From comedian to veterinarian to conservationist, what can't this contemporary renaissance man do?
And the seasoned comedian and veterinarian is ready to share many raucous stories of his own during his St. Patrick's Day show at, where he'll bring a heavy dose of Irish cheer for a holiday celebration that he promises will be jam-packed with"jokes reflecting Irish-ness and our rhythm.", Fitzgerald, who grew up in Denver during the 1950s, says that comedy and storytelling are practically in his Irish Catholic family's DNA.
"We all wanted to move to the big table because that’s where the stories are. In my family, you must be able to tell a story; that was a necessary skill. The worst thing my father could say was, ‘Man, that guy couldn’t tell a joke,’" he adds."I tried to get closer to the table and hear what they were talking about. As I got older, the stories got a little wilder and funnier, and they would change over time to become a little bit more heroic.
Fitz began his career in comedy by performing at Comedy Works' open mics in August 1986, and says his current approach to standup still incorporates many of the best practices he learned in those early sets."At the Comedy Works, George McKelvey's comedy club, they only give you three minutes, so you wanted to get as many jokes in as you can," he recalls.
Fitzgerald's road to veterinarian school was not a straight one, however. After attending the University of Colorado Boulder on a swimming scholarship, he applied to veterinary school but was rejected. He'd been working as a bouncer on rock band tours for legendary promoters Barry Fey and Bill Graham in his undergrad years, so he began doing more security for such acts as Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, the Who, Parliament-Funkadelic and the Rolling Stones.
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