I was born in Detroit, in a house where wit was appreciated. I was raised on the comedy of Bill Cosby, Henny Youngman, Rodney Dangerfield, Johnny Carson, and Bob Newhart. My television favorites were Warner Brothers cartoons, the Three Stooges, The Bob Newhart Show, Get Smart, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and SCTV. One day at college, when I was supposed to be studying, I was watching this weird new daytime TV show hosted by some guy named David Letterman. I had never seen anything like it. It didn’t just make me laugh: I was filled with a sense of wonder that something this mind-blowing was actually on my TV. As the credits rolled I saw the words “Written By” on the screen, and it occurred to me for the very first time that someone was getting paid to do this sort of thing. I knew right then what my life’s purpose would be: producing segments of Stupid Pet Tricks for The Late Show.

Although I sold Dave some jokes as a freelancer, I never achieved my goal of becoming a staff writer for his show. But along the way I wrote jokes for lots of other TV shows in New York, Los Angeles, and, for some reason, Orlando, Florida. Writing for television was a grand adventure complete with heroes and villains, and more W’s than L’s, although it was close. I had a pretty good run in late-night TV until Father Time tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Yeah, that’s a wrap.” Now I make my living as a freelance writer and stand-up comedian throughout the Midwest, and I live on a farm outside Ann Arbor with my wife Jordan, who is the funniest person I have ever met.