875 8h ago
Okay so taking almost half would be300 the guy gets. Plus 200 tip plus gas which is prolly 60-75. So like almost 600. That’s not bad to just drive your car
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u/Starfire2313 7h ago
If a friend wanted me to make that drive for them and offered $600 I’d go for it. In this case the driver got to hang with a cool celebrity I’d sort of consider that like part of the tip being the experience you know what I mean? On top of the money of course. I wouldn’t drive a celebrity anywhere for free lol
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u/Redshittt 7h ago
I drove some celebrities around for free once. But we were at a party and they wanted to go get coke so I drove
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u/Expert-Basil6015 7h ago
Imagine a world without cocaine or amphetamines of any kind
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u/Elastichedgehog 7h ago
I think that's the thing. It's not like he took the job from some random person.
Still, gig economy sucks. Hope the guy's doing well.
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u/StevieMJH 7h ago
I'd mark the celebrity up just to give him a taste of my gumption. I'm going places. He can either come with or not.
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u/-Fergalicious- 7h ago
Plus hes now 6 hours from where his home likely is lol
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u/Slow-Swan561 7h ago
But in NYC. I'd take a paid trip to a cool.city no.problem. besides drivers can pick their fares.
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u/PositiveZeroPerson 6h ago
What the title doesn't say but the interview does: the driver got a ticket on the way for going 9 over in a 55.
He probably made nothing at the end of the day.
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u/jleonardbc 5h ago edited 4h ago
Did he cover gas for the return journey too?
That's another
$200$50.McHale paid $900 and covered gas for at least one way. If the driver had to pay for gas on the way back, he netted $850 (also not counting vehicle depreciation and maintenance).
850/12 = $71 an hour. After Uber takes their cut, it might be more like $55 an hour.
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u/austin101123 4h ago
Couldn't you get trips you get paid for that take you back towards your home (assuming those trips exist)? I'd imagine that's an option on Uber. If not, they should add it.
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u/Winjin 3h ago
There totally are, but it means you have to wait for them to come...
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u/sunfacethedestroyer 4h ago
Ok? He's a Uber driver. He would've done it for $692, a $2 tip, and no gas coverage.
What the fuck are you people even complaining about? What a weird hill to die on that hundreds of others agree with?
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u/FullFrontal687 8h ago
^^^ "My theoretical tip would have been bigger!" Max Reddit.
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u/History-Buff-2222 8h ago
Redditors are 100% the worst tippers irl. They are always complaining about tipping culture while simultaneously saying if they were rich they would just start handing out money like saints
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u/Fragrant-Employer-60 5h ago
Yeah money to random people in need but they won’t be caught dead tipping $2 to their barista lmao
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u/mystery_hole 4h ago
Any thread about tipping on this site devolves into how much servers don't deserve to live lmao. I hate how useful reddit is for news and stories because the users here are by far the most annoying across every social media site. Genuinely, even the low iq Nazis on Twitter are easier to deal with.
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u/MrP1anet 2h ago
It's pathetic how desperately people are trying to make a fun story into something horrible.
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u/ALoudMouthBaby 6h ago
This was 2018, before inflation went nuts. Back then that was a fair chunk of change.
And if this makes you feel old, stop it. It was eight years ago. Voting matters folks.
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u/ScyllaOfTheDepths 7h ago edited 7h ago
He made $900 and his gas was covered. That's $75 an hour. Even if he got to keep 50%, which is about how it usually works out, dude made like $650 and got paid over $55 per hour. That's a good wage any way you slice it.
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u/Urvilan 8h ago
That’s over $50/hr before counting tip. Even if he saw less than half of that himself, still looking at ~$20/hr almost a decade ago.
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u/HippoRun23 8h ago
Was my first thought. Like he gets some from Uber, but goddamn he has to turn around and go back home after all that.
Fucking nightmare.
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u/Ashamed_Town_2619 7h ago
Yeah, I could never do it bc I absolutely hate driving. But my brother loves it, and when we were first out of college he drove Uber.
His favorite trips were the 3-6 hour drives to take customers to the airport or bigger cities (we lived in a little mountain resort town). He’d het tipped like crazy, and then usually stay the night with friends in those bigger cities and have some fun. Then he’d take a few days off before driving again.
…Obviously, that’s not a lifestyle thats going to work for adults with families who need the stability of a 9-5. But for young people, or someone with an awkward schedule who needs to supplement income, it can be productive.
