"I sometimes think I tried to get good at comedy so comedy people would talk to me. I'm not sure where the instinct to hoard came from. I started doing it when I was little. Every autograph I ever got, I would put in a photo album and treat it like it was the Shroud of Turin. My Phil Collins autograph poster was handled with so much care."
"I was obsessed from the earliest age with the Marx Brothers and Abbott and Costello. That turned into George Carlin and Steve Martin. I went deep down the Lenny Bruce well as a seventh grader. That's how much of a comedy nerd I was. My grandfather owned a record company called Mainstream Records. He put out jazz, blues, and experimental music. He produced the first Janis Joplin record, Ted Nugent, Charlie Parker. And my dad worked with him. So the vibe was very cool."
The subject developed a lifelong obsession with comedy, collecting autographs and memorabilia and caring for them meticulously. Favorite influences included the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, George Carlin, Steve Martin, and Lenny Bruce by seventh grade. A family background in music and a grandfather who ran Mainstream Records exposed the subject to jazz, blues, and experimental artists and created a cool, encouraging environment. Parents expressed confidence that pursuing comedy would succeed. Access to a high school radio station run by Jack DeMasi enabled interviews with comedians such as John Candy and Jerry Seinfeld, providing practical education through prolonged conversations about craft.
Read at www.esquire.com
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