Chances are, future generations will look back on the era of unpaid internships and compare it to slave labor, but for now, interning is still the most popular way to jumpstart a career -- even for comedians.
Many of our favorite funny people started out as a lot of us do, fetching coffee and making coffees for people whose jobs they ultimately wanted. While some got their start working for free for comedy institutions like "Saturday Night Live" and "The Onion," some comedians' internships had very little to do with making people laugh (and more to do with Post-its).
You also might be surprised at how many future household names interned on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," including several members of "The Office" cast. Click through the slideshow below and tell us what surprised you the most in the comments.
Comedy Internships
Aubrey Plaza: Samba Post-Its(01 of25)
Plaza told The New York Post's Popwrap that her responsibilities at Samba Post-Its once included "to literally wallpaper a bathroom with Post-Its." She was also an NBC page. (credit:AP)
John Mulaney: Comedy Central(02 of25)
Mulaney's latest one-hour special, "New In Town," premiered on Comedy Central earlier this year. Coincidentally, his first job in New York was an internship at the network. (credit:Getty)
Mindy Kaling: Late Night With Conan O'Brien(03 of25)
Kaling talks about her experience interning at "Late Night" in her book, "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me." During the internship, she noticed that Conan didn't eat the food he made during the cooking demonstrations and added, "I don't understand that level of discipline." (credit:Getty)
Aziz Ansari: The Onion(04 of25)
Ansari went to New York University's Stern School of Business and scored an internship in the business department at "The Onion," not on the writing staff as you might have expected. (credit:AP)
Ellie Kemper: Late Night With Conan O'Brien(05 of25)
When Kemper went on "Conan" in 2011, she said she was always too scared to talk to him back when she was an intern on "Late Night." Luckily, she was still able to do the interview. (credit:AP)
Joe Mande: The Maury Povich Show(06 of25)
Mande used to perform a show called "Workdays With Maury" in NYC where he told tales of his days as an intern on "The Maury Povich Show." Interestingly, he told New York Press that he only worked there for the summer, so he didn't actually get to see them tape any shows. (credit:Getty)
Conan O'Brien: House of Representatives(07 of25)
O'Brien told James Lipton on "Inside the Actor's Studio" that he worked for Barney Frank for a short time as an intern at the House of Representatives. He says he didn't pursue politics because, "I didn't want to work my way up." (credit:Getty)
Seth Meyers: Comedy Central(08 of25)
Apparently, Meyers didn't make the best impression when he interned at Comedy Central. He told Us Weekly, "I had an internship once at Comedy Central in college and they said I worked really hard for five weeks and then I spent the rest of it watching 'Kids In The Hall.' They weren't wrong." (credit:AP)
Mike Birbiglia: Late Night With Conan O'Brien(09 of25)
Before he was making movies with Ira Glass or feuding with Joss Whedon, Birbiglia interned on "Late Night" with Conan like so many comedians on our list. (credit:Getty)
Donald Glover: Comedy Central(10 of25)
Before he went to Greendale, Glover interned at the Comedy Central Summer School Program. (credit:Getty)
Brian Unger: Late Show With David Letterman(11 of25)
After Letterman's scandal with former assistant Stephanie Birkitt, Unger wrote a funny piece for NPR about his scandalous time at Letterman. Fetching vegetable soup, the horror. (credit:Getty)
Lena Dunham: Soft Skull(12 of25)
Nothing comes of Hannah's publishing internship on "Girls," but Dunham herself has become quite a success after interning at Soft Skull. (credit:AP)
Ben Schwartz: CBS Page(13 of25)
Schwartz talked about his internship experience to Riki Lindhome on her podcast "Making It With Riki Lindhome." Donning a tie and carrying a stack of resumes, he tried to get a job at MTV. After he saw an MTV employee throw his resume in a garbage can, he walked outside dejected and passed by The Ed Sullivan Theater. With his resumes on him, it was the perfect chance to apply for the page program. (credit:Getty)
Julie Klausner: Late Show With David Letterman(14 of25)
Before making us laugh every week with her "How Was Your Week" podcast, Klausner's first television credit was as a writing intern on "The Late Show" with David Letterman. (credit:Getty)
Anthony Jeselnik: Warner Bros. (Hallway Pictures)(15 of25)
On Riki Lindhome's podcast, Jeselnik talked about coming to Los Angeles for an internship at a production company. The only film the studio ever made, according to Jeselnik, was "Johnson Family Vacation." (credit:AP)
Whitney Cummings: NBC Local News(16 of25)
Cummings told Jester that, "As a comedian, you'll never be funnier than the local news trying to be serious." (credit:AP)
Demetri Martin: The Daily Show(17 of25)
Martin was actually at "The Daily Show" before Jon Stewart. He interned there when it was still hosted by Craig Kilborn. Years later, he would be "Trendspotting" as a correspondent for the show. (credit:Getty)
Wyatt Cenac: Saturday Night Live(18 of25)
According to the 92Y blog, Cenac left college at age 19 for an internship on "Saturday Night Live." Later, he was considered for a spot on the cast due to his funny impression of then-Senator Barack Obama, but Fred Armisen ended up getting the gig. (credit:AP)
Chris Kelly: The Onion (19 of25)
Now a writer for "SNL," Kelly wrote an article or Splitsider about his time at "The Onion" (both interning and working there). He said he worked for free "all so that I could occasionally sneak into the Writers' Room and try to not masturbate in front of all the white boards full of jokes." (credit:Getty)
Chelsea Peretti: Village Voice(20 of25)
Peretti interned in the music department at The Village Voice. She explained to Serial Optimist that she really liked electronic music and dancing at the time. (credit:Getty)
Colin Jost: Staten Island Advance(21 of25)
"The Staten Island Advance" is super proud of their former "teen correspondent" and later college newsroom intern, Jost, now that he writes for "Saturday Night Live." (credit:Getty)
Jessica St. Clair: UCB(22 of25)
St. Clair talked to Carson Daly about interning to pay for classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade. She reminisces about cleaning the bathroom saying, "sometimes it looks like murders have happened in there." (credit:Getty)
John Krasinski: Late Night With Conan O'Brien(23 of25)
As a script intern on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," Krasinski got great experience and a terrific story about a certain illegal substance and an unnamed musical guest (click the link to watch a video to that effect). (credit:Getty)
Vanessa Bayer: Sesame Street(24 of25)
Bayer also interned for Conan, but we find her internship on "Sesame Street." to be the real surprise. (credit:Getty)
David Wain(25 of25)
When asked by The A.V. Club how he and fellow "The State" members got noticed by MTV at such a young age, Wain explained that there were a lot fewer sketch comedy groups around at the time, "But the real answer is that I was interning at MTV." With his foot in the door and the group's determination to get on TV, a comedy classic was born. (credit:AP)
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