Chad Zumock
Encyclopedia
Early years
Chad Zumock grew up in Brady Lake, OhioBrady Lake, Ohio
Brady Lake is a village in Portage County, Ohio, United States. The population was 513 at the 2000 census and 497 in the 2006 estimate. Incorporated in 1927, it originally developed as an amusement park and summer resort that opened in 1891. It was formed from a small portion of Franklin Township...
and later Kent, Ohio
Kent, Ohio
Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeastern Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 27,906 at the 2000 United States Census and 28,904 in the 2010 Census...
where he graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School. While enrolled at Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
, Zumock was actively involved with Last Call – a popular late-night sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
show airing on the student-run campus TV network, TV2. He also wrote a column for the Daily Kent Stater, the university's student newspaper, though he admits to being "kicked off" the writing staff.
After graduating with a general studies degree in 2001, Zumock continued his involvement with Last Call as the show itself transitioned into the sketch comedy troupe Last Call Cleveland
Last Call Cleveland
Last Call Cleveland is a sketch comedy troupe. The members originally met when they were students at Kent State University, where they produced a late-night cable show that aired on the student-run campus network TV2. The show moved to Cleveland in 2001 to local broadcast cable station THE CAT...
. Although no longer directly involved, Zumock does continue to work with its current members, including comedian Mike Polk
Mike Polk
Michael G Polk Jr is an American comedian, actor, voice-over artist, and entertainer, known for his sketch comedy.-Early life and education:...
.
Career
In 2005, Zumock moved to Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to pursue a career in stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
. He went on to open for several major acts, including Dave Attell
Dave Attell
Dave Attell is an American stand-up comedian and the host of Comedy Central's Insomniac with Dave Attell and The Gong Show with Dave Attell.-Stand-up beginning:...
, Nick Swardson
Nick Swardson
Nicholas Roger "Nick" Swardson is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and writer. He is best known for his recurring role as Terry Bernardino in the Comedy Central series Reno 911!, for his work in Happy Madison films, most notably the 2011 film Just Go With It, and for his new Comedy Central...
, Jeff Ross
Jeffrey Ross
Jeff Ross is an American stand-up comedian, insult comic, actor, director and author.-Early life:...
, Dane Cook
Dane Cook
Dane Jeffrey Cook is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released five comedy albums: Harmful If Swallowed; Retaliation; Vicious Circle; Rough Around The Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden; and Isolated Incident. In 2006, Retaliation became the highest charting comedy album...
and Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Kate Silverman is a Jewish American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion....
. While in L.A., Zumock also served as a writer for the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner, and worked for XM
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
's National Lampoon Comedy Radio.
Zumock continues to perform in larger cities – he recently opened for Daniel Tosh
Daniel Tosh
Daniel Dwight Tosh is an American stand-up comedian and host of the Comedy Central television show, Tosh.0.-Personal life:...
at the Gotham Comedy Club
Gotham Comedy Club
Gotham Comedy Club is a venue for stand-up comedy in New York City. The comedy club is located on 208 West 23rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in Chelsea.Several movies and television shows have been filmed at the club...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
– but currently lives in his native Northeast Ohio
Greater Cleveland
Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...
. He explains: "I'm a Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
guy. I always will be." After returning, Zumock contributed to the humor book Look at My Striped Shirt!: Confessions of the People You Love to Hate published by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
in 2006. In 2009, he released a self-produced comedy album, Accomplishing Nothing. Among the album's 25 tracks is a song devoted to the comic's "trademark outerwear," as Zumock is known for wearing a sweatervest
Sleeveless sweater
A sweater vest is an item of knitwear that is similar to a sweater, but without sleeves. It is a popular misconception that a sleeveless sweater and a tank top are the same. This error arose from the differences in American and British clothing terminology...
virtually anywhere and at all times.
An avid Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
fan, Zumock helped produce Light It Up Like Vegas! alongside comedian Mike Polk
Mike Polk
Michael G Polk Jr is an American comedian, actor, voice-over artist, and entertainer, known for his sketch comedy.-Early life and education:...
, its star; the hour long TV special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
devoted to Cleveland sports miseries aired on Fox Sports Ohio just prior to the start of the 2009–10 NBA season
2009–10 NBA season
The 2009–10 NBA season was the 64th season of the National Basketball Association . The 1,230-game regular season began on Tuesday, October 27, 2009, and ended on Wednesday, April 14, 2010....
. After Lebron James' departure the following July, Zumock appeared in a Vimeo
Vimeo
Vimeo is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. It was founded by Zach Klein and Jake Lodwick in November 2004...
video mocking the superstar
Superstar
A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity.Superstar or superstars may also refer to:-People:* Warhol Superstar, associates of Andy Warhol* WWE Superstar, the term used to refer to entertainers from the WWE...
athlete.
On January 5, 2010, Zumock was hired on as co-host for the The Alan Cox Show, an afternoon drive time
Drive time
Drive time is the daypart analog to prime time for radio broadcasting. It consists of the morning hours when listeners wake up, get ready, and/or head to work or school, and the afternoon hours when they are heading home and before their evening meal. These are the periods where the number of...
talk show hosted by radio personality
Radio personality
A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
Alan Cox and airing on noted Cleveland rock station WMMS
WMMS
WMMS — branded 100.7 WMMS: The Buzzard — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, widely recognized as one of the most influential rock stations in America throughout much of the history of FM broadcasting...
(100.7 FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
, "The Buzzard"). Zumock himself "dreamt up" the show's popular song (and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video) "Parma
Parma, Ohio
Parma is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is the largest suburb of Cleveland and the seventh largest city in the state of Ohio...
State of Mind" — both a parody of the Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
/Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
hit "Empire State of Mind
Empire State of Mind
"Empire State of Mind" is a song by American rapper and hip hop artist Jay-Z, featuring vocals and a chorus from R&B and soul singer Alicia Keys. It was released as the third single from Jay-Z's 11th studio album The Blueprint 3 by his Roc Nation label in October 2009...
" and as a way of continuing the Northeast Ohio tradition of ribbing the Cleveland suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
(the choice of Parma was partly inspired by past local horror host
Horror host
Horror hosts are a particular type of television presenter, often tasked with presenting low-grade films to television audiences. This tradition is primarily American, though there have been a few international hosts over the years.-Film Packages:...
s Ghoulardi
Ghoulardi
Ghoulardi was a fictional character invented and portrayed by disc jockey, voice announcer, and actor Ernie Anderson as the horror host of late night Shock Theater at WJW-TV, Channel 8, in Cleveland, Ohio from January 13, 1963 through December 16, 1966....
and Big Chuck and Lil' John).
Cleveland Magazine
Cleveland Magazine
Cleveland Magazine is the largest monthly magazine focused on Northeastern Ohio, with a circulation of 45,000. It was founded in 1972. The inaugural April 1972 issue featured a young Dennis Kucinich, a frequent profile subject of the magazine...
selected Zumock as one of its "Most Eligible Singles" for 2011. Also in 2011, Zumock served as Grand Marshal
Grand Marshal
Grand Marshal is a ceremonial, military, or political office of very high rank. The term has its origins with the word "Marshal" with the first usage of the term "Grand Marshal" as a ceremonial title for certain religious orders...
for the Kent State
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
Homecoming Parade, and released his second self-produced comedy album: Adventures in Argyle.