Clay Larsen was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Not the mitten. After a fruitless semester in computer science, he received B.A.s in Theatre and Fine Arts from USC. While doing that, he was a founding member of the improv troupe Second Nature, which in turn created Fracas!, the first national collegiate improv festival.

Clay has studied improv and sketch at the UCB Theatre since 2005. He has performed or written in Harold Night, Cagematch, CDR, The Quick and Dirty Musicals, Sketch Cram, and Not Too Shabby, among other shows. He believes that a person who does not cry at the end of The Iron Giant is, effectively, a monster."