Norton wished to pursue a career as a stand-up comedian when he was 12. He took an interest to comedy after his mother brought home comedy albums from work, and names Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Woody Allen, and Robert Klein as his influences. Norton performed his first stand-up routine in April 1990 at an open mic night at Varsity, a pub in Sayreville, New Jersey, when he was 21. He later described his performance as "awful". Norton credited Pat Gaynor for putting him on stage that night, and Ward and John Magnuson of Rascals comedy club as being "instrumental" in his early development. Following his debut, Norton spent five years working on his stand-up traveling to New York, New Jersey, Boston, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida with comedians Jim Florentine and Bob Levy, who were coming up at the same time. Norton developed an act based on self-deprecating humor, which came naturally to him and gained encouragement when other comedians told him they enjoyed it. Around ten years into stand-up, Norton felt he had found his voice and felt comfortable enough on stage.