[1] Elliott comes from Auckland and was educated at St Peter's College where he won the General excellence and senior English prizes in 1987.
[2] Elliott began performing professionally as a stand-up comedian as a "nervous teenager" in 1989 at a late night cabaret at the Station Hotel, Auckland in a show called Lewd and the Ludicrous.
[5] Elliott was also involved in monthly shows by comedians called "Comedyfest" at Kitty O'Brien's Irish Pub and other venues in 1992 and 1993.
As 1993 went on, his style became based more on one-liners than the longer material he had been doing in New Zealand - he felt that there was less for him to remember and also less for the audience to "wade through".
National Radio produced a story he wrote for children called Young Horace and Oscar's Trick in 1996.