There is a romantic notion of how a comedian gets on a program like the Late Show with David Letterman. A talent scout walks into a crowded comedy club where a hot new talent is killing and puts them on that week. Fame and fortune ensue, and a legend is born.

The reality is, not surprisingly, much different. When comedian Joe Wong makes his network television debut tonight, it will be a five-minute appearance nearly four years in the making, stretching back to when Late Show talent coordinator and audience warm-up comic Eddie Brill first saw Wong in Boston in 2005, according to Wong. Brill thought he was funny, which put him on the radar. Wong sent in a DVD now and then, and Brill gave him feedback.

"Off and on I've been watching him do what he's been doing I guess for about three years," says Brill. "Then I started getting serious about him trying to put a set together for me that I could work on for Letterman. And I guess that's over a year ago."