Comedian makes tour stop in Cheyenne

Written by Lindsey Hoyt

Tuesday, 10 February 2009 18:04

When a newspaper story doesn’t conclude on the same page it begins, comedian Brian Regan doesn’t finish it.

“They never wrap up a story on the front page, and I’m never curious enough to go inside to find out how anything ever ends,” Regan said on his latest DVD, “The Epitome of Hyperbole.”

If the last line of the front page story says: “And after a nine year trial the jury finally came in with a verdict of … continued on page 22, column C,” Regan decides, “I guess I’ll never know.”

Regan performs at the Cheyenne Civic Center at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for his national concert tour. The venue is at 510 W. 20th St. and tickets are $36.

Having two Comedy Central DVD specials on sale and headlining sold-out theaters since 2005, Regan’s success has built up over a nearly three-decade long standup comedy career without mass exposure through TV or film until now.

Raised in Miami, Regan went to a small college in Ohio. There, he “studied nothing.” He couldn’t decide on a major other than ruling out economics, communication and theater arts.

But in speech class he would try making the class laugh, he said, and doing it for a living sounded better than getting up early for a regular job.

He was poor, like any college student. Maybe some students can relate with this scenario: waking up in the evening and running across campus to get Salisbury steak dinner before the dining hall closed, because he had no money for food.

After college he moved back to Florida, where he first began performing in comedy clubs.

“When you first start, you’re playing places like Bob’s Fish House. People are watching TV and you have to compete with cartoons,” Regan said.

In the early days he spent time in Greyhound buses and beater cars, Regan said. But now, it’s one-night theaters and a tour bus.

“You have a number of milestones throughout a career. Life is good. I don’t have any complaints. I paid a lot of dues along the way, but I’ve enjoyed the ride,” Regan said.

He isn’t the only comedian in his family of eight siblings. He shares the profession with one brother, and the remaining siblings also paired up in careers: two teachers, two firefighters and two salesmen.

“I grew up on an arc, two by two,” Regan joked.

Since he began in 1981, Regan has lived in New York City and Los Angeles. He now lives in Las Vegas with his wife, their 9-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter.

Outside his career, Regan’s interests lay with his family. “I enjoy being a daddy. It’s nice because it puts things in perspective,” Regan said.

His wife sometimes serves as a test audience for jokes.

“It’s nice to say a new idea out loud. She’s always cool and realizes she’s hearing jokes. But I put her in this unbelievably difficult situation where she’s not discouraging, but the joke isn’t where she can laugh at it yet,” Regan said.

And what makes an experienced comedian laugh? For Regan, it’s normal people.

“Some people have an ability to be funny, and it’s not what they say. The kind of person who is innately funny to the spine,” Regan said.

It also amuses him when fans pirate one of his DVDs and then ask him to sign it.

He’s glad people are interested enough to think, “‘I might like to own it … or download it illegally.’

“It would be like the DVD of a movie being sold as you walk out of a theater into the lobby,” Regan laughed.

The show in Cheyenne is Regan’s first performance in Wyoming.

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