Born in September 1977 in Portland, Oregon, Joel's rise to success began all the way back in his childhood, as a defence against the neighbourhood bullies who picked on him. As he says:
"When I was really young, I realised that making people laugh was a way not to get beat up. It was an easy way out. Ultimately, as I got older, I was always sort of interested in the entertainment industry, but I didn't know how to get involved in Portland, Oregon."
Armed with a set of head shots, Joel approached a small agency in Portland.
"I did some crazy Jim Carrey impersonation so they took me on and I did some very small stuff, commercials and one liners".
Majoring in drama at college, he eventually worked his way to Los Angeles after a couple of years working with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the rest, as they say, is history.
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