I WAS BORN ON 68TH AND YORK ON THE UPPER EAST SIDE OF MANHATTAN. AFTER BIRTH, I LIVED ON 56TH STREET, THEN TO QUEENS, THEN TO LONG ISLAND, THEN TO FORT LAUDERDALE, THEN TO THE BRONX, THEN TO AUSTIN, TX. I’VE SEEN IT ALL, FROM RATS THE SIZE OF A ROTTWEILER, TO A MAN DRESSED AS DOLLY PARTON SINGING 9 TO 5 ON THE SUBWAY, TO ALLIGATORS AND JESUS, AND A MAN ON A HORSE IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC.
GROWING UP IN NEW YORK MEANT YOU DID THE RITUAL-THE ONE WHEN YOU STAY UP TILL ELEVEN-THIRTY ON A SATURDAY TO WATCH SNL. WHILE SOME DREAM OF BEING ON THE SHOW, I JUST WANTED TO BE A WRITER. THEN, ONE DAY, I SAW A COMMERCIAL FOR JOHN WEST SALMON AND I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, “HUH. THAT’S SORT OF LIKE SNL.”