Gary Owen is a stand-up comedian and actor who has earned the nickname “Funniest Serviceman in America.” Fans find his stand-up acts hilarious, and he’s been in the business of making people laugh since 1997, on a professional level. We don’t always get the full picture of our favorite funny-people, as we learned with the late great Robin Williams. To know Owen a little better, here are 10 things that you probably didn’t know about him.
1. He was raised in a trailer park
Trailer parks are common homes for Americans who are living on a budget. Gary Owen was born in July of 1974 in Cincinnati, Ohio and he was raised in a trailer park located in Oxford. It had to be crowded in the family home because Owen had six other brothers and sisters.
2. He got his lucky break on BET
After spending some time trying to break into the professional stand-up circuit, Black Entertainment Television admitted him into their stand-up showcase called “Comic View. This gave him the exposure that he needed to show everyone how funny he truly is. He found a large group of followers in the African American community and performed at a variety of BET channel events, including “Shaquille O’Neal’s All-Star Comedy Jam.”
3. His stand-up opened the doors for film work
After making it big on BET, more work started to open up for Gary Owen. Soon after he made his comic-stand-up debut, he landed featured roles in films which included “College,” “Little Man,” and “Daddy Day Care.” He advanced in his career with recognition as a comedian as well as a professional actor.
4. Gary Owen is booked for the rest of the year
We checked on his official website to find out what Gary is up to professionally. His agenda for the rest of the year is packed with touring dates that take him through the month of December. He will appear in cities throughout the United States, bringing his humor to enthusiastic audiences from Alabama to California, and multiple destinations in between.
5. You can find his DVDs cheap on his official website
If you’re interested in owning DVDs of some of Gary’s funniest stand-up acts, then your best bet is to go directly to his website to make the purchase. We saw that you can download all of his DVDs from right there for only $5. You’re likely to pay a lot more if you buy them from a local retailer. It’s cool that he’s making the materials so affordable for all of his fans.
6. Gary is a family man
Owen spends a lot of time on the road, but this is a necessary fact of life for a professional comedian. Fans want to hear your performances live, but he still makes time for his family. Gary married Kenya DUke on July 19th of 2003. She had a son from a previous relationship, and the couple had two other children together. They’re kept busy raising two boys, named Emilion and Austin, and one daughter named Kennedy.
7. Owen is also a writer
We also learned that Gary Owen’s talents extend even beyond his comedy and acting abilities. He’s also a writer who is credited with five works which have been turned into television specials and television series documentaries. His first work was “1st Amendment Stand Up” which was a documentary that aired from 2005 through 2009. This was followed by three more which include “Gary Owen: True Story,” “Gary Owen: Upgraded,” both in 2012 and “Gary Owen: I Agree with Myself.” Owen also produced each of these projects himself.
8. He also has a Youtube channel
For those of you who enjoy Gary Owen’s comedy, but can’t make it to any of his scheduled tour events, you can catch him on YouTube. Gary has a channel that features some of his funniest moments and you can catch several clips and shows through this venue for free in many cases. It’s worth checking out.
9. Gary Owen has two interesting sides
As we were conducting research on Gary’s biography, to learn a bit more about his past, we discovered some more interesting facts about him. While it’s common knowledge that he’s hilariously funny as a comic, many fans don’t know that in school he was the class clown and he was entertaining audiences even back then, but more informally, and not as a professional. He made an about-face after high-school and became very serious, enlisting in the United States Navy. While in the Navy he was selected for a distinguished job as a member of the Presidential Honor Guard. He was a military police officer in San Diego, but in the three years he served in the position, he had only made three arrests.
10. He found his true calling in the Navy
It was during his time of enlistment in the Navy that Owen discovered his true calling. He was a born comedian and he entered a contest, and actually won the competition for “Funniest Black Comedian in San Diego,” although Owen is white. He has a multicultural following and has found favor in the Black community and he was even named as “Black America’s Favorite White Comedian by Ebony Magazine. It became apparent at this point in his life that his real calling in life wasn’t to stay in the military to make a career, but rather, it was in the entertainment business, making people laugh and bringing a bit of humor into their lives. Gary Owen is the kind of guy who has a broad reach and he appeals to a diverse group of people. He has a bright future ahead of him after nearly two decades of making us laugh, he doesn’t show any signs of stopping.
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