THUNDER BAY -- Jeremy Hotz is miserable.
He wakes up everyday, slowly slides out of bed and thinks about how much the world sucks while staring into the mirror.
But it's also managed to work for him as the Canadian-born comic has made a world-renowned career being miserable all the time.
"I'm miserable all the time, it's my psyche it's a disease," he said on the phone just days after killing it at Massey Hall in Toronto.
"It's just the way my head works."
Hotz, who heads to the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium Tuesday with all new material for his International Man of Misery tour, said he's convinced that he exists as an antithesis to positive people in order to ensure a balanced world.
"There has to be a dude like me that is completely negative like this or else those really happy people would take over the world so I'm here to stop that from happening," he said.
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Unlike a good song that a musician can tour on forever, Hotz said a good bit has a shelf-life, which is why he's back in Canada with all new material.
"After a while it starts to stink," he said.
"So if the comic keeps doing it, he stinks."
Part of what keeps Hotz' act fresh is that he also relies on improv. He'll take shots a the town he's in but he'll also come up with a new way to tell a joke right on the spot. That's where his trademark comes from. Hotz is the guy seen in comedy specials speaking in to his right hand, laughing at the punchline.
He also suffers from anxiety, helped by having a psychologist for a brother who tours with him. It can strike anywhere at anytime, usually right before he's about to go on stage.
"Sometimes you just gotta grit your teeth and get through it," he said.
Now based in Los Angeles, Hotz said he had to leave Canada because he hates the cold but also there's more opportunity in America.
"I wanted to compete against the best in the world," he said.
He admits, coming back to the North for a string of shows in February wasn't the smartest idea.
"I guess I'm the international man of stupidity," he said.
Jeremy Hotz will perform at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
