Photos Raised by a family that would make the Royal Tenenbaums look like the Waltons, Carl Kozlowski established a cock-eyed and hilarious view of the world around him from the time he wrote his first humor piece at age 6. That story proved such a hit with his first-grade teacher that she sent him on a tour, reading the story aloud for all the classes in his school from the first through the fourth grades. He didn’t realize that this was his first experience as a standup comedian. He just saw everyone laughing, really liked the feeling, and decided to do whatever it took to make telling funny stories his job in life.   That dream has come true, as Kozlowski not only is a fast-rising standup on the L.A. comedy scene, but has already made a name for himself across Chicago and the Midwest during his formative years as a comic. In the Windy City, he became a regular performer at Zanies (rated by USA Today as one of the top 10 clubs in the nation), but also launched his writing career as a popular humorist with the Chicago Tribune and alternative newsweeklies New City and Chicago Reader.   His no-holds-barred comedic reporting adventures have included taking part in a 90-mile road race through the Nevada desert against “Dukes of Hazzard” star John Schneider, spending four days as an inflatable dinosaur while whoring for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, and spending two weeks undercover as a Guardian Angel subway vigilante. He’s also infiltrated Scientology and performed a legally questionable wedding after becoming a minister in a mouse click via the online ordinations of the Universal Life Church.   Kozlowski was also a two-time performer in the Chicago Comedy Festival and has performed with an array of the nation’s top comics, including Dane Cook, Dave Chappelle, Jake Johansen, Mitch Hedberg, Lewis Black, Wendy Liebman and Mary Ellen Hooper. That string of successes has continued in Los Angeles, as he performs regularly at the Laugh Factory, weekly at the Comedy Store’s Belly Room, and does regular sets at the Ice House and Ice House Annex in Pasadena. He’s also performed at some of the hottest alternative shows in town, such as Upright Citizen Brigade Theater’s “See You Next Tuesday” and HBO star Jay Davis’ “Life of the Party” show at the Laugh Factory.   Kozlowski’s successes extend beyond the performance and journalism worlds to include his five-year stint as a featured regular and head writer of the wacky and well-produced local Chicago TV show “The Big Fat Nude Hippo Show,” in which he also served as the on-air, humorous chief anchorman of the show’s well-regarded fake-news segment. He also co-authored (with fellow comic Tim Joyce) the book “Life: the Final Frontier,” which was nationally published by Andrews McMeel. Kozlowski and Joyce are currently prepping their followup, “Seize The Day Job! The Humor Book Al-Qaeda Didn’t Want You to Read,” for a February 2008 release.