More From The New Yorker Festival

Spending eighteen hours catering to people who are much more talented than myself and answering questions from people who are much wealthier than myself could have been a draining experience. It was. But being part of the behind-the-scenes crew let me experience the festival from every angle. After a day of reflection, here are a few memories that stand out.

Cracking jokes with Josh.

• For each event, Josh and I were assigned to ticket selling and will-call duties respectably. Facing the same questions over and over allowed us to get creative with our answers. And the unique names on the will-call lists lent themselves to an endless variety of labored jokes.

Eccentric Comedian=Eccentric Grayish Hair.

• Both satirist Andy Borowitz and New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff had long, untamable, grayish hair. It wasn’t Christopher-Lloyd-in-Back-to-the-Future crazy, but they both had long locks that went past their shoulders. Once I get funny and hit fifty, it’ll be time to let my hair down too. Though mine likely will resemble that classic Doc Brown hairdo.

Writing is tough.

• As a copywriter, I write a lot every day. But listening to Jonathan Safran Foer and George Saunders talk about their work made me feel like reaching their level of literary intellect was unattainable. As hard as I think and as much as I write, they think harder and write more. Perhaps I will become the greatest copywriter to ever have walked the earth, but this will not make me a respected novelist. And I’m insanely jealous because of it.