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What\u2019s the deal with \u201cZippy,\u201d anyway?

Long story short, the nickname \u201cZippy\u201d comes from a character I played in a 2nd grade talent show. It was my first acting experience, and wouldn\u2019t you know it- the name stuck!

It doesn\u2019t matter- I\u2019ll answer to any of the three!

I was able to parlay my love of acting into a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the California Institute of the Arts, where I was privileged to get a mix of both classical and experimental theatre training from some of the top instructors in the country.\xa0 They also had great Halloween parties.

I got a job.

I took standup comedy classes over at Mi\u2019s Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica, California.\xa0 I enjoyed being a part of Westside\u2019s community, and it led me to go through their improv training. \xa0I was lucky enough to be a regular performer, both as part of a house team (Ghost Party Orchestra), and as a member of their flagship improv show,\xa0Mission IMPROVable (as Agent Hammertime).

Yup.\xa0 I guess it\u2019s kind of my thing.

Well, Mission IMPROVable is sort of like that, but since a TV audience watching an 8pm show at home is a lot different than\xa0a live audience coming to watch a 10pm show at a comedy theater, the energy at Mission IMPROVable is unmatched.\xa0 Plus, I think our games are better.\xa0 But I\u2019m biased.

Ghost party Orchestra\u2019s form of improv is known as longform.\xa0 Basically, you put a group of performers on stage, someone in the audience yells out a word, and you do a full show of interconnected scenes based off of that one word.\xa0 It can get pretty crazy.

\xa0

Sketch comedy!\xa0 There wasn\u2019t a lot of it going on when I first got there, so some friends & I decided, \u201cWhy not us?\u201d\xa0 I co-created, co-wrote, co-produced, and co-performed in two regularly-running sketch shows while I was there: Kaufman & Kaufman Presents, and The Get Buck Variety Riot.

http://www.WestsideComedy.com

If you\u2019re ever in Los Angeles, I highly recommend you give them a visit.\xa0 Sadly, you won\u2019t find me there these days, as I moved to the East Coast.

Well you know the phrase \u201cWhen opportunity knocks, you\u2026\u201d\xa0 Wait.\xa0 What is the rest of that phrase?\xa0 I mean, I know it\u2019s got something to do with answering a door\u2026or is the whole phrase just, \u201cWhen opportunity knocks?\u201d\xa0 And what if you have a doorbell?

\u2026But I digress.

I had been an L.A. kid all my life, but at some point, I knew that I had to see what the East Coast was all about.\xa0 Thankfully, a short stint as a creative writer over at WWE allowed me to move east and experience new things like weather (it snows here!), public transportation that doesn\u2019t stink, and East Coast food (Oh, the food!).

That\u2019s the one.

Next question.

Quite well!\xa0 After \xa0WWE, I took a chance and explored an avenue I\u2019ve always been interested in: Voice acting. To date, some of the clients I\u2019ve worked with have been MTV, and the University of Louisville.

I enjoy watching sports (especially the Lakers, Dodgers, UCLA, and Raiders), bowling, karaoke, and chocolate chip cookies (no nuts!).

For more information about this and other episodes head over to mikelenzvoice.com.