When he approached Ms. Wu about lessons, she recalled, “He didn’t look like an athlete, but then when I saw him play, it was different.”

She would pantomime the proper technique. He would follow.

“You knew two words of English,” he reminded her recently. Soon she knew a few more, including the word “brain,” which she would say to him, pointing to her head. It was her way of telling him he had a good head for the mental game.

“Every time he plays, he wants to win,” she said. “When he plays, he’s not a comedian anymore.”

Indeed, he may appear to be a couch potato, but Mr. Friedlander is anything but lazy. He is out every night keeping his standup skills sharp, at clubs including the Comedy Cellar, the Stand and Caroline’s. He’ll perform as many as five sets in an evening, honing his material and trying out new bits.

He takes his paddles on the road and seeks out table tennis clubs. In New York, he plays not only at Spin but outdoors, with the regulars who gather year-round at the concrete tables in Tompkins Square Park in the East Village.

“It’s a mental break from the annoyingness of show business,” he said, adding that the fast-twitch muscle reactions crucial for table tennis can help on the standup stage. “You have to be thinking so fast,” he explained, “and Ping-Pong is a game where you have to think so fast.”

Mr. Friedlander is also a vocal promoter of the sport. The homemade trucker hats with goofy slogans that he became known for on “30 Rock” were occasionally adorned with references or logos recognizable only to table tennis fans. One of his many friends at Spin is Susan Sarandon, a co-owner of the club. When “30 Rock” was hoping to cast her in an episode in 2011, a producer asked Mr. Friedlander to encourage her to take it. She did.