[1] In 1985, Purcell graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola University in Chicago.
[2] After college, Purcell took a job at Loyola’s law library to pay the bills while working on his comedy routine and attending improvisation classes at The Second City in Chicago.
[2] In the summer of 1987, Purcell wrote and performed with the resident theatre company New Age Vaudeville.
[3] In 1997 to 2000, while living in Los Angeles, Purcell served as story editor and writer for the Cosby TV series.
[4] In 2005, Purcell relocated to New York City, being hired as a writer for The Colbert Report on Comedy Central and then in 2015 followed his boss to CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.