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Last month, Judd Apatow’s dream came true. He got to perform stand up on The Tonight Show. Was it a great set? Eh…it was a little sloppy. After all, the man hadn’t really done stand up in decades. But it was still charming (and he was bold enough to go after Bill Cosby).

Apatow had been a hardcore comedy nerd as a kid, and after pursuing stand up in his youth, he’d abandoned it in favor of working as a writer and producer. Even though Apatow never became the next Steve Martin, he arguably got to become someone even more important in the world of comedy: he’s the new Lorne Michaels.

Much like Saturday Night Live’s uber-producer, Apatow’s greatest gift isn’t his ability to craft a joke, but to zero in on who is going to be the next big comedy star.

Apatow’s first producing gig was on his stand up buddy Ben Stiller’s eponymous show, The Ben Stiller Show. Apatow and Stiller cast their favorite comics and best friends on the show and wound up giving people like Janeane Garofalo, David Cross, and (2015 Emmy nominee) Bob Odenkirk their first big gigs.

Even if that’s all Apatow did, he’d have enough on his resumé to impress the most snooty of comedy nerds, but in 1999, Apatow decided to produce the ground-breaking comedy series Freaks and Geeks. The series was the brainchild of another comic, Paul Feig. You know Paul Feig, right? He’s the guy who directed Bridesmaids and who is about to reboot The Ghostbusters. The show isn’t just revered because of the way it tenderly and truthfully revisited growing up in the early ‘80s; it’s also the show that introduced the world to James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Lizzy Caplan, and Linda Cardellini.

After Freaks and Geeks (and Undeclared) were unceremoniously canceled, Apatow pivoted to the big screen. He produced a little film called Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. This was future comedy uber-producer Adam McKay’s directorial debut and the first time most audiences saw a Daily Show correspondent named Steve Carrell let his comedy freak-flag fly. The success of Anchorman gave Apatow the chance to produce his own project: The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He brought Carrell back as the star, and cast up-and-coming actresses like Jane Lynch, Elizabeth Banks, Mindy Kaling, Kat Dennings, and (his wife) Leslie Mann in stellar supporting roles.

In the last ten years, Apatow’s projects have championed the following actors, writers, and directors: Jonah Hill, Emma Stone, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Russell Brand, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, Rebel Wilson, Chris O’Dowd, Lena Dunham, Adam Driver, Amy Schumer, and many, many more. He’s even positioned NBA star LeBron James as a Hollywood heavyweight. Sure, LeBron’s always had star appeal, but his uproarious work in Trainwreck proved that he can be a bankable movie star.

You might not think Judd Apatow ranks as a director (or writer)(or comic), but you can’t dismiss the man’s incredible track record as a talent spotter. He has impeccable taste and an unerring eye for who is poised to be the next big thing in comedy. What Judd Apatow says is funny is what we all end up laughing at.

Besides Apatow, there is only one other gatekeeper with the same kind of power over people’s careers in comedy: Lorne Michaels. However, unlike Michales, Apatow doesn’t force performers to do their time in the madcap, unrelenting environment of Saturday Night Live. He gives them the chance to play with a character on a small scale, improvise a ton, and eventually encourages the biggest stars to write and produce their own work. Thereby creating an even more sprawling comedy empire.

And how did Apatow get to the top of this new comedy pyramid? By being really good at casting his shows and films. Check out just a few of the famous faces he plucked out of obscurity below:

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[Photo Illustration by Jaclyn Kessel; Photos: Everett Collection]