Wild that it’s 2024. For the usual reasons, but also because it’s the 20th anniversary of me moving to New York City.
I haven’t lived there since 2008 and in many ways, it seems like I never left. In one very specific and tangible way, I one hundred percent left.
It was such a prolific time in my life, which in hindsight was really a byproduct of being surrounded by talented people. We all wanted the same thing. We wanted to create. And thankfully, we did. Most of us didn’t wait, we didn’t ask permission, we didn’t wait for some Artistic Director to decide that we were cool enough to perform under or above some other, more profitable business. We went out and we did shows. And we supported each other. People don’t realize how rare that is. To find yourself in a group of artists that also want *you* to succeed. We all wanted each other to make the best work they could.
Another thing I didn’t appreciate at the time is that I often could have an idea on Monday, write it, and have it up on a stage by Saturday. It may have been, speaking creatively, the most formative time of my career.
In those NYC years, I really discovered exactly what my creative voice was. (The answer is some combination of Robert Guillaume, Charles Grodin, and the Cryptkeeper.)
I was in a sketch duo and I had the greatest creative partner anyone could have.
She’s pretty famous now and she deserves it. You probably know her as a computer lady in a show about the afterlife.
It’s also the 20th anniversary since I started getting paid to make up just the goofiest shit I can think of. I feel like I should commemorate that somehow. No idea how. Most probably by continuing to get paid to make up goofy shit.
Did you know season 13 has arrived. I have to buy it, hilariously, and I worked on it. You should too, considering you did nothing.
I bought a PS5, if you can believe that. I’m currently playing Spider-Man 2. On the subject of missing New York…!