When I was in Kindergarten, I arrived at school one morning to find my classmates standing outside and the school doors still locked. The teachers were chatting in the lounge and forgot to open the building. I decided if they could open school whenever they felt like it, then we would enter when we were good and ready. In a rousing speech, I convinced the entire class to sit in the middle of the playground and refuse to come inside. The principal called my parents to report that I had "led a rebellion". It was my first unofficial performance.
In sixth grade I wrote, directed and starred in a karate sketch for school talent show. I thought it would be really cool if I entered the scene with smoke rising all around me so, before my entrance, I lit a smoke bomb. Much to everyone's surprise- including my own-- the room quickly filled with toxic smoke, triggered the fire alarms and the entire was school was evacuated. At my parents request, I took a break from the arts until they were no longer legally responsible for me.
As such, it was as a Freshman at the University of Notre Dame that I first tried stand-up comedy. I tackled groundbreaking topics like airplanes and cafeteria food, people laughed and I was hooked. I started performing around campus- emceeing the annual Football Pep Rally and just jumping on stage at a dance to tell jokes.
Upon graduation, however, I knew I had to get serious about life. (Actually, my dad said so.) I moved to New York City and got a job at an advertising agency... it did not go well. The company expected me to be there at 9am, regardless of how late I was out the night before, and my neck was getting irritated from shaving every day. I quickly announced my retirement and entered the world of entertainment.
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