Christian Borle isn’t afraid to laugh at himself.

The two-time Tony winner may be marking a quarter of a century on Broadway with his performance in the new Elton John musical Tammy Faye (now running at the Palace Theatre), but he is hardly looking back misty eyed. 

Whether it’s his sickled feet as Riff in the national tour of West Side Story, blinding the audience in Jesus Christ Superstar, tormenting his Thoroughly Modern Millie co-stars onstage with Frito breath, or shaving his head to the skin for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Borle recalls the ridiculous with as much enthusiasm as he does the profound. Check out his walk down memory lane in the video above, or read on for select highlights.

Borle didn’t become one of the most respected performers of his generation by only relying on the absurd, though. Working with Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, and Hank Azaria on the original Broadway run of Spamalot pushed him to perfect the craft of truly earning a laugh.

“When you're a young actor, you're encouraged to really drive the scene forward, and when you're in a comedy, to come in on the laugh,” Borle explains. “I was in the ‘Not Dead Yet’ scene with them, I was lying on the floor in my almost dead makeup, and they were comic geniuses. They would just stand there, and let the laughter happen, and they would let the laughter die out before they said their next line. And this was anathema to me!” Borle shakes his head, smiling. “I realized over time that audiences weren't hearing my lines, because I was coming in before the laughter had died. By the end of the run with them, I had figured out how to hold for laughs, and it's a lesson that I've never forgotten and that has served me moving forward.”

Honing his comedic timing wasn't the only skill he absorbed through osmosis from his collaborators. Gavin Creel, who preceded Borle in the role of Jimmy in the original production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, transformed the way Borle approached his vocal instrument. Borle shared the following with Playbill prior to Creel's death September 30.

"I learned to be a better singer by listening to Gavin Creel. Over the years, listening to him and listening to him do that... My voice changed because of him. 'I Turned The Corner'—listening to him sing that...it was the first time my mix opened up. Thank you, Gavin." Borle pauses, taking a deep breath before continuing on. "It's hard to replace, because you're coming into a company of people who are all in love with each other most of the time, and everybody obviously loves Gavin. But you put your ego aside a little bit and do that person's show, and slowly you make the show your own through them."

After his breakout role as Emmett in 2007's Legally Blonde, Borle left the replacement track behind—going on to originate roles in new productions and revivals. When working on something new, however, trusting the untested material can be half of the battle. However, when an actor is given material that they adore, the entire production process can fly. Borle found his wings working on Peter and the Starcatcher, “the greatest theatrical endeavor of my whole life.”

The play marked one of the first times Borle had given direct input on the evolution of a role, refining the role of Black Stache in numerous workshops and rehearsal halls until it fit him like a glove. Alongside playwright Rick Elice, Borle found a groove he hadn’t known he was missing. “I milked it and milked it and milked it and milked it for all it was worth. And that led to a Tony Award, which was obviously life changing.”

Bore subsequently won his second Tony in 2015 for Something Rotten, in the similarly tailored role of William Shakespeare. But now, he is ready for a new challenge in a new role: the real-life televangelist Jim Bakker, whose life (and countenance) couldn’t be more different than Borle’s.

“It's one of the first times in my career that I'm playing a person that you can Google,” Borle laughs. “It’s fascinating to learn how to balance playing a real-life person with what is required in the incredible book of the show, and the story that we're telling. It's an incredibly moving story, very smart, very funny, and it goes to fascinatingly dark and hilarious places… And I don't know if you guys are fans of altitude, but the Palace Theatre is 30 feet higher than it was, so get ready for the escalator ride of your life.”