People ask me this a lot. Here's the short version.
I did stand-up and freelance journalism in NYC for four years.
I got annoyed that no one knew about great comedy shows that my friends ran.
I approached the Village Voice about doing a weekly post highlighting these shows. They said "let's try it".
I did weekly posts for 2 years. I called it Cheap Laughs. I handed it off to Amy Hawthorne recently. She's great.
One person who's show I recommended was very grateful and became a friend.
6 months later, out of nowhere, that person recommended me for a job at Comedy Central.
I had four interviews.
After that, a great guy called Bob Salazar said "come in and write copy for us for two weeks".
That turned into a month.
That turned into three months.
That turned into a year.