Ones and Zeros machinima fest to feature Leeroy Jenkins, local World of Warcraft hero

Leeroy Jenkins is back! The World of Warcraftvideo game character (and the local gamer behind him Ben Schulz) shot to international super-stardom thanks to a 2005 viral video. While the psycho-warrior has been quiet for a few years, he'll be charging into the limelight tomorrow, June 18, from 5 to 9 p.m. at 5019 West 120th Avenue (apparently a Kmart parking lot), as part of a machinima fest put on by the Broomfield arts organization Ones and Zeros. The appearance makes sense: machinima is all about using video games to make movies, and Leeroy (and by extension Shulz) are machinima's version of Zach Galifianakis.

How to explain Jenkins to those not in the know? It's best just to watch the 2005 video of Leeroy's in-game exploits that catapulted him to fame:

The chaotic hilarity of Leeroy's ridiculous battle charge made him the most famous character in all of World of Warcraft, and soon he was getting shout-outs on MTV, Jeopardy!, Howard Stern's show and schoolgirls' T-shirts in Asia -- with Schulz, the (relatively) mild-mannered man behind the character along for the surreal ride. Leeroy's fame was in part fueled by the uncertainty over whether or not the video of his famous battle cry and charge was real or staged -- something that Schulz has wisely chosen to keep undisclosed.

Schulz and his digital alter ego have slowly faded from the limelight. But now, the two are going to make a rare public appearance to help Ones and Zeros spotlight award-winning machinima from the Ivy Film Festival in New York, as well as locally produced efforts. Judging from the promo shot Ones and Zeros used for the event, which features Leeroy sitting respectfully in what looks like a library, maybe everybody's favorite berserker has settled down in his old age.

Perhaps Schulz and his video game chum will consent to a Q&A straight out of Inside the Actor's Studio, with a James Lipton stand-in asking Leeroy what he would like to hear God say when he arrived at the Pearly Gates. (In Leeroy's version of heaven, God would likely be saying something about fried chicken.)

On second thought, that's not about to happen. If you're in Broomfield on Saturday night, lock away your children and farm animals, and hide away your flagons of mead. LEEEEROY JENNNKINS is once again on the rampage.