Comedy is hard. Did we get that cleared up? Moving on!

It takes years for most comedians to find their voice and many more years to hone that voice into a special blend of comedy that is rightfully their’s. Sure, they’re funny but they aren’t Funny. And luckily for us, some of it was recorded and we get to see the legends not necessarily bomb, but still struggle to find their own.

First up is Seth Rogen. Most obvious thing missing? His gravely voice! Seth was 13 when he recorded this and was still speaking through his nose. He still managed to wow the crowd fairly well if he did do a little too much material on being Jewish. But hey, it was Canada. Jews love it up there.

Next up is an early Adam Sandler before he became the manic-manboy of SNL glory. He seems a little awkward but in that adorable you-want-to-adopt-him-so-your-girlfriend-thinks-you-can-manage-commitment kind of way.

Late night talk shows have always gone towards the stand up crowd when looking for hosts. Here some early Leno and Letterman videos:

A rare glimpse of Letterman playing someone other them himself. Here he plays a pompous stuck up jerk who likes to control everything. It was a real stretch.

Jay Leno being boring thirty five years ago.

Finally Leno and Letterman together when they were still friends. Ah, the good old days. Though you can kind of detect a slight resentment in some of these quips. The clues were there the entire time!

One of the things that makes Conan stand out in the late night crowd is that prior to hosting a show he was a writer. First, as the video shows, he was a writer for SNL (later the Simpsons) and occasionally played extras in the skits. When Tom Hanks was inducted into the Five Timers Club in 1990, Conan was there to take his jacket for him.  Hanks repaid him twenty years later by nicknaming him Coco.

A young (and very cute) 22 year old Sarah Silverman. She had a little bit of a bite to her in her early days. But nothing like the foul stuff that spews from her mouth these days (which makes her even cuter).

Dave Chapelle rocking the mic early on his stage career. He looks almost innocent in this video. Like he has no idea he’ll inspire thousands upon millions raised to the nth degree of annoying catch phrases.

Jim Carrey proving that he was making weird faces and  strange voices prior to being paid millions of dollars to make weird faces and strange voices.

Here’s a weird thing. Jeff Dunham was already sucking in 1990 and made it to Carson’s couch. So what’d he do for the rest of those 15 years before coming back to the public’s conscience?

And as an added bonus here’s a future entry in the Before They Were Funny archives. News today broke that SNL is pursuing Jay Pharoah – a young (22!) extremely talented impressionist. This video proves that he can nail a solid Will Smith and Denzel Washington.  Along with a decent Obama impression, Pharoah could take some of the stress off of Fred Armisen’s shoulders and be a good shot of new blood. And even if he doesn’t get hired by SNL, he still is extremely talented and we’ll be hearing a lot more from this rising funny man.