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u/mystery_hole 4h ago
Every time I take a trip I use Uber/Lyft from the airport or hotel, every person I get tells me they love it because it basically covers their business for the whole day and they can "clock out" early, while getting a few rides on the way back to whenever they live.
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u/Nebresto 6h ago
Nobody forces you to accept a ride. The job is not for everyone, but for drivers a gig like this is a very good day
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u/FlashyFigs 8h ago
A lot of dudes in upstate NY have a buddy or cousin or something in the city that they like to see and hang out with. I'm guessing he got more out of this unexpected NYC trip than just the cash.
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u/mettiusfufettius 7h ago
That’s actually a very reasonable amount of pay for that service. Let’s he declined this ride and just sat around Rochester for 12 hours waiting for rides instead… dude would’ve been sitting in his car for the same 12 hours and probably would’ve taken home like MAYBE $250. Great deal.
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u/Distinct_Run9006 7h ago edited 7h ago
It's actually really good for Uber. During this time (I was driving for them in 2018) they said you can make an average of $25/hr. This ride equals $57.66/hr gross, and plus Joel paid for gas, which Uber doesn't reimburse. Not to mention the fact that he received a $200 tip. Uber does take a sizeable portion of that $692, but he will still be left with a rate that was above the average for the time, especially after the tip, which Uber doesn't take a % of. And he can catch trips all the way back to Rochester to make more if he wants. I would have loved to do a trip like this.
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u/L0st_MySocks 5h ago
He had 12 hours time to calculate everything.. Pay his gas+ tip him + pay his uber instead of give him 5k or 10k
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u/redwings27 4h ago
It was going to be $110 for my 40 minute ride home from the airport earlier this week. I took the train.
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u/BrockSampson4ever 8h ago
I’ve worked with him a few times and he’s the nicest person you could hope he would be. Kind and smart and funny and charming, his wife is wonderfully delightful too, he’s a massive collector of swords and beers, grills a mean steak, and is a humble loving father. This doesn’t surprise me one bit
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u/ShirtuShanks 7h ago
I really like that he’s not gone on to become a major action A-lister (he’s got all the ingredients for it), and does fantastic niche roles like in The Bear.
I’ve seen bits of Animal Control and it seems like a great comfort show, too.
Rare W for a conventionally hot white guy.
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u/BrockSampson4ever 6h ago
He does a lot of generic game show stuff to secure things for his family but I think he knows his niche, he’s also one of the most like able people I’ve ever met in Hollywood (along with Stellan Skarsgaard) so I can’t imagine he’s ever going to be out of work
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u/ShirtuShanks 6h ago
God I love the Skarsgaard boys, nice to know that the dad’s a great guy.
Would be super fun to see McHale as a Dropout host.
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u/alilingvano 2h ago
I didn’t care for Animal Control the first time I tried it, but I recently binged the whole series and loved it. The goofy animals are great.
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u/FleetofBerties 7h ago
He was on Ted Danson's podcast recently and talked about gifting Conan a sword but not Ted.
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u/StevieMJH 7h ago
He can buy his own sword, if Mr. Wonderful Anonymous can afford a museum wing he can afford that.
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u/akaiser88 3h ago
They live in my neighborhood (a little east of Seattle). I'm happy for the success. Could not have happened to a nicer guy.
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u/RudkinEUW 8h ago
Wow, he looks like Ryan Seacrest!
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u/BrokeBenchod2021 8h ago
Except Ryan is 5 foot tall and Joel is 6 foot five inches tall- would actually like to see a picture of them next to each other
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u/hunter2mello 8h ago
Ryan is 5’8” lol you made me check though. And Joel is 6’4
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u/PlanterDezNuts 8h ago
Was recruiter by the University of Washington for rowing but walked on the football team
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u/HippoRun23 8h ago
Damn, I genuinely never realized he was that tall. I’m 6’4 and in the stuff he’s been in he doesn’t give me that impression.
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u/Scruffy_Snub 7h ago
It's like he's even more handsome than the guy that's famous for being handsome...
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u/khaleesistardust 8h ago
In this economy, $200 would not be enough for me to want to drive 12 hours 🤣
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u/Important_Capital875 8h ago
This was eight years ago. It comes out to about $40-$50 an hour.
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u/BigCyanDinosaur 7h ago
Love seeing the broke ass minimum wage earners in here shitting on this guy for making the wage equivalent of 90k a year.
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u/Important_Capital875 7h ago
Right? I don’t understand why people have to try and make everything negative or offset it. This was eight years ago. Before Covid, so the money was a little better than today. He got about 300 from Uber, the guy paid his gas which is about $50-$75 and tipped them 200. That’s close to $600. That’s not bad at all.
