Personal Bio: I’m left handed. I’m allergic to girls with cats. I wanna be just like Leslie Neilson and I still want to be an astronaut when i grow up.

Professional Bio: For their first time on stage, most comedians perform three minutes of material in front of an anemic crowd at a small comedy club during Open Mic night. Not the case for comedian Lance Patrick. Lance’s very first time on stage was opening up for national headliner Gabriel Iglesias at a sold out, 2000-seat comedy show at Hard Rock Live in Orlando. Having studied and observed some of the best comedians on the road today, Lance is quickly turning rare opportunities into growing success on the comedic stage.

Born in Elkhart, IN. and raised in the south, Lance made his way west with comedic/acting ambitions. Not able to afford acting classes, he realized that watching and being around standup comedians was the best, most inexpensive alternative to classes, and that watching comedians was a smart way to learn delivery, comedic timing and character development.

Wanting to surround himself with everything comedy, he pursued an entry-level job at the World Famous Comedy Store in Hollywood, owned by the legendary Mitzi Shore. Much like veteran comedians David Letterman, Jim Carrey and Sam Kinison who had their start at the Store, Lance jumped at every chance he could to work at the club – whether it was working the ticket booth or answering phones, he was willing to hustle. After a few rejections, it was a small detail in the resume that ultimately got Lance hired: nursing assistant. Little did he know that they were searching for a caregiver for Mitzi. Mitzi, however, had no interest in a caregiver; sticking true to the Store’s artist colony, she only wanted Lance working for her if he was a working comedian. Not having stepped foot on a stage in his life, Lance and the store’s management team had to trick Mitzi into believing he was a comedian but wasn’t going on stage as he was just working out his perfect set. Even though Lance was living with Mitzi as her caregiver, every time she requested him to go on stage, Lance managed to come up with every excuse in the book as to why he wasn’t going up!

While still working at the Comedy Store, Lance began working on web marketing campaigns for such comedians as Steve Byrne (Comedy Central) and Jon Reep (Last Comic Standing). MySpace quickly took notice of his work, and Lance was hired to work for the company as Comedy Content Producer, where he had the opportunity to work and travel with such comedians as Joel McHale, Bobby Lee, Eddie Izzard, Dana Carvey, Cheech & Chong and many others. He used the unique opportunities to listen to their stories about the business, taking whatever advice or guidance they offered, and continued to hone his craft.

It was working on a Secret Show for MySpace that he met and started working with Gabriel Iglesias. In 2009, Lance left MySpace to work exclusively with Gabriel as his director of online marketing, as Gabriel was just embarking on a national sold out comedy tour. After a few months on tour, with Lance practicing his joke telling and stories with the crew, Gabriel challenged Lance. Two weeks to practice and write a set, and if he felt ready for the opportunity, Gabriel would allow him to open up for him on stage.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Two weeks later, on March 13, 2010 Lance stepped on stage, and performed his very first set in front of Gabriel’s sold out crowd of 2000 people, with much success. To Lance, those five minutes on-stage felt like an eternity, but he could proudly admit that he didn’t earn sympathy laughs – since it wasn’t until AFTER the performance that it was announced as Lance’s first time on-stage. Gabriel jokingly told Lance before he stepped on stage, “Lance, you going up here for the first time, in front of a crowd of 2000 people instead of 20… is like being a virgin and losing your virginity to Pamela Anderson! So don’t be nervous! haha”

Since then, Lance has had a few more opportunities to open for Gabriel on the wildly successful “Fluffy Shop Tour.” As well as opened for comedians Jon Reep, Edwin San Juan, and the legendary Louie Anderson. Louie has been gracious enough to start mentoring Lance, and will have him open for him occasionally at his show in Las Vegas.

You can catch Lance hosting weekly at the LA Comedy Club in 4 Queens Hotel in Vegas. Lance is also scheduled to perform at both the Melbourne Comedy Festival and Sydney Comedy Festival in Australia April 2011.

For this comedian, who has found a way to create growing success out of unique opportunities, there is no doubt he will find a way to make a name for himself.