The media was capitalizing my brother's death. My family and my life were falling apart, and I couldn't stop the downward spiral. I made one bad decision after another. One of those guys they quote for T-shirts once said, "Heroes aren't born, they're cornered." Oh, I was cornered. And I found out that I was no hero.

I don't know if there is a gene for comedy, but my dad was a very funny man. ... He just didn't know it. He was a naturally funny character, and when my brother and I would laugh at things he said and did, he would say, 'What do you think is so funny?'