Actor, writer, artist, musician, and international headlining stand-up comedian, Nicky's the quintesential "rolling stone that gathers no moss."
During his 18-year span as a stand-up comic, Nicky worked at clubs like the NY Improv, Dangerfields, and Wolf's Comedy Den in Las Vegas. He's been a voiceover artist for various projects including the 1920's radio-style adventure podcast Tales Of The Liberty Flyer, and has more than 10 albums to his credit as songwriter, singer and harp player (he currently holds the “Guinness World Records, Fastest Harmonica Player” - est 2005). He has also painted over 700 watercolors, many of which are in private collection across the globe.
He began his professional standup career in the early 1980s during the beginning of the "Golden Age of Stand-up". Since then he's written more than 25 screenplays, ten sitcom pilots, hundreds of shorts like What if Everyone Was Famous and It Was Cool to Be Nobody and authoring the books Endorphin Man and Little Sara Tonin and How To Get Started in the Stand-up Comedy Business.
Among Nicky's expansive porfolio of creativity are the 700+ surreal and highly imaginative works (pen and watercolor) that he's painted over the years. With series titles like Surreal Chess Series,Voluptuous Mermaids, I Felt Naked On Stage, and Surreal Harmonica, he continues to create new pieces to this day.
In 2014, Nicky travelled to Louisville, Kentucky to film his live stad-up special Nicky "The Buzzard" Shane.
As the creator of Muggs & Toast, Nicky won Best Short Film at the 2016 International Family Film Festival (Hollywood, CA), and more recently he played a belligerent drunk in the 2019 Academy Award winning movie VICE, seen yelling over Dick Cheney's speech..
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Just Keeps Getting Better
Brian Buel - Baby Mogul
Your art is consistently getting richer and more vibrant while the subject matter increasingly becomes more and more fascinating. Your "Fat Mermaids" adorns the aft stateroom in my yacht.
Stand-up Comedy Review
Eric Kopatz - Film Producer, Actor2
Funny and Interesting Nicky. Your character creation of Buzzard is a unique take and perspective...very organized and original. Interesting in a chaplanesque keatonesque Mel brooks sensitive way endearing in its planned awkwardness. I thought for a minute of you as Gene Kelly and Shirley MacLaine in ‘What A Way to Go !’ Wow Your Harp playing is out of this world bro ! Sounds Amazing! Enjoyable! .
PLAYED OUT TO THE 5TH
Atelston Fitzgerald Holder 1st, Harlem Times Review
The expressive sentiments of this piece is subjective and opened to interpretation based on someone’s artistic appreciation, experience and visual relation; although the painter’s landscape of explanation and definition has its own connotative, It’s relativistic viewpoint in proportion with something else emulates its value in a priceless category that’s immeasurable!
Awesome!
Antonio Martinez
The artistic ability of this individual is altruistic, poetic, and justifying! I am enthralled!
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As an artist, whether visual, musical, in my comedy and other writing, I find that the juxtaposition of verisimilitude is where I like to land, hopefully next door to surrealism and innuendo, preferably in the Lydian Mode. — Nicky Shane