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u/NickRick 3h ago
people are conditioned by TV to think the "well awksully..." person is the smarter person because main characters do it so often. So now everyone on the internet wants to be the "well awksully" person unironically.
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u/boforbojack 7h ago
Only if you go for a straight rate and not overtime, which my math has it closer to $30-$40/hr standard rate
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u/Doesthiscountas1 8h ago
good thing you're not a cab driver, ya know like the actual cab driver lol. If he got him at the beginning of his shift then that would have been an awesome day
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u/Dry-Moment962 7h ago
People in this thread act as if Uber forces you to take fares. The driver chose to take that fare. Whatever napkin math you're trying to use doesnt matter because at the end of the day, the driver thought the trip was financially worth it before they even committed to taking it.
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u/Any_Moose_2873 6h ago
Imagine being that Uber driver and getting a random 6-hour trip to NYC, then finding out your passenger is going on The Tonight Show. That's a pretty good story to tell for the rest of your life lol
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u/crazyguyunderthedesk 6h ago
Missed opportunity for McHale. He should've brought the driver out on the show, stuff like that always plays huge. Plus if the driver says anything on the show, he'll walk away with a few hundred dollars more.
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u/Vinylateme 7h ago
Wait how big is ny, I can get from one end of Oregon to the other (Ashland to Portland) in 5 hours
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u/Dinovius 4h ago
NY is huge man. I’m from Long Island. From NYC to Canada it can take like 6-7 hours if you’re heading to the Niagara Falls part. Closest crossing I think.
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u/liftbikerun 2h ago
Just wait until you realize it takes a solid 18 hours to drive from South Texas to North Texas.
First time someone told me this before moving here, I didn't believe it. Sure enough, 18 fucking hours and they don't exactly drive slow here.
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u/Dinovius 2h ago
I already did the drive twice across Texas. I’ve driven from NY to California 3 times. Lovely drive
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u/wildmaninid 5h ago
Traffic moves much faster in Oregon. I've spent 6 hours getting from the end of the George Washington bridge through a toll stall on the New Jersey turnpike. 5 mile stretch.
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u/Dinovius 4h ago
I just spent 45 minutes going 3 miles in Los Angeles last night lol
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u/PeakProfessional9517 4h ago
Even without major traffic 6 hours sounds about right from Rochester to NYC. I grew up directly between the two and always considered both to be a roughly 3 hour drive.
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u/Apptubrutae 5h ago
NY is a decently big state, especially for the east coast.
NYC to Champlain on the Canadian border is 5.5 hours. It’s almost 7.5 hours from Montauk.
Montauk to Ripley on the PA border which is the full east/west span of the state is just under 9.5 hours
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u/wwabc 8h ago
Fallon reacted to the story by laughing loudly, slapping his desk a few times, and faked doubling over from laughter
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u/shaker28 4h ago
Everyone thinks this is a feel-good story about Joel McHale being a nice guy but it's actually a tragedy about Joel McHale having to pay nearly a grand to see Jimmy Fallon.
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u/_HazeBlush 8h ago
Covering gas on top of a $200 tip for a 6-hour drive is class. Respect to Joel for treating drivers right.
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u/-underdog- 7h ago
absolutely insane that the only options were plane or car to cross 1 state
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u/Informal_Process2238 6h ago
There’s a train also
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u/southpaytechie 6h ago
Yeah Rochester actually has Amtrak service. There should be about 4 departures per day. I’m guessing the schedule just didn’t work out.
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u/obbie1kenoby 5h ago
It takes longer than driving because the main service stops in Albany to split half the cars going to Boston and the other half to NyC and they have to bring an additional engine. The wait is about 90 minutes.
Then south in the Hudson Valley there’s only one track so you have to wait for all the northbound traffic to go through and you could wait another hour.→ More replies (3)2
u/aka_chela 5h ago
I live in Rochester. The train is fine if you don't care about being on time, it's constantly delayed/late.
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u/BruitNoise 4h ago
Most people that have to be some where in exactly 6 hours or less don’t understand that a bus or train doesn’t work if you need to go a specific address route and arrive on time when you aren’t familiar with routes. Ah yes America has the best and fastest public transport system and Ah yes everyone knows the timing that you have pre rehearsal and need to be there early that the transit doesn’t follow that schedule and ah yes he knows the route by planning a last minute emergency
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u/PossessionDue3249 3h ago
He was so insanely hot during the gas leak year of community. “Even his shadow!”
