Nick Swardson was first seen in the Episode: "Karp's Night Out" of the American sitcom television series ‘LateLine’ in 1999. The following year, he made his film debut in the American comedy-drama film ‘Almost Famous’ directed by Cameron Crowe. Even though the film opened to critical acclaim and received 4 Academy Award nominations, it failed to achieve success at the box office. In 2003, he starred as ‘Mocha’ in the American comedy film ‘Malibu's Most Wanted’ directed by John Whitesell. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Swardson was also one of the writers of the film. That same year, he also joined the cast of the American comedy television series ‘Reno 911!’ where he played the role of ‘Terry Bernadino.’ He starred in 28 episodes and remained a part of the series until 2009. In 2006, he was seen playing the role of ‘Jeff’ in the American stoner comedy film ‘Grandma's Boy’ directed by Nicholaus Goossen. The film was panned by critics and ultimately tanked at the box office. However, ‘Grandma's Boy’ later became a commercial success through DVD sales.
He continued to star in films like ‘The Benchwarmers’ (2006), ‘Reno 911!: Miami’ (2007), ‘I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry’ (2007), ‘You Don't Mess with the Zohan’ (2008), and ‘Bedtime Stories’ (2008). In 2010, he launched the TV sketch comedy show ‘Nick Swardson's Pretend Time.’ The show ran for 2 seasons and aired its final episode in 2011. He next appeared in television series like ‘The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange’ (2012), ‘Chozen’ (2014), ‘TripTank’ (2014-2016), and ‘Portlandia’ (2014). The year 2015 saw the release of the American computer-animated monster comedy film ‘Hotel Transylvania 2’ where Swardson voiced the character ‘Paul.’ The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a major commercial success. In 2016, Swardson came together with Nicholaus Goossen to create the television series ‘Typical Rick.’ The show went off-air in 2017. He was next seen in films like ‘The Do-Over’ (2016), ‘Sandy Wexler’ (2017), ‘Buddy Games’ (2019), and ‘Airplane Mode’ (2019). Swardson was last seen in the 2020 American romantic comedy film ‘The Wrong Missy’ where he played the role of ‘Nate.’ The film received a lukewarm response from critics.