I remember the first job I ever had was working on 'Firefly,' and I was talking to Joss Whedon, and he was asking if I was going to Comic-Con. He called me a loser for not going that first year.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
You know, comics and movies, even if you take a comic and turn it into a movie, we can't all be Joss Whedon.
The first acting thing I ever did was my senior year I decided not to play a sport in the Spring and, in that Spring B.J. Novak who went to school with me, asked if I'd be in this show that was a parody of all the teachers in the school, 'sure!' That was the first acting thing I did.
When I was growing up in comedy, there were maybe 10 comics in the whole country. Everyone had a day job. You worked free for years in little clubs, then you got your big break and became a star.
I came to one of the first Comic Cons in 1985, when it was just people trading back issues of comic books.
My first big gig was as a correspondent on Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show.' My job was to parody TV reporters and political pundits. As a result, I was often invited onto cable news shows as comic relief.
I started working full time as a comedian in 2005, shortly after we did the Vince Vaughn 'Wild West Comedy Show.' I worked at the Four Seasons hotel from 1998 to 2005, so about seven years, just trying to put some food on the table and pay the rent while I went out to the open mics and got my feet wet with stand-up comedy.
I've wanted to write comics ever since I figured out it was a job.
My first real showbiz job was on a Nickelodeon show called 'Hey, Dude.' That was my first real paid scriptwriting job.
Years ago, Barry Diller asked me to be a judge on a pilot for an inventor show on USA, and when it was over, the producer, Ken Mok, took me out to dinner and really got me talking. It was a long dinner. Afterward, he said, 'One day, I'm going to write your movie'.
I did a terrible television pilot that was so badly written and dumb that it became a turning point for me and I decided that I would never accept a job just because I needed the money.