Spencer Litzinger

Spencer Litzinger graduated from Humber's Comedy Writing & Performance program in 2017 and is now a host on YTV's The Zone.

What are you currently working on; what excites you about the project?

I am currently a Host on YTV’s The Zone! What excites me about this?? Oh! A heck of a lot of things! I love the work I get to do! For a good while now I have worked at The Second City Training centre teaching in the Youth and Teen program, and I love kids! So it’s pretty awesome that every weekday from 4-6 I have the chance to make them laugh.

In The Zone we do a lot of sketches, so there are loads of opportunities for me to do my favourite thing... play characters! We play lots of games as well (very fun), and we're able to pitch ideas for segments. So I am able to use my writer side of my brain (which I am using right now… a bit).

It’s fun and creative. It’s high energy! I think it isn’t just one thing. I don’t feel just like an actor. I feel like I am always on my toes and ready to create!

What other projects have you worked on since leaving Humber?

Let’s see. Lots of Improv. I have a show that started out at Humber and is still going strong, called Hodge Podge! It’s an improv jam at The Social Capital theatre that I host and produce.

I have produced a fair number of shows.

Some examples (<- read that in a low voice), The Diarrhea Monologues (a show where comedians told stories of actual times they pooped themselves, and no, it never got old!), Bona Fide (two improvisers based their improv set off a stand up comedian's best 10 minutes), and Spenny’s Specific Longform Improv Jam (a whole lot of improv).

I also was in Muffintop - a sketch troop that performed Fridays at the JCB, I'm in the Conservatory at Second City, I've written a fun web series (SHOP IT, BUY IT :D), and am currently writing my SOLO show!

How did your time at Humber prepare you for what you’re doing now?

Well it really helped me realize that I have to be my best. You know, I am selling me! I’ve got to be sharp! And work hard. Be able to be a performer and a writer (wear all the hats)! I need to know my voice! Know my brand. I am loveable and crazy. So I use that - my mishaps, silly mistakes - and, more than ever, people relate.

I was able to experiment a lot! Workshop ideas. Some were huge flops, others not. But it was great to have a space that everyday of the week I could try and make comedy. Sketch, standup, improv, and more!

The memories I have from my time at Humber are sort of random...

Auditioning for the program, I was so nervous I didn’t leave my bed for a week...

The first day, wearing my army jacket and red hat (which I can’t find) sitting at the big table (which was really just a bunch of tables pushed together) again feeling a bit nervous. Everyone seemed to already have banter and the teacher hadn’t even entered yet...

Getting big laughs in class, being way too upset that I didn’t get a "forkful" of cake, the first year archival sketch show (FEELING AMAZING ON STAGE), walking out of school with a huge group of classmates <3...

Oh, the one day close to summer where we played competitive games (I swear I wrestled a boy and lost)...

The final sketch show at Comedy Bar (would do that all over again, if I could), trying stand up at Yuk yuks, the industry show rehearsals and endless pitching of sketches... the high of getting a sketch in the show... and the high of not getting one in and knowing you had to pitch a better one tomorrow...

The teachers, the students, the pizza (for better or worse)...

All that and it was the start of me really finding myself!

P.S. Thanks for reading this; you are a great human bean! You must be <3