How Amy Schumer Became This Year's 'It Girl'

— -- Amy Schumer is having one great year.

After killing it at the box office with her movie "Trainwreck," becoming BFFs with movie star Jennifer Lawrence and opening for Madonna herself, the 34 year-old took home an Emmy Award for her Comedy Central show "Inside Amy Schumer" on Sunday night.

It's the latest feather in the cap for this year's It Girl.

If it seems everything is coming up roses this year for the 34-year-old comedian, it hasn't always been that way. Though born to a wealthy family -- her father's second cousin is U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer -- Schumer saw the family's fortunes shift at age nine when her father filed for bankruptcy, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and split from her mother.

The future comedian moved to Long Island, where she was voted "Class Clown" and "Teacher's Worst Nightmare" her senior year at South Side High School in Rockville Centre. After graduating in 2003 from Towson University in Maryland with a degree in theater, Schumer returned to New York, working as a bartender and waitress while trying to break into comedy.

Placing fourth on the fifth season of NBC's "Last Comic Standing" in 2007 was Schumer's big break, landing her roles on Comedy Central, "30 Rock," the Adult Swim mockumentary series "Delocated," and the HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Girls." But it was Schumer's dream of her own sketch series, "Inside Amy Schumer" in 2013, that would make her a household name.

As Schumer revealed during Sunday night's acceptance speech, the show almost didn't happen.

"We had to get [screenwriting software] Final Draft once they picked up our show. We didn't own it," she said. "I almost made a stupid sex talk show that nobody wanted, and [head writer Jessi Klein] got drunk and told me that I had to follow my dreams and make my dream show."

That decision has led to a dream year. Here's a recap of Schumer's amazing year:

April

Schumer hosted the 2015 MTV Movie Awards on April 12, and her opening monologue turned into a hilarious mini Kevin Hart roast.

The third season of "Inside Amy Schumer" premiered on April 21, 2015, and a fourth season was ordered the same day.

June

Amy Schumer won two major awards -- a Peabody Award and a Critics' Choice Award -- in the same night, and earned a kiss from Tina Fey.

"[She] is killing it, as the agents like to say. Usually they are lying. But in this case, it is true. Amy is killing it. She is the biggest deal in comedy right now," Fey told the crowd at the Peabody Awards, according to Vanity Fair.

July

"Trainwreck," which Schumer wrote and appeared in her first leading role opposite Bill Hader, opened on July 17, 2015, earning $30.2 million on opening weekend.

Days later, when a gunman opened fire during a screening of the film in Louisiana, killing two before turning the gun on himself, Schumer tweeted, "My heart is broken."

After Jennifer Lawrence called to congratulate Schumer on the success of "Trainwreck," the two went on vacation together with a group of Schumer's friends. The comedian then posted pics of the new pals jet skiing, boating and forming a human pyramid.

August

Schumer joined her cousin, Sen. Chuck Schumer, to push for new gun control legislation on Capitol Hill following the Louisiana theater shooting. "I have a lot of press conferences but I almost never get this many people," the senator said, touching on his cousin's fame.

Meanwhile, Schumer showed her serious side, promising, "These are my first public comments on the issue of gun violence, but I can promise you they won’t be my last."

Later in the month, Lawrence revealed to a New York Times reporter that she and Schumer are collaborating on a comedic screenplay in which they'll play sisters.

"We start the day off on the phone, laughing. And then we send each other pages. And we crack up," Lawrence said. "[Writing this film has] been the most fun experience of my life."

September

Last week, Schumer opened for the first of three of Madonna's "Rebel Heart" tour shows in New York City. After delivering a stand-up set, the comedian returned to the stage later in the show, flashing her underwear, twerking and getting a spanking from Madonna herself.

"I had no idea I was going back on stage and I'm, like, drinking and sweating and her show's amazing and they're like, 'Go dance with her,'" Schumer recalled to "Extra" on the Emmy red carpet. "Then, all of a sudden, there I'm bent over -- and if I had a nickel for every time that's happened -- but it was the best night of my life, getting to dance on stage with Madonna!"

That was, of course, before Schumer won the Emmy Sunday night and was congratulated by her new pal and collaborator Lawrence.

"She said that I looked pretty but not smart," Schumer told "Entertainment Tonight" with a laugh. "She did!"