Comedian Jeff Zenisek, all 6-foot-7 of him, took a moment to explain his not-so-ordinary path to comedy. Zenisek will perform for the University of Idaho community 7:45 p.m. Thursday in the International Ballroom.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I lived in a lot of different places growing up. I was born in Indiana and then lived in a bunch of different places in the southeast. I ended up growing up mostly in West Virginia and Florida. I moved out to Los Angeles two years ago.
Jeff Zenisek | Courtesy
Q: How did you get started in comedy?
A: I loved comedy and always wanted to do it, but I never really thought about starting. I always thought about being a pro athlete. I played a lot of sports at a really high level. I played tennis in college, and then I went to play on the semi-pro circuit. But, I kept getting injured. I didn’t start (experimenting in comedy) until I was laid up with an injury. I had two wrist injuries that put me out for a long time. I didn’t play tennis for almost two years.
Q: What were some of your early performances like?
A: I had been doing comedy for about two years at that point. While I was injured, I was like, ‘Well, I can’t really do anything else. I’ll focus really hard on doing comedy.’ I started headlining for Grandma Lee. She’s this 80-year-old woman, she was on “America’s Got Talent” in like 2009.
Q: How did you end up in Los Angeles?
A: If you’re a national comic, you either live in New York or LA. It’s a pretty different place than anywhere in the country. Everyone here is a weird artist. In Florida, the way people talk to you about comedy as a career, they think of it like a hobby. People will ask, “Are you still doing that comedy stuff?” I don’t ask them, “Are you still doing that doctor stuff?”
Q: How did your family react to your decision to become a comic?
A: My mom was more supportive of it than my dad. My dad was really supportive of sports than comedy. My dad was pretty strict and intense. But he gets it now, he loves it. My dad’s not very artsy, so he just never understood touring as an art or as a business. When I started, I did this big show at a comedy club. My dad was like, “What is happening here? Do you get paid for doing this now?” And I was like, “No.” I have to fight people over this for a while. It’s like a normal job: a ton of people just want to get on stage and say stuff.
Q: How did you end up starting a podcast?
A: I built the studio in my parents’ house, where I was living. That was why I called it the Grounded Podcast. It’s mostly just me rambling about stuff. I bought a custom sound board with a bunch of Hulk Hogan soundbites. The podcast has been on hiatus since July, but I haven’t quit.
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnhill