Bryan Donaldson's career took an unexpected turn last fall, all thanks to Twitter.
Since October 2011, Donaldson, who had been working in IT for the past 20 years, had been tweeting a few jokes a day under the handle @TheNardvark, according to Vulture. His Twitter following quickly grew after he sent out some pretty hilarious tweets:
Why sure, I’d love to hear about all of your problems! Hang on, let me start eating my Cap’n Crunch before you start talking.
— Bryan Donaldson (@TheNardvark) May 22, 2013
His tweets got the attention of Alex Baze, head writer and producer of "Late Night With Seth Meyers." When Baze started his search for a talented team of writers last fall, he thought what better outlet to turn to than Twitter?
"If I go to somebody’s Twitter, I can see what he’s been doing the last two years -- you get a much more complete sense of how he writes," Baze told Vulture.
Seth Meyers agreed. At last month's South by Southwest festival, Meyers admitted that when it comes to hiring his staff, he reads their packets and then looks at the last six months of their tweets. If they've only tweeted two jokes a month, he's not as interested.
Meyers and Baze decided to bring the 40-year-old in for an interview, according to Vulture.
Donaldson, who had no connection to the comedy world, flew from Peoria, Ill., to New York City to meet with the them.
"We never stopped to wonder where he was from or what he was doing," Meyers told Vulture. "He just made us laugh."
Sure enough, he landed a job writing for the show.
After a few months of spending my days in a room full of comedy writers I now realize how annoying I must be. Sorry, everyone I've ever met!
— Bryan Donaldson (@TheNardvark) February 13, 2014
Here’s how @ambermruffin and @thenardvark are counting down to tomorrow night’s #LNSM premiere! https://t.co/y4dpPkF7zP
— Late Night (@LateNightSeth) February 23, 2014
The "Late Night With Seth Meyers" producers aren't the only ones who turned to Twitter to scout talent. The producers on "Parks and Recreation" used the same method, according to TV Guide. And the biggest Twitter success story is Justin Halpern, who created "S#*! My Dad Says" based on his Twitter feed, and is now working on "Surviving Jack" with executive producer, Bill Lawrence.
"The allure of Twitter for writers is there," Lawrence told the outlet. "It's funny to try and be a joke writer there. I love it."
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