I'm from a small town in North Carolina and went to a small college and didn't think that someone like me could make a living in L.A. doing comedy. I worked hard, especially in college, but at that age, you don't know what's next.

The beauty of where I'm from - this small little town called Wallburg, North Carolina - I didn't have a TV; I was out playing ball with my dad, shooting clay pigeons.

North Carolina was where you could have Thanksgiving and feel like it was Thanksgiving.

When you are raised, as John Edwards was, in a small town like Robbins, North Carolina, you get to understand poverty and unemployment, or inadequate health care, first-hand by seeing the daily struggles of your friends and neighbors.

I grew up in a university town in eastern North Carolina - what's called Tobacco Road. It was very rural.

I love my State, because her people have been good and kind to me, and because her sky is above my home, as it will be above my grave.