Three friends of the late comedian Harris Wittels showed up at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts' annual Encore Luncheon Tuesday at the River Oaks Country Club to talk about their friend, as Wittels was chosen as the event's annual distinguished alumnus.

Scott Aukerman recalled the time Wittels wrote a joke spoken by President Barack Obama.

Aukerman has spent years working in comedy, having launched the popular podcast and TV show "Comedy Bang! Bang!" and also co-created the surreal interview show "Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis." A few years ago "Ferns" was about to welcome its biggest guest, and Aukerman emailed Wittels asking for some additional jokes for the show.

Wittels was on deadline for another project, but after midnight he sent a few pages of ideas like "When you fart, do you give yourself a presidential pardon?" Only one joke made it. Galfianakis asked Obama if he planned to seek a third term. Obama, referencing one of Galiafanakis' film failures, read Wittels' line: "If I ran a third time, it'd be like making a third 'Hangover' movie."

Wittels died of a drug overdose in February 2015, shortly before the final episode of "Parks and Recreation" aired, not even 10 years into a fast-moving comedy career that made fans and then friends of comics like Louis CK, Sarah Silverman and Aziz Ansari.

His most visible work was as a writer and producer on the TV show "Parks and Recreation," though Wittels also found numerous fans through his appearances on various podcasts, where he'd talk about comedy, his struggle with drug addiction and, quite memorably, his affinity for the jam band Phish.

Tuesday's luncheon touched on all phases of Wittels' too-short career, and also referenced his early years in Houston where he started in musical theater, doing a production of "Oliver" at Lanier Middle School. He studied theater at HSPVA before going to college and then moving to Los Angeles, where within two months he made a strong impression with his stand-up comedy. At the urging of a friend, Aukerman booked Wittels sight unseen at the UCB Theatre's "Comedy Death Ray" show.

"He destroyed the first night, he was just great," Aukerman said prior to the luncheon. "Usually the real test is the second time somebody does the show. If they use the exact same material, it means they're not confident in anything but that first material. But he did all new stuff and he destroyed again. He was just that good."

The shows led to Wittels opening for Louis CK and a writing job for Silverman's TV show, which in turn led to his work on "Parks and Recreation," where he collaborated with actor Adam Scott, who also came to Houston for the luncheon.

"Harris was the barometer for whether a joke was good or hacky," Scott said. "He wasn't shy about throwing terrible jokes out there. He prided himself on it. But it was part of finding the true comedy gold. He was the harshest critic. You could depend on Harris for the best, funniest jokes."

Aukerman and Jeff Ullrich started Earwolf, a podcasting network with an emphasis on comedy. There Wittels contributed different material that was often autobiographical.

"He was a great performer, but working as a writer like he did, that doesn't really come with a lot of fans," Aukerman said. "But because of the podcasts he got well known around the world. People tell me about how his work affected them, helped them through tough times. These podcasts, which essentially started as something to do on goof-around days for us, became a document of his personality worldwide."

Scott compared Wittels use of personal content to comedic works by Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. "That's what the greats did," he said. "A lot of us on something like these podcasts hide a little of ourselves. We don't go into detail about certain aspects of our lives. Harris never had that. Stuff you'd never talk about, you'd worry your parents would hear ... he wasn't afraid of that."

Ullrich said the nature of podcasting changed with an episode of "Analyze Phish," where Harris, the Phish enthusiast, dragged Aukerman (not a fan) to see the band at Madison Square Garden. They found an interesting new way to voice comedic narrative in podcast form. That episode was made available in January 2012 at a time when comedian-centric podcasts - like Marc Maron's popular "WTF" - were finding increasing listenership.

"People do storytelling differently because of that one episode," he said.

Aukerman, Scott and Ullrich shared stories with the gathered crowd at the luncheon, and all three spoke with appreciation for arts-centric public high schools. Aukerman recalled his own experience as an outcast in school - unbeknownst to his parents - until he found an arts school. "My parents asked me, 'Are you going to be OK not seeing your friends anymore?' " he joked.

The Encore Luncheon is a big HSPVA fundraiser. Past distinguished alumni honored include "Grey's Anatomy" star Chandra Wilson and photographer Mark Seliger. Wilson sent a video greeting Tuesday, pledging a hefty donation to the school. She also auctioned off a set visit to "Grey's Anatomy" for the high bidder and three friends that went for $20,000.

The event included HSPVA students performing in a big band setting, and a spirited piece from the musical "Something Rotten."

"It makes perfect sense," Aukerman said, "that's where Harris spent his high school years."