Comedian to take stage tonight with act based on everyday life
February 23, 1996
There will not be any O.J. jokes, but there will be some humorous observations of dealing with everyday situations such as relatives, when comedian Gregory Carey takes the stage at the Student Center Friday night.
Carey’s comedy is about life, rather than cracking jokes about current events, he said.
I truly believe we are inundated with news in everyday life, Carey said. We see it all the time.
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When people come to see a comedian, they want to be entertained and do not want to be reminded of things happening in the world, he said.
I talk about things that happen to me, he said. I talk about the plane ride. I talk about my Jamaican heritage. I look at a situation and make it funny.
He takes some of the ethnic qualities of his relatives and makes it funny, he said. Carey said he has a gift in making ordinary circumstances funny.
He got his start in the comedy business as a kid, he said.
I was the fat kid who used to make fun of myself before other people would, he said. I guess that is how I developed a sense of timing.
He later went on to try a career in comedy but had to quit because he was not making any progress, he said.
I wasn’t making any money, he said. I’d call home, and my mom would say, There is no one named mom living here.’
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He sold insurance for 10 years after he left the comedy business. Carey said he once again realized his love of comedy and began making plans to leave the insurance business.
There was not much to do but push pencils and wish you were dead, he said.
While working in the insurance business, he was living in Los Angeles, which is also where he began his career in comedy. He is now living in New York.
In Los Angeles, everyone is looking at you as a casting director and is trying to decide what sitcom can we fit this guy in, he said. It could be a plumber, but everyone thinks of himself as a director.
New York is a little tougher, he said.
New York is more demanding and more challenging, he said. They want you to be funny right now.
In Los Angeles, it is more laid back, he said.
It’s like, Darling, I’m a writer, you know,’ he said. I am just a garbage man during the day.
Carey will perform at 9 p.m. Friday in the Student Center Big Muddy Room. Admission is $1.
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