Aukerman was born in Savannah, Georgia and grew up in Orange County, California, attending Cypress High School and the Orange County High School of the Arts, studying acting and musical theater and writing plays in his spare time. He hosted a public-access television show called Centurion Highlights, based on the school's mascot. In a 2015 interview Aukerman said "I'm still doing that same show, just with celebrities instead of my high school cafeteria."[1] He started a short-lived band, The Naked Postmen, with Adrian Young, who went on to be the drummer for No Doubt.[2] While attending Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, he and fellow student B. J. Porter began writing together when they were both scripting and performing in a radio show called Lutz Radio.