In case you missed it, Donald Glover and his musical alter-ego, Childish Gambino, took over the media’s attention this week with all the shock and awe of a presidential tweet. From his hilarious hosting of Saturday Night Live to rather ironically becoming the face of Disney’s Han Solo Star Wars movie, Glover was already having a moment. And then “This is America” happened. A stunning piece of political art that directly challenges his and his audience’s distracted place in our current (and eternal) cultural crises, Childish Gambino’s music video earned Glover a cascade of new fans overnight.

But for those who have been following his career since Community, none of it is entirely surprising, even if the exact directions his talent takes can rarely be predicted. Originally cast as a jock archetype named Troy Barnes on Dan Harmon’s demented sitcom, Glover transformed the character through his sheer personality and ingenuity into one of the many stealth weapons in the cult geek series that always deserved a larger audience. For in a series flush with current and future star talent—including GLOW’s Alison Brie, Love’s Gillian Jacobs, future Oscar winner Jim Rash, future Avengers directors the Russo Brothers, and even future Oscar winner Brie Larson in a recurring role—Glover still stood out with a constant mischievousness and intelligence that allowed him to thread a needle between Troy Barnes’ overeager optimism and sudden, crashing bouts of self-doubting despair.

It was a comical whiplash act that only strengthened the ensemble the more he cemented his on and off-screen screen bromance with co-star Danny Pudi, who played the series’ fourth-wall breaking “innocent,” Abed Nadir. This apt since when you consider the best Troy Barnes episodes, you’re also mostly considering the best Troy and Abed episodes.

Recently, Harmon told The New Yorker that despite his controlling sensibilities, he’d often let Glover improvise jokes (especially in post-credit “buttons” or stingers) on the fly. That creative trust obviously in hindsight is well-founded. Before Community, Glover was the 25-year-old wunderkind hired for 30 Rock’s writers room and afterward he’d create the Emmy winning Atlanta. Still, it’s rewarding unto itself revisiting the goofy, happy-go-lucky charms of his Troy Barnes. It reminds fans of Community’s glory days (it was never the same after he left a year before its final season). And for newcomers, below you can find a guide to some of the best glimpses of the early comic chops that are now just one of many threats in Glover’s arsenal.