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u/Huugienormous 4h ago
Why not rent a car...
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u/dmthoth 3h ago edited 3h ago
I mean, if I had money to spare, needed to arrive on time, and had to be in perfect condition for a stage or TV appearance, I’d hire a driver for the six-hour journey rather than drive myself.
Besides, I’d rather spend my money supporting local people than handing it all over to some multinational corporation. Sure, Uber would take around 30% of the fare, but the driver would still keep the majority of it and likely spend that money locally.
It’s really not that hard to understand, is it? Yet many people in this comment section seems to think they’re McHale’s personal financial manager.
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u/HotwheelsSisyphus 2h ago
McHale already had millions in 2018. $1000 is nothing for him
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u/200brews2009 1h ago
Either way, don’t you think the tonight show or whatever he was promoting wouldn’t reimburse a good chunk of that expense?
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u/Bubsy7979 2h ago
I mean he’s rich… I don’t think he’s freaking out about dropping $900 on a chauffeured ride across NY. If anything it probably calmed him down after an unexpected change of plans before a nationally televised interview.
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u/JimiusRostock 2h ago
Like everyone else waiting in line because their flight got cancelled? If he has the money, it's worth it. That media appearance will boost ticket sales or whatever he's selling.
Also the Uber driver makes some money and has a great story.
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u/ImfromtheFuture2056 3h ago
It’s also entirely possible for people to not drive. Maybe he didn’t have a license or whatever other possible reason. When I lived in NY and Boston, I didn’t drive either since public transportation was readily available.
I even let my license expire during Covid.
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u/EthanielRain 2h ago
Driving 6 hours is not the same as riding for 6 hours. It would be exhausting, right before going on TV
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u/chromebook1 8h ago
I used to love watching The Soup with my gf at the time, like 20 years ago. We found out Joel Mchale was doing a comedy show in Atlantic City so we went to check him out. After the show, he had an appearance at a one of the clubs. We got to meet him and I remember we didn't have anything to sign so he signed my gfs arm. He also told me to marry her which I didn't, thanks for the advice Joel! He was super nice.
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u/4lack0fabetterne 7h ago
The driver made what maybe 400 and it takes another 6 hours to get back. Ehhh I guess 33/hr isn’t terrible
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u/jd_kraft 8h ago edited 4h ago
I wouldn't drive a few blocks for Fallon.
Edit: Never seen anyone defend Fallon. Did an alert go out in the group chat where all 12 of his fans hang out?
To be considered "edgy," humor needs to push societal boundaries, flirt with taboo subjects (like tragedy, controversial politics, or deeply sensitive social issues), or carry a genuine risk of crossing a line into offensive territory.
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u/Dazzling-Path6438 8h ago
You're so edgy
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u/ickywickywackywoo 5h ago
You're so edgy
Hating Fallon is not edgy in the slightest? I don't know a single person who likes Fallon the guy? I don't know a single person who likes the show, watches it, or even thinks Fallon is entertaining? It's incredibly common to dislike Fallon. Even in the media?
The tonight show is on in nursing homes across America. Martin Pistorius types all over the world are "enjoying" Fallon.
The rest of us are looking for the Apple remote or playing fuckin Elden Ring. Like the only time I ever even see Fallon or his show mentioned is right here on reddit. NO ONE watches it in the real world as far as I can tell?
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u/jd_kraft 8h ago edited 4h ago
I don't think you know what that word means. You could write for Fallon.
If you don't know the difference between snarky cynicism and edgy, get off reddit and go read a book.
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u/blighander 7h ago
Joel McHale strikes me as that guy you'd make friends with on an airplane or long bus ride.
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u/Infinite_Ad7743 7h ago
This makes me happy. Cuz as a longtime Soup fan, he's always felt genuinely kind to me. I think he's often gotten gigs that far exceed the limitations of his talents, but he makes it work.
Plus the dude is a giant. It was so wild when I heard he was a TE.
That Animal Control show is... not my speed.
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u/JessicaLain 7h ago
Famous people that turn out to be kind, humble, and decent give me life. Gimme that hope injection baby.
