Happy Birthday to the King of Comedy Will Ferrell – here are your best bits

In case you didn’t know, Will Ferrell is kind of a big deal around here, and so his birthday is cause for celebration.

That’s right folks, Papa Burgundy is 46 years old today. That’s a total of 16,790 days of somebody else being waaaaaay funnier than you can ever hope to be in your entire lifetime, so stop trying now. The man is to comedy what melted cheese is to all other foodstuffs – delicious, unhealthy and gooey, and its welcome addition to any meal makes everything taste about a million times better. We’re not really sure if we got that analogy quite right. To celebrate this day of days, JOE takes a look at some of the comedian’s best moments, both on and offscreen. Believe us, trying to whittle down the highlights has been one of our toughest assignments to date. JOE soldiered on through though and now you can just sit back and enjoy the collection we’ve compiled below. Be prepared to get no work done. For a start, the man likes to randomly wear Ireland jerseys so he’s already in our good books:   Starting off his comedy career with the legendary Groundlings troupe in LA, Ferrell soon made a name for himself starring in one of the most iconic comedy sketch shows in the world, Saturday Night Live. It wasn’t long before he was drafted up to the big leagues though, and one of his first appearances was as the poor unfortunate Mustafa in Austin Powers (1997). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLaCqrisEac Another villainous role saw him steal the show as Mugatu in Zoolander (2001). Don’t serve him a foamy latte whatever you do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMLCGnADyCM And of course, Hansel’s so hot right now. Obviously: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV_hDyfmEw4 Ferrell’s Wedding Crashers (2005) cameo came completely out of the blue (makes sense being a cameo I suppose) and made this already great film even better. HEY MAAAW!! CAN WE GET SOME MEATLOAF!!!? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID8B1Vn3YWg Over the years, the comedian has also branched out in the type of comedy that he’s done and one particular highlight as Buddy the Elf in, well, Elf (2003). Watch out for that taxi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8XYINNmNqs That's one angry Elf... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjmjtOnDyYs He’s also tried his hand at being a proper ac-tor, as in the lovely 2006 film Stranger Than Fiction. Here he is expertly wooing the gorgeous Maggie Gyllenhall. This is how you get the girls: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Zdz61iSLo Of course, he's also tried his hand at a fair number of musical performances but it's hard to beat Jackie Moon's 'Love Me Sexy' from Semi-Pro (2008): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jwjS3Ee_SM It’s when he’s just being a funny bastard that we love him the most though as in 2003's Old School as Frank the Tank: Poor Frank gets a horse tranquilizer to the neck. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFW-yxe13lo We’re going streaking!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20g3QIUnOgY Ferrell also partnered up with Mark Wahlberg to hilariously discuss tunas versus lions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4wykeJBHdE You know that whenever Ferrell teams up with John C. Reilly that comedy chaos will ensue and Step Brothers (2008) is the perfect proof of that. Here's the lads discussing their activities: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9-jN834ScM And the excellent end credits scene where the two men completely and utterly (and inappropriately) beat the crap out of lots of kids in a playground fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0ZobeeBwGU Ferrell has also made his fair share of comedy contributions to award ceremonies over the years, as can be seen with these two clips below: The Architect at the MTV Awards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra5-H9ZBS1U Teaming up with Kristen Wiig at this year's Golden Globes to prove that they really know their nominees: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDvZrubaEwA And did you really think that we'd leave this out? Here it is folks, some of Will Ferrell's best bits from the masterpiece that is Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). It's actually impossible to pick a highlight so forgive us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gLrRjGPRc4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c_ufaxeSTs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVNOFQf5LSE And so there you have it. Will Ferrell = Comedy genius. There’s no denying that fact and, if you disagree with us, then you are a smelly pirate hooker and you should go back to your home on Whore Island. Happy Birthday Will, you stay classy...