LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Theatre Co.’s production of “Rumors” by Neil Simon is scheduled to open at Gard Street School Auditorium on April 26.

“Rumors” is a comedy. “You start laughing at the beginning of the first act and you never stop. That’s why I am in it,” said Tim Fischer.

Who is Tim Fischer? In this show, he is Lennie Ganz, husband of Clair Ganz (played by Jenna Radke).

“Tim has a face that is made out of putty. He can make it do anything he wants it to do. Just looking at him makes me laugh,” said Radke. “He is a natural.”

Perhaps this is the reason that Fisher chose to get a degree in Theatre Arts from Sonoma State.  

“I couldn’t get enough of being on the stage,” he confessed. “I learned all the technical aspects of stage craft but getting a reaction out of an audience as an actor is what I lived for. That’s what still turns me on. When you know you have given an audience just what they came to see, that is a thrill.”

When Tim Fisher is not on the stage, however, he teaches English at Lower Lake High School. How then did a young man who is so enamored with theatre become a teacher? He discovered another passion, “almost by mistake.”

“I was living in Southern California, hoping to do something with acting but being a fry cook instead. I hated it,” said Fischer. “I saw an ad for a private school that needed teachers and I applied. They hired me as a sub … and I loved it. After a while, I went back to school and got my master’s in education. I found out that teaching was a calling I didn’t know I had until quite a way down the road, but it’s great. The kids are great. I get the same satisfaction out of reaching them that I get out of reaching an audience when I am acting. In a way, the two passions are sort of knitted together.”

The versatility of Tim Fischer is not confined to teaching and comedy. Recently he played Harding, a dramatic role in ”One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” He will also be remembered as the irrepressible Frenkenfurtur in LCTC’s version of “The Rocky Horror Show.”

Fischer is a happy man right now. “I am in a great place where I can do both of the things I love at the same time. Life is good.”

“Rumors” will run at Gard Street Auditorium in Kelseyville from April 26 through May 12, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Tickets are available at Wildhurst Tasting Room in Kelseyville, 707-279-4302, and The Party Shop in Lakeport, 707-263-7800). Online purchases of general seating may be made at www.lakecountytheatrecompany.org .

For more information, call 707-279-2595.