Share the laughs with Jeremy Hotz and friends

Jeremy Hotz returns to The Improv at Harveys beginning the new year as an optimistic individual. OK, so that's not true. But he's here nonetheless.

The year 2006 may have been a good year career-wise for Jeremy, but he still acts as if he's one paycheck away from being on the streets. I always remind him that he does really well here, and look at what he accomplished last year:

Jeremy shot several television pilots, toured extensively throughout North America with his stand-up act and found time to perform at several comedy festivals, among them last summer's prestigious Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. But still he thinks that everyone he works with gets bigger laughs than he does.

If anything, Jeremy always gets the lion's share of laughs. When I asked him what it took to make him such a successful stand up, his reply was, "You need to fail at everything else." Having known him for 10 years, I just sort of roll with the doubts. Trust me, Jeremy really is one of the more unique talents we have had here t the Improv. It's not just his smart material and insights but also his delivery. Even that sounds neurotic. Oh sure, we all are a bit neurotic in this line of work, but Jeremy has it down to a science.

Originally from Canada, Jeremy made a name for himself quickly, headlining most every major venue before making the move to Southern California to start expanding his craft and exposure. Hotz has since gone on to appear on just about every major network television late night show, among them "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," "NBC's Friday Night," the highly acclaimed PBS/CBC series, "Newsroom" and "The Jon Stewart Show." Jeremy is also a motion picture actor, having appeared in "My Favorite Martian" and "Speed II," and the recently completed "Newsroom: The Movie," based on the very popular underground Canadian TV show that starred Jeremy.

He starred in the four-part mini-series "Married Life" on Comedy Central and was nominated for a Gemini Award for the CBC's Cana-DUH. He was the recipient of a Gemini award for "Best Performance in a Comedy Show or Series" for his work in the celebrated series "Newsroom" on the CBC and PBS in America. In addition to his stand-up career, Jeremy was a staff writer on the critically acclaimed "The Daily show with Jon Stewart" in New York and received a Gemini nomination for his comedy special, "Whatever happened to Jeremy Hotz?"

I'll tell you what happened to him. He is here this week. So boost his confidence level and drop by to wish him well.

Appearing with Jeremy is Scott Henry, who, after much soul searching, decided that it was finally time to return to the lake. Unlike Jeremy (everyone is unlike Jeremy) Scott likes to think of himself as just a regular guy from Milwaukee.

He was raised with those famous Midwest values. His father was a machinist, carpenter, electrician and dictator. He worked at the same company for 44 years and his mother worked at Sears for 25 years. She got a 25 percent discount, so everything Scott ever owned came from Sears!

He had to keep the clothes he bought forever, because every single product seemed to come with a lifetime warranty, which included his Toughskin jeans. Like a good Midwestern boy, Scott followed in his father's footsteps and began working as a machinist in a tool and die shop. That was in 1988. At about that time he realized that this wasn't the life for him.

Scott grew up thinking that that was what he was supposed to do. It wasn't until his boss stopped by and suggested he try out at an open mic night at the local comedy club downtown that Scott began thinking about a different career.

"Maybe he was encouraging me, maybe he was thinking of firing me," Scott said of his boss. "Either way, that night changed my life. I got hooked and a year later left Milwaukee behind to travel as a stand-up comedian."

Since then Scott has headlined clubs all over the U.S. and has performed in more than 32 countries, among them Iraq in December, 2003, entertaining our military troops for the USO. In the world of television, Scott has appeared on Comedy Central, VH-1, NBC, and hosted a show for FX. On the motion picture front, Scott has starred in several independent films and opened for such stars at Tim Allen, Damon Wayans, Ellen Degeneres and Drew Carey.

He has also worked with ABC and Touchstone (Disney) Pictures in addition to developing programs with the UPN and Paramount Network to create a show that is eerily similar to my own life - the story of a Milwaukee guy who challenges the status quo and finds his own way. Coincidence? Hmm.