Nick Mortensen
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Nicholas Jay Mortensen (born November 04, 1977 in Green Bay, Wisconsin) is an American comedian.
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[edit] Biography
Mortensen spent his formative years in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in 2001 and spent time working with his father at the family-owned Jones Sign Nationwide, where he gained an appreciation of his ability to make others laugh.
While he has said his job at Jones Sign was "incredible," he regarded his position with unease, feeling it based on nepotism. Eager to see if his own talents could net him recognition, he began performing comedy in 2003 on a visit to Madison, Wisconsin. Within a year he had won the city's first ever comedy contest and collaborated on a group for young stand up comedians called the WiSUC Project, short for "Wisconsin Stand-Up Comedy Project." In 2006 Mortensen moved to Madison.
[edit] Recent Events
Nick ran into some trouble in June 2007 with the Madison Comedy Club for a front-page quote in Madison's The Capital Times wherein he said "The club here (in Madison, WI) is super cool and a pleasure to work at, but generally speaking, comedy clubs are where comedians and comedy itself goes to die." [1]. The Madison Comedy Club consequently canceled all of his future bookings with the club and erased his profile from the comedians section on their website. Nick was said to be unsurprised and has stated on his blog on occasion that comedy clubs often resort to punitive measures to keep comedians in line. He's further stated that it isn't of tremendous importance for him to work in clubs because he prefers colleges and rock and roll clubs and sees comedy clubs as one of many different means of display while comedy clubs often see themselves as means of production.[citation needed]
In August 2007, it was learned that the experience with the Madison Comedy Club was something of a turning point for Nick. He decided that he would no longer work in comedy clubs, instead choosing to focus on the college and corporate circuits as well as the internet. One of his big issues with Comedy Clubs, he stated, was that they made the comedian into a glorified alcohol salesman and he no longer wanted to be a part of the alcohol paradigm, citing the fact that he'd grown up in Green Bay and also tended bar at a place in Green Bay called Kittner's Pub and had seen the damage that alcohol does to the lives of those who abuse it.
As of August 2007, his [website] was down and an announcement was made that it will be up and running at the end of September 2007 with some other big announcements. One of the announcements is said to be a partnership with the German company Storz & Bickel, who manufacture the Volcano Vaporizer. In his material, Nick often states that he is able to have a good time at bars simply by drinking Jones Soda and enjoying his Volcano Vaporizer before leaving for the evening. He states in his material that this alternative to drinking might just be the thing to help stem the tide of underage drinking in Wisconsin.
[edit] Packers blog
In November 2006, Mortensen was hired to blog about his hometown Green Bay Packers at acclaimed Packers fan blog Nietzsche or Nitschke?
[edit] References
- Rozwadowski, Tom (December 18, 2005). "Taking Comedy Out of the Clubs". Green Bay Press-Gazette, Section D (Life)p.1-2.
- Comp, Nathan J. (June 8, 2006). "[Home Grown Comedy Tickles Madison][2]".
