My First Writing Jobs Were

Literally, My Last Call Was With David Blaine, Congratulating Him On His Show. I Have A Camaraderie With David.

I Wanted To See How Funny I Could Be Without Making The Choice That Every 10 Minutes Something Big And Visual Had To Happen.

I Did Get Good Enough To Get On Hbo's Young Comedians Special, But I Certainly Wasn't The Person Who Got Launched Off Of Hbo's Young Comedians Special. That Would Be Ray Romano That Year. I Had Some Semi-intelligent Jokes, But When People Would See Me, They Would Think, "oh, That's A Good Writer." No One Would Ever Have Said, "oh, That's A Good Performer."

I Loved Working In Stand-up, And I Always Dreamed That I Could Make A Movie About It. I Didn't Know If I Would Have The Courage To, Because If You Make A Bad Movie About Stand-up, Then Comedians Will Mock You For The Rest Of Your Life. They're Still Mad About Movies Made 25 Years Ago. But It Was Always A Dream Of Mine, And I Was Glad I Finally Came Up With An Idea That Allowed Me To Explore It In Such A Way That It's Not All About Stand-up, But Stand-up Creates A Great Backdrop For Another Type Of Story.

I've Always Appreciated People Like Graham Parker Or Loudon Wainwright Iii, Who Spend Their Entire Lives Writing Songs And Working Their Asses Off Just To Have Complete Artistic Freedom. They're Just Sharing Their Lives With You Through Their Music. That's The Same Kind Of Work That I'm Trying To Do, In My Own Weird Way.