The Tribune

COMEDIAN Gary Owen, recent star of the hit movie Think Like a Man is set to showcase his stand-out stand-up skills at this year’s LaughFest comedy how.

A native of Ohio, USA, Gary’s road to fame began on a path not often travelled by comics. Soon after completing high school, he enlisted in the US Navy only to discover he had perhaps chosen the wrong field as he was often “yelled at for smiling all the time”.

Though he later became a military police officer at the Naval Installations on Coronado Island in San Diego, Gary’s career as a cop was even more unfitting as he managed only two arrests in three years.

While still on this job, however, he did discover his true calling as a comedian when he took to the stage during an open-mic session at a local comedy club. That fateful night led to his being named “Funniest Serviceman in America” just one year later.

Off the military base, Gary found that urban comedy clubs in “the hoods” of San Diego embraced him and afforded him the opportunity to get on stage regularly.

The comedian made a conscious decision to “make fun of blacks and whites” as he joked about interracial dating and other issues “white guys aren’t supposed to talk about.”

Though Gary concedes that aspects of African-American culture and lingo were initially a mystery to him, honestly admitting this fact on stage seemed to endear him to his mostly black audiences.

Remarkably, he went on to win the “Funniest Black Man in San Diego” contest which led to his first big gig at Los Angeles’ Comedy Store.

In July of 1997, Gary Owen auditioned for BET’s “Comic View.” Two appearances on the popular comedy showcase won him his own one-hour “Grandstand” show. At the end of the season he was selected from the year’s four ‘Grandstanders’ to be the host. Gary became the first ever (and only to-date) Caucasian on-air personality employed by the network.

Since then, Gary has seen his star continue to rise: He has had numerous appearances on Comedy Central and has appeared in movies with fellow comedians Eddie Murphy, the Wayans Brothers and most recently Kevin Hart.

Gary has appeared on Martin Lawrence Presents: 1st Amendment Stand-Up and Live at the Nokia with Mike Epps.

The comedian also had a recurring role on Tyler Perry’s House of Payne.

In 2011, Ebony Magazine dubbed Gary Owen “Black America’s Favourite White Comic.”

His latest film, Think Like a Man, a film adaptation of the best-selling Steve Harvey book, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, was a bona fide success, earning almost one hundred million dollars at the box office this year. Gary also filmed his first ever, critically acclaimed Showtime stand-up special, Gary Owen: True Story which premiered this past May.

In his first-ever show in the Bahamas, Gary will headline this year’s 5th annual LaughFest Comedy Show on Saturday, August 4 at the Nassau Wyndham Resort’s Rainforest Theatre.

Comedians Melanie Comarcho, Cocoa Brown and other popular comics are also scheduled to perform. The show time for LaughFest is 9pm and tickets are on sale now at John’s Shoes, Island Cellular (Rosetta) and Fine Threads (Thompson Blvd).