Mark Britten(I)
- Actor
Born July 15th in San Gabriel, California, Mark's father was of German/Irish descent and his mother was a Pacific Islander (both passed in 2006). Mark's father met his mother in the Philippines during his 20 year service in the United States Marine Corp. After his father's retirement from service, Mark's family settled in Arlington, Texas where Mark began doing comedy at the age of 17 at the local Funny Bone Comedy Club. Mark would graduate high school in 1987 and attend The University of Texas in Austin.
In 1990, after two and a half years at The University of Texas in Austin, Mark made the decision to drop out of college and pursue his childhood dream of becoming a stand-up comedian. He began touring the national comedy club circuit full time the following year. In 1992, while performing as an opener at the Improv Comedy Club in Miami, Mark was invited to appear on "A&E's 'An Evening at the Improv'" by the founder and original proprietor of the Improvisation Comedy Club, Budd Friedman. Two years later, he was invited back for a second appearance. In 1994, Mark moved to Redondo Beach, California with roommate and fellow comedian Pablo Francisco. The two, along with comedians Lynn Shore and Todd Glass, headlined a variety show at the Brea Improv that blended stand-up and sketch comedy. Mark began a college tour in 1995, seeing over 100 college dates that year and coming in second to fellow comedian, Carrot Top, for the "College Comedian of the Year" title. That year, he appeared on NBC's "Friday Night Videos" hosted by Henry Cho.
In 1999, Mark attended an "open audition" at Funimation Studios located in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Dragonball Z series. The producer, Chris Sabat, was impressed with Mark's ability to impersonate most of the Canadian voice actor parts that were presented for him to attempt and he was hired on the spot. Mark voiced 7 characters for the Funimation English Dragonball Z dubs from 1999-2001.
In 2002, Mark took a morning radio job at Clear Channel's Rock 99 in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he was able to broadcast from several events at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Mark was the ONLY comedian to ever appear and compete with his own show in his own market when he appeared on his "Mick and The Chinaman" radio show and "The Bob and Tom Show" in Indianapolis, Indiana on the same day. After a year in radio, Mark quit the station and returned to touring comedy clubs full time.
In 2003, Mark auditioned and was turned down by NBC's Last Comic Standing, where his audition was reduced to a 3 second clip of "rejects". That same year, Mark's "Arnold as Jesus" bit appeared on "Bob and Tom's Greatest Hit's CD". In 2006, Mark's "Arnold" bit ranked 42nd on XM Satellite radio's "150 Top Comedy Bits of All Time".
In 2003, Mark was befriended by the brothers that were the original founders of Pantera, Darrell and Vincent Abbott, and his career took a side street thru the Heavy Metal Universe. Mark was the warm up act for VH1 Classic Rock 'n' Roll Celebrity Poker Tournament at the Flamingo Las Vegas on November 2, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2009, Mark teamed up with the iconic drummer from Pantera, Vinnie Paul, to produce a show at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. After his Vegas show ended in 2010, Mark would later return to Vegas in 2011 to appear on Fox's "Million Dollar Challenge" with Daniel Negreanu. Initially, Mark beat out over 650,000 other online players on Pokerstars.net to qualify for an appearance on Pokerstars.net "The Big Game". After viewing his "audition video submission", the producers suggested he be placed on the game show "Million Dollar Challenge" instead. The show's producers' thinking was Mark's personality was too far over the top and the "poker pros" were to be the stars of "The Big Game" and Mark might overshadow them, thus a game show appearance would be a better fit.
In 2016, Mark was contacted by the producers of "America's Got Talent" after they viewed his online video audition submission. After numerous email exchanges, it was agreed that Mark's act was not a good fit for the younger audience demographic the show was aimed at, and Mark politely declined to pursue it further.
Mark tours nationally as a comedian and makes public appearances at Comic Conventions with his Dragonball Z credentials. He also hosts/MCs large events and expos throughout the U.S. His upcoming appearances can be found on his website kidwok.
In 1990, after two and a half years at The University of Texas in Austin, Mark made the decision to drop out of college and pursue his childhood dream of becoming a stand-up comedian. He began touring the national comedy club circuit full time the following year. In 1992, while performing as an opener at the Improv Comedy Club in Miami, Mark was invited to appear on "A&E's 'An Evening at the Improv'" by the founder and original proprietor of the Improvisation Comedy Club, Budd Friedman. Two years later, he was invited back for a second appearance. In 1994, Mark moved to Redondo Beach, California with roommate and fellow comedian Pablo Francisco. The two, along with comedians Lynn Shore and Todd Glass, headlined a variety show at the Brea Improv that blended stand-up and sketch comedy. Mark began a college tour in 1995, seeing over 100 college dates that year and coming in second to fellow comedian, Carrot Top, for the "College Comedian of the Year" title. That year, he appeared on NBC's "Friday Night Videos" hosted by Henry Cho.
In 1999, Mark attended an "open audition" at Funimation Studios located in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Dragonball Z series. The producer, Chris Sabat, was impressed with Mark's ability to impersonate most of the Canadian voice actor parts that were presented for him to attempt and he was hired on the spot. Mark voiced 7 characters for the Funimation English Dragonball Z dubs from 1999-2001.
In 2002, Mark took a morning radio job at Clear Channel's Rock 99 in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he was able to broadcast from several events at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Mark was the ONLY comedian to ever appear and compete with his own show in his own market when he appeared on his "Mick and The Chinaman" radio show and "The Bob and Tom Show" in Indianapolis, Indiana on the same day. After a year in radio, Mark quit the station and returned to touring comedy clubs full time.
In 2003, Mark auditioned and was turned down by NBC's Last Comic Standing, where his audition was reduced to a 3 second clip of "rejects". That same year, Mark's "Arnold as Jesus" bit appeared on "Bob and Tom's Greatest Hit's CD". In 2006, Mark's "Arnold" bit ranked 42nd on XM Satellite radio's "150 Top Comedy Bits of All Time".
In 2003, Mark was befriended by the brothers that were the original founders of Pantera, Darrell and Vincent Abbott, and his career took a side street thru the Heavy Metal Universe. Mark was the warm up act for VH1 Classic Rock 'n' Roll Celebrity Poker Tournament at the Flamingo Las Vegas on November 2, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2009, Mark teamed up with the iconic drummer from Pantera, Vinnie Paul, to produce a show at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. After his Vegas show ended in 2010, Mark would later return to Vegas in 2011 to appear on Fox's "Million Dollar Challenge" with Daniel Negreanu. Initially, Mark beat out over 650,000 other online players on Pokerstars.net to qualify for an appearance on Pokerstars.net "The Big Game". After viewing his "audition video submission", the producers suggested he be placed on the game show "Million Dollar Challenge" instead. The show's producers' thinking was Mark's personality was too far over the top and the "poker pros" were to be the stars of "The Big Game" and Mark might overshadow them, thus a game show appearance would be a better fit.
In 2016, Mark was contacted by the producers of "America's Got Talent" after they viewed his online video audition submission. After numerous email exchanges, it was agreed that Mark's act was not a good fit for the younger audience demographic the show was aimed at, and Mark politely declined to pursue it further.
Mark tours nationally as a comedian and makes public appearances at Comic Conventions with his Dragonball Z credentials. He also hosts/MCs large events and expos throughout the U.S. His upcoming appearances can be found on his website kidwok.
