z? mann zilla
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what is the z

Q: "Z." Mann Zilla? What is the "Z."?

A: It is the 26th letter of the alphabet, best known for being fashionably late and being pronounced "zed" by Canadians.  It also means about as much in my nome de plume as the "S." in "Harry S. Truman".

Growing up, I hung out with a social circle that had at least 5 guys with the same first name, so it became crucial in high school for all of us with the same name to have nicknames.  My last name was "Green" and I weighed nearly 300 pounds in high school, so I was "big and green" and got the nickname "Godzilla" because of it.  Later, that was shortened to "Zilla" because in college I developed a complex about having the word "god" in my nickname.  Around this time, people would alternately refer to me as "Z-Man".

Then, the fateful "Broadway Joe's Incident" happened, and the booker called and asked me what my act was called.  I ended up blurting out "The Z-Man Zilla".  When he asked me how to spell it, I had a sudden brain fart and said "Z, period, 'Mann' as in Amy Mann, 'Zilla' like the big green monster."  I've stuck with it ever since.

Through the years, I've been asked what the Z means, and I tried doing the "CM Punk" thing by changing the story every time, however that had some weird consequences.  For example, I once joked at an art opening that the "Z" also meant "Zilla", and the following Buffalo News article with me in it listed my name as "Zilla Mann Zilla".

I tried doing the "CM Punk" thing by changing the story every time

Dick Zapper
Dong Zipper
Decapitated Zombie
Drunken Zorro
etc

You should try this, it's fun.

You should try this, it's fun.

I must agree, Dreaded Zebra

zed mann zilla