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My birth date is November 28th. I was born in Oak Park [Illinois]. I have three sisters and a brother. I suppose it was your average middle class Midwestern upbringing. A lot of beer drinking and emphasis on sports. I moved to Chicago while I was in college and stayed while performing at Second City and then moved to New York. It was either that or LA, and I hate to drive.
On what he did after high school...
I wasted some time in college - I worked at Allstate Insurance for a year and then I quit to do stand-up. I worked odd jobs to support myself, given that I was a pretty crummy stand-up - cabbie, sold newspapers, sold office art (never actually sold anything), and worked, for one night, at the Sugar Shack as a waiter - pretty horrible - gay men stripping out of fireman costumes for bachelorette parties being sold incredibly overpriced watered-down drinks.
On Second City...
I started taking classes and then was asked to audition. When taking classes, I never imagined they would hire me to be in the touring company, let alone on main stage in the resident company. It was an unbelievably great experience. We had complete freedom and the support of the funniest people ever assembled, plus free beer. It was an opportunity to learn in front of a sold out crowd - which is the best way to learn, especially if you are lazy. It really is sink or swim. I performed with truly gifted people - Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris - who I still work with today - Chris Farley, Ian Gomez, Dave Pasquesi - plus many more.
On the inspiration for Strangers with Candy character Mr. Jellineck...
Mr. Jellineck is an amalgam of various teachers I've had. The name came from my art teacher in grade school. She wrote the most vile evaluation on my report card - ("never amount to anything, disruptive, no positive attributes, a menace to the classroom," etc.) so truly horrible I saved the card for years. In retrospect, I think she was justified, given that I taped a fire cracker to the bottom of her tea kettle, among other acts of mischief.
On his dog, Cagney...
I got her at the humane society in Chicago - She was the greatest friend a person could have. I would suggest to anybody who is looking for a dog, go to a rescue center in your town - you won't be able to find a better dog than you can find there. Anyway - I put Cagney in everything I've done - short films, TV shows, stage shows and the book that Stephen, Amy and I wrote. I had her for sixteen years. She died this past Christmas. I miss her every day. She was named after James Cagney.
On music...
I like all different types of stuff. I liked the latest Cat Power album, and I thought the Shins album was pretty good. Right now I've been listening to Curtis Mayfield "Super Fly" and James Brown - because it fits with the Strangers script I'm writing.
On playing guitar and writing songs...
I play a lot of queer acoustic shit - Zeppelin from their acoustic album, or watered-down Radiohead. I also bought a bouzouki and I've been playing some Greek folk songs. Now I'm crummy on two instruments. I do occasionally write a song, but you're never gonna hear them, nobody is.
On what made him decide to go into the entertainment industry...
Operant Conditioning - initially it was something I enjoyed - performing that is - and people rewarded me by giving me another job - and that kept the vicious cycle going - there really was no conscious decision to perform or write. One would have to be insane to knowingly choose that as a profession.
