rizzo was once an english teacher for the 7th and 8th grade students at west babylon junior high school in west babylon, new york, and counselor to students with behavioral problems in the 9th to 12th grades. he later became a comedian, and was roommate to drew carey, had dennis miller and rosie o'donnell open shows for him and shared the stage with eddie murphy, rodney dangerfield, jerry seinfeld and ellen degeneres before moving on to become a motivational speaker. rizzo left a promising career of over 18 years in stand-up comedy to pursue a new career in motivational speaking; he became a professional speaker in 1994.