I was out on a walk today listening to episode 192 of Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast. (One of the podcasts that inspired me to get started with my own podcasting.) Maron is one of the best interviewers I’ve every heard and his podcast is a wonderful window into the world of all your favorite standup comics.

In this episode, he’s got Paul Reiser in his garage studio and is reflecting on getting started in comedy.

A 19-year-old Maron first met Reiser on a trip to NYC to see comedy. He walked up to Reiser’s table and asked him how to get started doing comedy. Reiser told him, “You just do it.”

A few minutes later, Reiser tells him about some advice he got on writing screenplays shortly after his appearance in Diner. He asked Barry Levinson, “How do you write a screenplay?” Levinson told him, “OK. You write, ‘Fade in’ and you keep typing.”

Good advice for starting just about anything you ever wanted to do.