Early Life
A native of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area, Swardson was born to Pamela and Roger Eric Swardson, and is the youngest of three siblings — he has a sister, Rachel, and a brother, John. Roger Swardson (1934–2003) was an editor and journalist — having written for publications such as the Cincinnati Enquirer and City Pages, as well as founding the Grand Gazette, a former Saint Paul community newspaper. Roger Swardson also invested in land development in Saint Paul, revitalizing Grand Avenue — an area now known as Victoria Crossing. Roger and Pamela divorced in 1989.
Swardson attended St. Paul Central High and started acting and performing improv comedy at the age of 16. A mischievous student who struggled with alcohol and drugs, Swardson was expelled from school on four occasions for pulling fire alarms in order to go outside and smoke cigarettes, fighting, posting a lewd sign in class, and for smoking marijuana; he was enrolled in a rehab program while still in school.
After graduating in 1996, Swardson decided to pursue stand-up comedy rather than attend college. Although Swardson was a fan of sketch comedy, he saw stand-up comedy as a stepping-stone to a career in film, more so than he would working within a comedy troupe.
Read more about this topic: Nick Swardson
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“In the early days of the world, the Almighty said to the first of our race “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread”; and since then, if we except the light and the air of heaven, no good thing has been, or can be enjoyed by us, without having first cost labour.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“I felt for my crime a just terror; I looked on my life with hate, and my passion with horror.”
—Jean Racine (1639–1699)