Grew up on Long Island and also spent part of his childhood in Brazil
Began his career in music; was a drummer in the '90s punk-rock group Trenchmouth and in the Blue Man Group's Chicago show
Fred Armisen's Guide to Music and SXSW, a video he created at the 1988 South By Southwest music conference became a cult hit and helped him transition into comedy
Has directed music videos for bands such as Helio Sequence and Tigers & Monkeys
Founded ThunderAnt
com, a website featuring comedy sketches he created with Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein; the pair later went on to create Portlandia