DaytonDailyNews.com

Like many young girls, Lynne Koplitz grew up dreaming of being an actress. She eventually achieved that goal, but it took some time.

Koplitz, who was born in New York and raised in Florida, graduated from Troy State University in Alabama with a degree in theater arts. She worked in community theater productions in Tennessee and Georgia before moving to New York to pursue bigger roles. Becoming a New York actress was much tougher than she anticipated, but her fortunes changed when she tried stand-up.

"I started doing comedy when I was 29," Koplitz said. "I was a late bloomer. Two of my girlfriends wanted me to try stand-up. I had always wanted to try it, but I was scared. I was a comic actress and I was like, 'You know what? Jesus started Jesusing at 29 and his best work was 29 to 33, so why not?' "

Koplitz discovered she was well-suited for stand-up. Her girl-next-door beauty and natural charm allowed her to deliver racy material in a manner palatable to mainstream audiences.

"I'm a little vulgar," Koplitz said. "I like to say I'm blue because vulgar sounds like it's dirty for dirty's sake. I think I'm more organically dirty. I'm really spiritual, but I drop a lot of F-bombs in my act. I'm like the girl that's eating a doughnut and drinking a Diet Coke — I somehow even myself out."

Not surprisingly, success in stand-up led to bigger opportunities for Koplitz, who is performing at the Funny Bone Comedy Club Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 19-22. She's currently filming the second season of the original Independent Film Channel series "ZRock."

" 'ZRock' is loosely scripted," Koplitz said. "It's kind of like 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' meets 'Entourage.' I keep calling it 'Curb Your Entourage.' It's around a real band called ZO2. I play their manager, and Joan Rivers plays my aunt. It's a great show."

More info: www.lynne-koplitz.com.

CONTACT contributing arts and music writer Don Thrasher at donaldthrasher8@aol.com.