Dan Cummins’ wife, Heather, fell in love with his sense of humor and laid-back personality before he became a comedian.

They started dating while they both attended Gonzaga University in Washington. Cummins and Heather met through a mutual friend during his band practice.

Cummins’ family felt it was important he attend college.

“I got my (bachelor’s) degree because I was always told I needed to go to college to have a good job to make a lot of money,” Cummins said.

He became the first in his extended family to get a degree. He then began working as a social worker.

“I had switched my major many times and went into psychology because I was interested in why people do what they do,” he said.

Because of his wide range of interests, Cummins had difficulty finding a satisfying career and Heather saw this.

“I knew he was unhappy working three shifts at a children’s crisis center and thought this would be something he’s good at,” she said. “Dan was known in college for winning the sketch comedy show each year and became the star of the show.”

Heather then encouraged him to participate in amateur night at Laugh Comedy Club. He was well received at the club. Cummins said he was asked to return weekly.

While Cummins found something he liked doing, he didn’t feel he was receiving enough gratification.

“I knew I was being taken advantage of, and used it as fuel to move onto something bigger,” he said. “But you need the time in front of those little crowds to practice before you can.”

Although Cummins didn’t think he was treated fairly, he continued to work at the club to improve his act.

“Comics can’t really practice until they’re in front of an audience,” he said. “It’s a weird art form because of the interaction.”

His gratification as a comedian changed after a seven-minute performance on Comedy Central’s “Live at Gotham.”

Cummins said this was when he knew he was moving up from the Laugh Comedy Club. As he evolved as a comedian, his jokes did as well. Cummins’ goal is to write jokes people will laugh at 20 years from when they first heard it.

“One of my favorite comics is Steven Wright from like 1980,” Cummins said. “I’ve listened to his jokes like 40 times and I still love them.”

Many of Cummins’ jokes are on topics about things that annoy him. Once, while taking out the trash, Cummins said a fly kept landing on him. He thought, “Do I really smell worse than the trash?” and made a joke out of it.

Cummins’ other jokes are about writing greeting cards. One he wrote that he uses in his acts is, “As each day passes you grow older/Weaker/I’ve been working out/Revenge is near/Happy Father’s Day.”

Since his first performance, Cummins’ bookings have grown. He has performed at the HBO Comedy Festival in Las Vegas, Boston and Montreal along with Comedy Central’s South Beach Comedy Festivals and “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” on CBS.

He’s opened for many acts that include Ron White, Daniel Tosh, Dave Attell and Jim Gaffigan. Cummins can also be heard on nationwide radio stations like the Bob and Tom Show.

Also included in his bookings, are the 90 colleges he has performed for throughout the United States.

“The people are already excited to watch, and a lot more people have heard of my material and come because they really like it,” he said. “That’s the best.”

His most recent work was his own half-hour special, “Comedy Central Presents: Dan Cummins” which will debut in early 2008.

“He’s worked really hard to get to the level he is now,” Heather said.

Cummins grew up in Riggins, Idaho then moved to Spokane, Wash. where he and his family currently live.

Although he is often traveling, he plans to limit the amount of bookings each year to spend more time with his 20-month-old son, Kyler and expecting wife, who is due in January.

“I want to be a good husband to my wife and a good father for my kids,” he said.

Heather said her and Cummins talk about five or six times a day when away, and with new technology like video chat, he can also see his family.

“He brings books on the road to read to our son over the video chat and has him point out different colors,” Heather said.

Although he enjoys spending time with his family, he prefers they do not attend his shows.

“I just wish I could do a show and then disappear right after it. Like, have two separate lives,” he said. “I don’t want them to think I’m attacking them when I make fun of something they might have done.”

Even though he worries his friends and family might think he is insulting them, he doesn’t like when strangers get upset at his shows.

“It’s crazy to assume everyone will think you’re funny,” he said. “I could care less if people get offended over my material. What I said is so ludicrous and absurd that people should know it’s just a joke. And if they get mad, no one is making them stay.”

John MacDonald, comedian manager of MacDonald-Murray Management, started working with Cummins in 2004 after meeting him at a Seattle club.

“I liked him because I thought his writing material was very smart and unique,” he said.

MacDonald works with Cummins by helping him organize his material and giving him feedback and booking him at auditions.

“When you work as a comedian, you work by yourself. It’s hard to get feedback because you can make your audience laugh, but it’s not always in the most clever way,” he said. “I help them (comedians) stay pointed from that and towards their goals.”

MacDonald said he enjoys watching his clients’ progress and reflect on when they first started, but one of the most difficult aspects of his career is seeing them disappointed.

“The hardest part is telling a client they’re not getting the audition they wanted,” he said. “And I’m the person that has to deliver that news to them.”

One of the things MacDonald admires about Cummins is his writing.

“Dan is a good writer,” he said. “He’s smart, odd and knows what funny is. He’s very talented.”