During his school years, Chott appeared in numerous plays and musicals[citation needed] . He continued appearing when he was in college at Central Methodist College in Fayette, Missouri, with starring roles in both comedic and dramatic plays and musicals. Leaving St. Louis in 1992, he headed to Chicago, IL and immediately broke into improvisational theater at Comedy Sportz, IO (formerly known as Improv Olympic), and became one of the creme de la creme of the Second City comedy troupe, where he studied with people such as Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. He was a student of Del Close, founder of Second City.[citation needed]