On Friday, September 8th at 9 pm, Gary Owen’s third Showtime comedy special “I Got My Associates” will premiere. We wanted to hear from Owen himself before the hilarious special takes over.
Q: How would you define your style of stand up?
Owen: I think it’s original. I stopped watching stand up and I stopped going to comedy shows years ago because I always want to know that my jokes come from me and my mannerisms are coming from me. I don’t want to duplicate anybody. I’ve seen it happen in the past with comics where they’ll watch someone so much, they’ll be on somebody so much, they start to talk and act like that on stage. My stuff is original, my jokes, the way I move, everything about me, I don’t think anyone is doing it the way I do it.
Q: What was your favorite joke or story from the new special?
Owen: My last one, it’s my last joke and I can’t speak on it, it’s not nasty it’s just very… (laughs) … but it’s what I close my show with…
Q: How have your friends, who you mentioned in the special (Lebron James, Gabrielle Union), reacted to the jokes?
Owen: Well I don’t think they heard them yet. We’re gonna see. But I know that they all got a sense of humor so we’ll be fine.
Q: Your special had a tribute to someone named Dallas Randall. Can you talk about that?
Owen: Oh, that’s my brother. That’s my brother and he died of a heroin overdose. So, I just wanted to pay homage to him and dedicate my special to him.
Q: Do you feel like your style of stand-up has changed over the years? And if so, how has it changed?
Owen: Well I think that with most stand up, I think that the older you get, the more life experience you have. My stand-up is changing as my family changes. When I first started in stand up it was about going to clubs, meeting girls and then I went from being married, kids were little and now they’re teenagers. So, it’s just kind of growing as my family grows. A lot of my stories are real stories, I just add a little bit extra to make it funny.
Q: What can audiences expect from your “I agree with myself tour?
Owen: My goal with any stand-up special, I just want the audience to leave in a better mood than when they got there.
Q: What’s the hardest part and best part of touring?
Owen: The Hardest part is…One; I’m away from my family a lot and sometimes I miss things and just getting up early for travel purposes … (laughs) … Getting up on stage is the easy part.
Q: Do you have anything you do before you get on stage to prepare you and get you in the mindset to be able to be funny and tell a joke.
Owen: I like a really calm backstage. I like it calm and laid back, not silent. It’s almost like the calm before the storm. Then when I get on stage, then the energy goes up.
Check out Owen’s upcoming tour dates on http://garyowen.com/
