It's a fairly novel path -- one that has only recently been pioneered by fellow Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett (not to be confused with "Saturday Night Live" alumnus Jon Lovitz), who co-created the White House sitcom "1600 Penn."

"As a rule, I think people in L.A. are interested in any writer who brings a different skill set and experiences," Lovett told Salon. "There's an attraction to novelty, and to anyone whose writing isn't based in screenwriting. I had that novelty. I had no experience in Los Angeles but I did have novelty people could take a chance on. It certainly opened the door."

Lovett had tried stand-up after college and was reminded each year of his interest in comedy by the White House Correspondents' Dinner, where he and Favreau would write sometimes-scathing jokes for the president to deliver. But he hadn't initially intended to write about politics: "I was much more excited about not writing about politics, having been so close to it for my entire career until then," he said.

Continue Reading...