Basically here’s my life story:

I grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, came to New York and went to NYU film school. 

While there I met a bunch of guys (and one girl) and we formed a comedy troupe called The New Group.  We did live sketch shows and short films and I got a chance to write, direct, perform and edit comedy in collaboration with my friends.  I’ve continued to do that in the years since then, largely with this same group of college pals. 

Upon graduation, we changed the name of The New Group to THE STATE and, through a series of lucky breaks, ended up with our own series on MTV.  That went well for a few years, until we made a move to CBS which imploded and ultimately ended the group.  But we all stayed friends and kept working together.  (In fact, all eleven of us reunited for a new live sketch show in San Francisco this past January, and the MTV series is now finally available on DVD.)

At around the time The State was fizzling (1997), three of us from the group (Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and myself) started a weekly nightclub comedy show at Fez Under Time Cafe called STELLA which ran until 2005.  As hosts of this show our trio developed into a comedy troupe of its own, eventually spawning a bunch of shorts, a Comedy Central series and a live show that still (sporadically) tours the country to this day.  A new Stella “Live in Boston” DVD was released this year.

In 2001 I directed WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER, a movie co-written and co-produced by Michael Showalter and myself.  The movie is about the last day of summer camp in 1981 and features Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black, Amy Poehler, Marguerite Moreau, Zak Orth, A.D. Miles - and in their first film roles, Elizabeth Banks and Bradley Cooper.  I’m thrilled that the movie still maintains a loyal and active following among the coolest people in coffee shops and college dorms across the land.

The second movie I directed was THE TEN (2007), produced and written with Ken Marino.  It’s ten comedic stories, each inspired by a different one of the ten commandments, featuring Paul Rudd, Winona Ryder, Gretchen Mol, Rob Corddry, Famke Janssen, Jessica Alba, Liev Schreiber, Oliver Platt, Adam Brody, Ken Marino, Justin Theroux and many more.

My first large scale studio movie, ROLE MODELS, starring Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Jane Lynch, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bobb’e J. Thompson and Elizabeth Banks, was released in 2008 and is now on DVD. It was a Critics Choice nominee for Best Comedy.  And yes Paul Rudd as been in every movie, so far.

In between the bigger projects, I’ve written, directed and performed on lots of TV shows (e.g. Mad TV, The Daily Show, Best Week Ever, Tim & Eric’s Awesome Show, Strangers with Candy) and a few movies.

Most recently I can be heard as “The Warden” on the Adult Swim animated series SUPERJAIL, and I’ve created & starred in 31 episodes (so far) of my Webby Award winning web series WAINY DAYS, which is a (lightly) fictionalized account of my ongoing quest to meet women in New York. 

In my (somewhat) real life I live with my wife (the awesome actress Zandy Hartig) and our son, a few blocks from my first NYU dorm room.