What led you to comedy?
As a kid, I loved both sketch comedy and science fiction, and I think I found some overlap between them. The first time I saw Saturday Night Live, it felt like I had stepped into a sci-fi universe, where it was similar to the real world, but a couple notches off. In high school, I loved The State for similar reasons. I had a lot of funny friends growing up, and it was a pretty natural transition from enjoying comedy to trying to make our own.
What type / amount of research goes into your work? Or is a lot of it creative intuition?
It depends on the medium and the project.
At the Onion News Network we were parodying cable news. Our team would spend a lot of time finding real-world video references for each piece we wrote. We’d use this research to try to mimic the tone and structure of the real news.
If I’m developing a television idea, and the world of the show is outside my exact, lived experience, I’ll do a lot of research to try to get a feel for the language and jargon, as well as the basic structure and dynamics of the world I’m writing about.
For devised theatre projects, I do a lot of research in the form of creative experimentation. This could be in rehearsals or classes that I’m teaching or small shows. In this process, I’m just playing around, looking for a little seed or an engine or even exercises that suggest a new way to create work.
Do you have a way of organizing your ideas? Whether that’s software or practical tasks.
If I’m working on my own and structuring my own days I like to make a daily calendar breaking the day into small increments. Since I’m generally working on more than one thing at a time, I do think about how to organize the day to get the most done. And then some days I accidentally go on Twitter and end up at the bottom of a news hole with nothing accomplished but my brain hollowed out by tweets. It all depends!
How did you transition from Chicago to LA?
It was a relatively slow transition. I lived in Chicago for about ten years, working at The Second City (as a director and teacher) and at The Onion. I also had a sketch group with two friends, Tim Robinson and Mark Raterman, called My Mans. We made a sketch pilot for Comedy Central and a scripted pilot a couple years later. Shortly after that we sold a pitch to Adult Swim. At a certain point, I knew I wanted to focus more on television, and it felt like the right way to do that was to relocate to LA (which was correct!) Because I had established some track record for selling projects, it ultimately did feel like more of a transition than like starting over.
Do you have boundaries / non-negotiables when you’re approached to collaborate on a project? What are the factors when deciding whether or not to accept a job?
I don’t think I have absolute non-negotiables. My perfect project has four main elements: 1) I can work on it with my friends or with people I enjoy/respect. 2) There is a lot of creative freedom. 3) It feels like it has the potential to break new ground comedically or creatively. 4) It pays well. I suppose I’d take on a project that has any one of those four elements, and probably wouldn’t take on a project that had none of them. But who knows?
What is your biggest creative obstacle?
Twitter.
What advice would you give your 25 yr old self today?
At 25 I was really focused on trying to create a breakthrough piece of material. Over time, I’ve become more focused on raising the level of what I can produce consistently every day. I would probably say that over time a good batting average is better than a few home runs. Also, I had the idea for a blanket with sleeves before the Snuggie happened so I would advise my younger self to jump on that.
Has technology changed the way you work in the past 10 years?
The biggest way I use technology is to collaborate. I do a lot of work over Google Docs, video chat, and Frame.io
How do you know when to give up on an idea that maybe isn’t working or for whatever reason the environment and times aren’t bringing it to fruition?
I have trouble with this. I don’t like letting go of ideas. But when I feel like a piece isn’t really working out, I do try my best to finish a draft of it, even if it feels like the worst thing I’ve ever done. That way, if I come back to it (maybe a couple months later) I have something concrete to respond to. I find that if I come back to an idea that wasn’t working, and I hadn’t finished a draft, I get stuck in the same problems I was having before.
Do you embrace the idea that the final project will differ from the way you initially envisioned it or do you restructure along the way and create certain guidelines to find your way back to the intended framework?
I definitely embrace that idea in theatre. I love starting a process with almost nothing in place and allowing the show to evolve through rehearsal. Writing television is much more technical, and it often feels like the biggest challenge is finding a way to protect the initial spark while the show gets honed and structured.
Beyond writing & filmmaking, what other forms of creativity do you seek out for fulfillment?
I used to do a lot of graphic design. For me, Photoshop punches a lot of the same brain buttons as video games. I’ll periodically seek out drawing classes or drop-in studios. I find working on visual stuff uses a totally different part of my brain from writing and it can be a nice break. In a similar way, I’m sort of a pickup-sports fanatic. When you spend all day in your brain, it’s good to remember how to use your body.
Do you work on your own passion projects? If so, how do your personal projects differ from commissioned work? Is there a theme or even a way of working that differs?
When you work in theatre, everything is basically a passion project because there is never any money. Now, a good amount of my professional energy goes into developing ideas for television shows. When they are my own ideas (rather than someone coming to me with an idea) I approach the process the same as I would for a “passion” project. I’m always aiming to create something that is exactly what I’d like to work on/what I’d like to see/what I’d like to live with for years into the future.
Have there been times when you have taken risks and it didn’t necessarily pay off? What did you learn from it?
I definitely pushed the boundaries pretty hard when I worked at Second City. I focused a lot on things I thought Second City could do better, but, looking back, that energy would have been probably better spent focusing on things that I could do better. Live and learn!
Do you think that there is a recipe for comedic success?
I don’t think there’s a recipe. I do know there are some common traits among the people whose careers I admire. They all work very hard; they’re fun to work with; they’re self-confident; they take risks; and they can deliver. I think this is important even for early-stage people to keep in mind. Be someone who can come into a project and add a useful element.
Do you have a mantra you live by?
No ice cream after midnight.
What is the last experience or piece of art that inspired you?
I really liked How To with John Wilson. It made me miss New York.
Do you have any interest in going to Mars?
I’d love to go after they get it all set up.