Nick first came to China for an exchange during his third year at the University of British Columbia, where he majored in Asian Language and Culture.

He studied for one year at the Beijing Language and Culture University before returning to Canada, and upon graduation in 2008 he returned once again to China, this time to the city of Changchun, for a Masters program in Chinese Linguistics.

Under the tutelage of famous crosstalk (or "xiangsheng") teacher Ding Guangquan, he has studied the form of comic dialogue, and he has also studied forms such as bamboo clackers ("kuaiban"), martial arts, lion dancing, and so on.

In 2009 he received 3rd place in the CCTV National Chinese Competition for Foreigners Studying in China. Nick has performed on Chinese TV shows such as "Tong Yi Shou Ge" and "Qu Yuan Za Tan", for which he often writes his own material. In the future he plans to focus more on writing and directing, and has ambitions to be a film director.