40 under 40 — Spencer Streichert
Chi Gamma, 2016 — Recognized in: 2020
Spencer Streichert is an Actor, Comedian and Filmmaker from the Chi Gamma Chapter of Zeta Psi. As a former Sigma and pledge trainer, Streichert (Class of 2016) began his professional career while simultaneously becoming an active member of his fraternity.
At just 24 years-old, he’s written and released 2 live stand-up albums “Winning by Default” (2016) which was nominated for the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Album in 2018, and “Loser by Choice” (2019) which has over 15,000 streams on Spotify, and a sketch comedy album “Fart Sniffer” (2020). In 2018 he was voted 2nd runner up for Best comedian in the annual Best of Calgary awards, and in 2019 was again nominated in the same category. He’s been featured as a guest on Calgary’s Funny 1060 am and CJSW 90.9, and nationally on Inside Jokes Global 640, and has written for The Comedy Tribune.
As an emerging actor & filmmaker, he’s been nominated for Best of Calgary in both of those categories in 2019 & 2020. His first short film “Dr. Face” premiered at the 2016 Calgary Comic Expo to a sold out crowd, and his performance earned him a MIC award. In 2017 he produced, starred and co-wrote a sequel webseries (With Chi Gamma Alumni David Lazarenko) titled “Dr. Face 2: Time 2 Face Justice” which was crowd funded through Indiegogo. In 2018 he co-produced and starred in the short film “Red water Valley” (In association with Telus Storyhive). In 2019 he directed an experimental short film “Emote.”, and produced “A Goodnight Sleeps”, both of which are beginning their film festival runs. As an actor he’s been lucky to have performed in the regional theatre scenes of Calgary and Toronto, working with Theatre Calgary, The Shakespeare Company, Calgary Opera, DIY Theatre, and Alumnae Theatre, and while in University performed in 3 mainstages with the School of Creative and Performing Arts (UofC).
In March of 2020, Spencer and his partner co-founded the Quarantine International Film Festival as a way for filmmakers around the world to stay productive during lockdown, and has gained international press and positive reception, with over a thousand films submitted over both rounds.
“I think my most meaningful work is ever evolving, which is a good thing. I am very proud of each of my comedy albums because to me personally they are like little time capsules of where I was at in my life, but also because of the impact that each one has had on my career at each stage, and how each one has resonated with new fans. What makes them impactful is the indie approach that I have taken, which younger audiences appreciate, and the growth between each stylistically and in terms of writing. For film my last 3 major projects (Red water valley, Emote., A Goodnight Sleeps) were new challenges that pushed me creatively in ways that were unexpected and tackled dramatic issues without levity. These above 6 projects, though very different, really express varying differences in my own artistic ability and relate to very different people,which inspires me in pushing myself to try newer and more challenging projects. As an emerging artist it’s a fear to be pigeon-holed because of my resume, so constantly evolving eliminates that while also putting me into new elements with the skills I have developed.”
On how Zeta Psi has contributed to his professional life:
Being a brother in Zeta Psi has provided me with mentors and peers around the world who have been willing to offer me career guidance and support. My writing partner Dave is a Chi Gamma Elder, I’ve acted with several zetes and worked with several who were filmmakers and photographers. It’s been comforting to find out about other zetes who are working actors, comedians or filmmakers and get connected with them. The Ability to reach out to brothers I’ve never met to get feedback or advice about career longevity is something I can’t imagine living without. It’s also made traveling less terrifying because there are brothers everywhere. I lived in Toronto for most of 2018 and was quickly connected with a handful of zetes who have become some of my closest friends.
Spencer would like to leave any young Zetes with this advice:
Honestly, don’t stress about anything. It sounds very simple, but the more you worry about things that are happening or not happening in your life, the further away from being happy you become. Just enjoy each moment and let things work themselves out, and have enough faith in yourself as human beings to know that are more than enough to accomplish what you want, so if it’s meant to be then it will. Also, enjoy your time as an active and take advantage of the programs Zeta Psi has in place. It’s amazing how quickly it flies by, so give yourself some leeway and have fun. I started coming around the house 2 years before I joined, and lived in the house for 2 years while I was a student, and I can honestly say from the past 6 years alot of my best memories were from my time there.
For more information on Spencer and his work, you can check him out on Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify.