When I was a young boy, I studied high math because I was put way ahead in school. So I was doing college when I was 9 years old, I was very good at math, very shy. And then the professor of calculus said "the next theory we're going to learn if A, then A equals A." If A', then A equals A, and he said "what do you think the name of this theory is" and I said "is it the pointless theory?" And he was fantastic to work with.

I remember making fun of myself for being a commuter and having no friends and being alone all the time. [And] I didn’t bomb. I did okay, and I remember it was just like, This is what I’m doing now. Comedy is the only thing in my life I never had any doubt about. I obviously learned from a bunch of masters, but it always flowed into me. When you find what you’re supposed to do there’s not a lot of thinking. It just is. And if you love what you do, you transcend so much bullshit. My life was really unbalanced before. [How so?] I had found love in my job and I didn’t know how to do it in my personal life. I got to a pretty advanced age and comedy was a thousand miles down the road and every...[Read more]

Since I can remember. I made a bunch if grown ups laugh and my arms itched with this kind of pure joy

I wasn’t much taller than my daddy’s shin when I found I could break people up. A little dog wandered by and poo-pooed in our yard. I got up, ran to my grandmother, and slipped in the dog poop. It made Mama and the rest laugh. I was really onto something then. So I did it a second time. “Look at that boy! He’s crazy!” That was my first joke. All in poop. And I been covered in it ever since.

I was funny from an early age. I remember saying something when I was like, 9, that was legit funny. My family was cool with it. My older brother, Kevin Brennan is a comedian, so he was massively helpful.

Feeling like there wasn't a job out there that felt right. I tried a lot of them and it was clear I couldn't fit into society like a normal human being. Get the fuck out of Iowa! Go find your tribe and start living your life the way you secretly wish you could. Stop being afraid of what other people will think of you and do the thing you want to do. Above all, leave Iowa :)

Because I was good at it. And I thought I wanted to be an actress, but I didn't have a passion for it. But the first time I did stand up, I knew it was... the one.

I'd love to have a shitty job. I couldn't hold any down. Standup was the only thing I could stick with. I'm an idiot that way. seriously this is the real answer.

I basically started performing for my mother, going, ‘Love me!’ What drives you to perform is the need for that primal connection. When I was little, my mother was funny with me, and I started to be charming and funny for her, and I learned that by being entertaining, you make a connection with another person.

I never thought about "being" in comedy when I grew up because I didn't know it was a real job. But looking back, it's the only thing I ever really cared about.

This is how much I wanted to be a comedian and didn’t realize it: I had a paper route for years when I was a kid, and when I was on my route I used to recite George Carlin bits, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy — I used to recite his “Hit by a Car” bit word-for-word. I would fantasize about doing it in front of my entire grade in the school auditorium. But I still wasn’t able to make the connection of maybe that means you want to be a comedian. It didn’t seem possible. But I know the exact moment when it seemed possible. I was working in a warehouse with this guy and he was into comedy — first time I’d ever met somebody who was into comedy the way I was. And I used to go over to his house to drin...[Read more]