Artie Lange began life after dropping out of college by performing stand up comedy in small clubs. After he did this for a few years, he drove out to Hollywood to audition for a brand new television show, which would try to copy Saturday Night Live's concept.
That show that gave Artie his big break in show business was Mad TV. From there, he quickly earned a cult following and had some small parts in small films. By this time, nothing could stop Artie.
He was still a relatively unknown, however, because FOX's sketch comedy had such a small audience. It wasn't until 2001 when he joined The Howard Stern Show that Artie really made a name for himself.