 In California , Scully worked in a tuxedo store . He also got a job writing jokes for comedian Yakov Smirnoff and developed his joke writing skills by performing himself at amateur stand @-@ up comedy nights . He purchased scripts from a variety of half @-@ hour comedy shows , including Taxi , to train himself to write them and had numerous speculative scripts rejected . He started " bouncing around Hollywood working on some of the lousiest sitcoms in history . " He served on the writing staff of The Royal Family , Out of This World , Top of the Heap and What a Country ! , where he did audience warm @-@ up , a role he also performed on Grand . 
