Seinfeld’s work habits were stringent from the start. Studying communications and theater at Queens College, he arranged an independent study in stand-up, trying club sets, analyzing others’ sets and writing a 40-page paper. When he scored his first appearance on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show,” in 1981, he practiced his five-minute set “200 times” beforehand, jogging around Manhattan and listening to the “Superman” theme on a Walkman to amp up.
Great story on Jerry Seinfeld in the NYTimes. I love how these success stories can come about in so many different ways. Some fall into it and are happy with that. Some, like Seinfeld, have made it a lifelong pursuit to perfect and improve. Even long after they have to.