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u/GiantMonkeyDiaper 7h ago
He should’ve gave more. Guy still had to drive back to shitty ol Rochester
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u/NosyCookBogtrotter 7h ago
Rideshare driver here, saw a good bit of lawnchair debating/theorizing from people in comments. So what is very hard to tell in the situation is what the driver is getting. On a normal day it's about $300 out of the $692. However, depending on how long Joel was waiting for a driver and how busy it was, it's not that uncommon that we get paid most of what the rider is paying just to make the ride happen (especially something as abnormal as a 6 hour trip across a state). Even if he was just paid $300, it would be $50 an hour and it would be left for us as drivers to determine is that worth also having to drive back. Depending on how this driver does his job in Rochester, $25 an hour for an entire day without having to look for each ride individually (about 30 rides give or take for a full day's 12 hrs of work) may be attractive. The gas cost could worse than usual if he drives a hybrid since you can drive as little as 300 miles or less in a day getting $300 in the city and the mileage is same as burning more than double that for this trip. As a hybrid driver this factors in greatly in why I rarely take long trips anymore. So for the trip itself we don't know without the driver disclosing how much he got paid base if it was really worth it, which is also subjective to each driver. Worst case scenario he got $500 PLUS gas costs which is bangin. Sorry if us rideshare drivers are poor and are willing to work for "so little" but $500 for a 12 hour work day ain't bad for us "peasants" and if worst happened he would have gotten around $20 an hour which isn't great but it's a job with your own hours and no supervisor.
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u/ericgtr12 7h ago
Dude threw me a follow back on Instagram and liked/commented on a couple of my posts when I was basically a nobody. Genuinely a good guy by all counts.
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u/LegPossible9950 6h ago
Wow, I guess I didn't realize Rochester was that far from NYC.
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u/BarbWho 5h ago
It's amazing how common this misconception is. New York is actually a fairly large state by north-eastern US standards and the larger cities are pretty spread out. People can commute from Buffalo to Rochester (1 1/2 hours), and some do. Although people in Rochester tend to think that 20 minutes is a long drive. And no one lives in Rochester and commutes to NYC!
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u/Aromatic_Bar2263 6h ago
Used to fly this route all the time. It get cancelled or delayed like 90% of the time.
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u/OOO0OO00O 6h ago
They need to leave that area immediately. Based on Joel’s hair lighting is about to strike.
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u/Rare_Advantage8517 5h ago
Idc if hes rich, he tipped him, he got to keep 200 right off the bat. Plus, im sure they had great convos.
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u/Southern_Chapter_188 5h ago
I’ll still never forgive him for the abomination of a steak he made on Dinner Time.
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u/ddmeredith 5h ago
My kids were extras with a special skill on Animal Control (marching band), and they met him before they realized that he was famous. They were just extras, but he was really kind to them and funny. Made my dad heart proud
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u/wstx3434 5h ago
Tipping $200 isn't nearly enough for a guy who has to technically drive 12 hours.
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u/ulica324 5h ago
And he had to go back, on his own gas? Own time and dime? Seems charitable but ain't really IMHO. Uber rides 1 way that far....are usually painful for driver...
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u/mrarthurwhite 5h ago
As of 2026 Rochester to NYC takes approximately 6 hours to drive ( approx 5 hrs and 44 mins https://maps.app.goo.gl/hnXmtrA1eWF9tWQ89 )
Really like Joel McHale as a person & as an actor. More great roles and awards for him please.
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u/jittery_raccoon 4h ago
Imagine if you were an introverted driver and this guy gets into your front seat and wants to chat for the next 6 hours
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u/Accomplished_Net6080 3h ago
That's so stupid! Why didn't he just buy a few tools and scrap metal and build his own plane and learn to fly it and then fly directly to NY and then sell the plane for a profit after? s/
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u/SweatyManufacturer11 3h ago
He was doing a show at my college in Alfred NY, which he dropped the name of on the tonight show the next night.
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u/LifeWithAdd 3h ago
I lived in Florida and called me saying he was close and we should hang out. I was in Orlando and he was in Ft. Lauderdale (3 hours away). He took an Uber the whole way to meet up for 45 mins. While we were sitting at the bar, his phone buzzed. He looked at it laughed and said the Uber here cost more than his flight home.
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u/detectiverobert 8h ago
In April 2018, comedian and actor Joel McHale was stranded in Rochester, New York, after his flight was canceled. He needed to reach New York City to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, so Uber driver John Costello agreed to take him on the six-hour journey.
At first, Costello did not recognize McHale because he was dressed casually and did not act like a celebrity. Once he realized who his passenger was, he was surprised. During the drive, the two talked about faith, sports and politics while sharing laughs. McHale later joked on Instagram that they had been hydroplaning throughout the journey.
The ride cost $692, but McHale went beyond the fare by giving Costello an additional $200 tip and paying for the gas. Costello described McHale as humble, generous and just as funny in person as he was on television. He said the experience left him with an even better impression of the actor than he had expected.