Brad Dickson’s parents would have preferred that he do pretty much anything other than become a comedy writer. But instead, twenty-two-year-old Brad shunned his original dream of heading to law school, packed his common sense and knowledge gained from earning a degree in history from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and headed for Los Angeles to pursue his dream of performing stand-up.

A year later after performing his original material in Hollywood at the Comedy Store, Brad gave new meaning to the phrase “starving writer” and returned home to Omaha. Not discouraged despite well-meaning Omahans who advised him not to pursue a career writing jokes, Brad worked in telemarketing and sent jokes to Joan Rivers, who to his shock and awe, decided to buy a few. Later, Brad wrote for Rodney Dangerfield and other comedians who paid him $10 to $50 dollars per joke. While Brad kept himself busy writing screenplays that garnered little interest, Jay Leno began hosting for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show on Monday nights. After Brad sent a few jokes to Jay in care of NBC in Burbank, he called Brad to give him his fax number. “I was officially earning a living writing for the first time,” Brad says. “I think I was 29.” A couple of weeks after the Leno call, Brad received a call from an agent who eventually sold his screenplay, “Honeymoon” to Universal Studios. “I am reasonably certain I was the only guy living in Maple Village with a movie deal,” jokes Brad. After seven years of struggle, Brad’s career turned around over the course of a few weeks.

As his life’s journey led him back to Los Angeles for seventeen years, Brad became one of about a dozen writers at The Tonight Show who scanned the news and then cranked out 100+ jokes a day until the show’s taping at 5:00 p.m. Back then, the show garnered approximately six million viewers each night.

Because of his role at The Tonight Show, Brad was lucky enough to see and/or meet nearly every celebrity that appeared on the show, including his favorite comedian, Steve Martin. Brad, who feels very lucky he was able to land a gig in late-night television, compares joke-writing to the Haiku-poetry writing process. “Both are equally challenging,” he jests. Later, Brad would land a columnist gig with the Omaha World-Herald, whose editors found him based on several columns he wrote for The Los Angeles Times. While at the World-Herald, Brad states the most famous person he ever saw was Tom Shatel, who he says is no Robert De Niro. His column at the newspaper involved writing topical material about the news of the day, but from a local perspective. His favorite columns to write were his humorous Q&As with political candidates. Somewhere in between all the jokes and columns, Brad co-write two books with Martha Bolton titled, Maybe Life’s Just Not That Into You (a parody of self-help books) and Race You to the Fountain of Youth (a parody of all the crazy things people do to stay young).

Today Brad is actively blogging at braddicksononline.com where he writes about both humorous and serious topics. The Huskers, their fans, and coach are some of his favorite subjects (he’d love to interview Scott Frost, who is rumored to have a great sense of humor). He has also blogged about playing one last round of golf with his father when he knew he was dying, and a scathing column about Omaha’s snow removal plan, which seems to basically amount to waiting for spring. Brad is also dabbling with writing theatrical plays and is mulling the idea of writing another book. His girlfriend, Michele, reads and enjoys everything he writes—or so she says.

Brad’s favorite part of writing humor is churning out funny-yet-critical material about sanctimonious political figures. Now that he’s no longer working in an office, Brad says he’s looking forward to finally getting the neck tattoo he’s always wanted. He states that today, people are nicer to him than when he lived in his parents’ basement and hitchhiked around Omaha during the pre-serial killer age. “Having a creative outlet has given me a measure of contentment,” he adds. The biggest lesson he has learned in pursuing his passion is persistence pays off.

He advises those desiring to pursue their passion in life to not listen to the so-called experts when they reject you. “There are many, many people in positions of power—supervisors, producers, coaches, and bosses—who don’t know what they are doing. Make sure you’re pursuing something you’re very good at and then ignore the naysayers,” Brad says.

To read Brad’s popular blog (or, if you’re Scott Frost, to inquire about an interview), visit braddicksononline.com.

“I did it again today—I honked at a Student Driver car for absolutely no reason.

My new hobby is really warped.”

—Brad Dickson

Vicky DeCoster is a Certified Life Coach based in Omaha, Nebraska, who specializes in helping her clients both locally and nationwide to move past obstacles, create a plan for happiness, and cross the bridge of transition to find a new and fulfilling direction in life. To read more about her and her practice, visit her at crossthebridgecoaching.com.