JIM NIEB
SAG-AFTRA
ACTOR | COMEDIAN | TEACHER
Meet Jim Nieb
To say Jim has had a varied career so far would be an understatement. He is a character actor par-none.
Jim is a current teacher at The Margie Haber Studio former staff member at Playhouse West School and Repertory Theater where he taught the Meisner technique as well as founding the first comedy program there. Jim works in films, television, and commercials. One recent highlight has been several appearances as a regular on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show, particularly appearances in the "How Long" segments.
He recently finished principle shooting on the feature film "WILD BOAR" directed by Barney Burman and featuring an amazing cast including the prolific and talented Daniel Roebuck.
The Maryland Renaissance Festival is where Jim learned how to work a crowd, large or small and to truly hone his improv talents. Up to 20,000 folks a day came through enabling him to try out new bits and truly immerse himself in a character.
During this time, Jim also worked for six years with the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit (CCU), an outreach program of the circus which works with children’s hospitals around the USA putting clown doctors on regular CLOWN ROUNDS in conjunction with the Child-Life programs in the hospitals.
A student at the school for many years under the watchful eyes of Chris Liebe, and Mark and Tracy Pellegrino, Jim decided he wanted to give something back to the school that had given him so much. In April, 2009 he launched the Playhouse West Comedy Program. The program has continued to grow ever since with hundreds of students having come through the program in a school not, previously, known for comedy. You can now find the program at The Zoo Comedy and soon to be found at The Margie Haber Studio.
Let's go back just a bit.
Conceived in Germany, born in Ohio, and raised in Northern Virginia Jim started his career doing stand up comedy his senior year of high school. In 1992 joined ComedySportz, DC and his professional comedy career officially began. It was around that time that he also began doing anything he could that was performance based: on camera, voice-over, improv comedy, teaching, juggling, stilt-walking, renaissance festivals, clowning, magic, balloon sculpting, fire eating, impersonations, corporate entertainment, and much more.
2004 was the year that found Jim making his move to Los Angeles.
Since moving to Los Angeles Jim has had the great fortune to work on camera with some amazing directors over the years including such legends as Peter Farrelly, Clint Eastwood, J.J. Abrams, and Jerry Zucker to name a few.
In 2005, while waiting to join the writing lab at Groundlings, Jim was introduced to the prestigious Playhouse West School and Repertory Theater and knew he'd found a home and he began training. The school, founded by Robert Carnegie and Jeff Goldblum, is one of the very few Meisner schools in LA sanctioned by Sanford Meisner himself. During his time at Playhouse West Jim has done a number of plays including being in the original cast of Scott Caan’s new play, Word Faithful, which premiered at Playhouse West in 2014.
In 2016 Jim won the Audience Choice Award for Best Actor at the PWFF. Keep an eye out for him on late-night television, commercials, and on the big and small screen as several of his films have started in wider distribution.
Here's to more fun to be had!