Gary Owen is the white stand-up comedian that black people love

Gary Owen is a white stand-up comedian black people love. The fortysomething, Ohio-born comedian has been doing comedy for 20 years and, for most of those years, he’s been making black audiences laugh.

Playing primarily to African-American crowds wasn’t his intention. While he was living in San Diego, it was tough finding spots that would let him get on the mic.

“There was only one comedy club – the Comedy Store in Lo Jolla – and I couldn’t get onstage that much,” says Owen, on the phone from Chicago. “I’d be lucky to get up there once a month as an open-miker.”

But once Owen began frequenting the “black rooms” of San Diego, opportunities opened up. “One thing led to another and I got an audition for (BET’s stand-up showcase) ‘ComicView,’ and I got on the show and I ended up becoming the host. So, it just kind of snowballed from there.”

As the first – and only – white host on the now-defunct “Comic View,” Owen won over black audiences with stories about growing up living in a trailer park and being married to a black woman and having three bi-racial kids. “You talk about what you know,” he says. “So, me being married to a black lady and having mixed kids – that’s my life. That’s what I talk about onstage.”

Along with eventually doing his own stand-up specials, Owen would continue to entertain the African-American crowds, whether it was doing a recurring role in “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” or appearing in such movies as “Daddy Day Care” (with Eddie Murphy), “Rebound” (with Martin Lawrence), “Ride Along” and the “Think Like A Man” movies (all with Kevin Hart). Last fall, Owen went back to BET to headline his own reality show, aptly titled “The Gary Owen Show.” The show came about from a random meeting he had with rapper/fellow reality-show star T.I. at Bunim/Murray Productions, the same reality-show empire that gave us “The Real World” and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”

With T.I. serving as one of the executive producers, Owen got BET to run his humorous, unscripted show, which follows Owen and his Cincinnati-based family.

“A lot of times, people think ‘reality,’ they think ‘drama,’ ” he says. “And that really wasn’t what the show was about. It’s just, you know, a funny family show. It’s just, like, bringing my act to life, kind of.”

The most surprising thing Owen has found since doing the show is how well-received it’s been overseas.

“The show is really doing well in South Africa, and I had no clue,” he says. “Yeah, I’ll get messages from Twitter or Facebook and they’re like, ‘Oh, I love your show!’ And I’m looking (at the message) and I’m like, ‘Where is this guy from, or this girl?’ ”

Recently, Owen took some time out to help a teenager achieve his goals. He went back to his Oxford, Ohio, hometown to give a 4-year college scholarship to Jesse Bailey – a kid who used to live in the same trailer park as Owen – who attended Owen’s former high school, Talawanda High. As someone who once needed help getting out of his dire surroundings, the experience made Owen emotional.

“I think, a lot of times, we give scholarships – you know, gotta have straight-As or (be) a great athlete or things of that nature. But, we’re not realizing there are kids out there that, for them, to even graduate high school, under some circumstances, is amazing in itself. I just wanted to find a kid who’s been through a lot and I found a kid that – God, his story is unreal.”

So, whether he’s coming with jokes or making a young man’s life a little easier, Owen, who will be performing at the Duke Energy Center Friday evening, is out to give people some joy – no matter what color they are.

“It is my job to make sure everybody’s comfortable and everybody can understand the world I live in,” he says. “And with me, with race, I like to have more fun with it rather than take it so serious. Because I think, especially in today’s society, we put so much on it and immediately, you think there’s so much racial tension out there. But if you come to my show, I think people will get a better dose of what society’s really like.”

This story was originally published June 29, 2017 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Gary Owen is the white stand-up comedian that black people love."