Scott discovered something magical at the age of 4. He published his first book by stapling together scrap paper his dad brought home from work, and it opened a new dimension in life—a way to transcend shyness, connect with others, and communicate whimsical ideas to the world.

Since then, he’s been an unstoppable whirlwind of creativity. As a child, he made super-8 films, recorded serialized radio sketches on cassette, and performed on the street. In his teens, he brought his comedy to school talent shows, comedy clubs, and national radio. His short films began winning awards at festivals, and he won first place in a Wisconsin State Journalism contest for his school newspaper comic strip.

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In his 20s, he created the comic strip Jim’s Journal, which ran in over 100 college newspapers and spawned a self-published book collection that made the New York Times bestseller list. He helped create The Onion and led it from small college newspaper to internationally known humor brand. He founded The AV Club. He won the Thurber Prize for American Humor and a Peabody Award.