Gary Owen talks about his mother disowning him.

97-90 boxes the Matta Morning Show comedian Gary Owen is it a building everybody we have we should all have the same code you got blue on you know because I think people know who Gary Owens is they see they see how do you can how do you maintain being funny how do you maintain being funny when so because if you've been watching the news just shootings here and this bad there and stuff is going on with politics how do you continue to be funny during that time I think that's some committee isn't it the most it's a relief from it mmm you know it's an escape because I made a constant decision my openers Mei said we're not doing we're not there with Trump jokes they look like we get it force-fed to his 24/7 and I'm not that bright I always tell me if you wanna know how I feel about pods days just go to deal Hebrews page he pretty much says what I feel but he knows how to do it in a way that is that that's what I wanted to see well you better DL can be very uh in the middle of the street and very direct and hurtful to those that I guess are on the other side of that but I do like his he's right he's usually on point with whatever he's saying so I feel you on that but I always just thought it was interesting you know so much is happening and can you draw from this negativity for your comedy when these negative things are happening you know I'm saying turn it around that's our job yes make the uncomfortable comfortable you know what I mean that's our job but over the last few years you know what to me seems like comedians don't they're not able to be as free as they once were seem like if you say something somebody's feelings it just seemed like oh I I disagree because what happens is you have a few people that make the noise and then we people think all comedians we got a filter ourselves if you go to a stand-up comedy show at whether it's a theatre or comedy club we're not changing our act you know it's just every now and then somebody else a I'm offended and they'll come out right stand up is when you go see a music concert you know what you're getting you know you're getting the hits in the show you never know what you're getting at a stand-up show cuz we're coming with new stuff so a lot of times we don't meet the expectations that you think you're gonna hear I thought I was gonna hear this but this guy said this and then they get offended right you know me cuz we're that we're the only art form where you don't know what you're getting when you walk into the room and you have a level of expectation like I talk about my wife and she's black and I mixed what if I just got on staging but I love asian chicks they but I didn't expect that from Gary you know what I mean you get in trouble I mean there is a level of expectation and that's why stand-ups that's when people get offended because we don't live up to your expectation I don't at all you're not scared to take which I already know the answer to this but for those that may not are you scared to take the heat that comes along when you do that one joke that's gonna piss off everybody well I had a I had an incident last year where I got a special needs cousin I talked about her during my act and I had all these special needs advocates come after me how dare you say that and talk about her and I I made fun of when I used to volunteer the Special Olympics with her and they they took offense to it so I had to go DC and meet with these special needs people and their advocates so it was just I I know that's why I told him I said it ain't the special these people I'm upset with it's your advocates could you keep telling they're less than I don't look at like that I think everybody is we could make fun of everybody so everybody's on equal ground you know I got and I said I got it cuz he's special needs I got a cousin Joey he's tall I was just describing them mm-hmm you guys took it like all they can't defend themselves well they can't I'm sitting there talking to him right so so you don't temper you you will not temper change your comedy thinking that oh this one's gonna rub them the wrong way not doing it no I know I know far to push the envelope without going too far like I can say the n-word right you got a nice point on Tao you know what it was I drank hot coffee ever anything I'm on coke I'll be like this is having to be one time on suede see like came water that did the same thing I drank something hot and it came on the studio was hot in the lights on I go Jesus Christ so it happens you be it's fine so the end is word it's the only thing you won't say in company I love the comedy routine I know you don't do it anymore probably when used to bring your friend offstage and you didn't say the word yeah love that I'm like should I love this I like I do is it was a very inventive way to do this bit but then somebody stole it and made a skit of it on Showtime are you serious yeah she also had a show called chocolate sundaes and they literally took my joke and made it a sketch and I knew they stole it because I called the producer I said yo why he called about all these I said you who wrote the sketch so I want to know who where to direct yo and he couldn't tell me who wrote it he goes oh no we have a think tank I go so you don't know who wrote it I said that tells me all I need to know I said somebody stole that they know they stole it's yeah they know they stole it and um I don't I don't call women the B word and more hos in my act either and my wife told me that they go you your family a big black female fan base you just eliminate those words from your act and then you're showing us that you can pretty much say whatever you want and your respect in the woman's that crazy here it is your I get it you have a black wife I get it but for your fan base to be these women who love Gary this white guy not wear you out I'm to kill is that ever odd for you that you know you got all these black women who love you to do now I'm happy to have a fanbase I'm you like I said it's nice to have any segment of society that like you you know and what I found out I went to essences here for the first time and what I did find out about black women is when they get drunk I become Tommy from power just like watch season six when you start okay I open the door to school so when you first start do you know that because I'm just assuming this is a big assumption that most of your fan base is black mm-hmm when you first start doing comedy is this where Gary think that his career is getting ready to go it was you know when I first started I could only I couldn't get up on the mainstream rooms so there I was in the military there's a couple of black guys I was in the Navy with and they told me about the quote-unquote hood spots I could go to so I used to go I used that's why I used to hit all the black spots when I first start doing stamp cuz I could get on stage and then to a bigger extent I I was just trying to find any place out of stage two microphones so a lot of times I would go to karaoke bars instead of singing I would tell jokes and so they got to know me and a lot of guys ran the karaoke spots and this is back in San Diego when I started you know it was a black he was coming to those karaoke spots I would go to I kind of build a like a little following in the San Diego area and it was funny because Nick Cannon he was in a rap group called the bomb squad yep and and it was him and another guy I don't know where the other guy is that means like Brian Dunkleman but I remember I'll never forgive so I'm doing staying around San Diego I go up to LA and Magic Johnson had the talk show for like oh come on scald the magic hour and when when he saw me on stage and he was like yo we're gonna bring you in to possibly be the co-host so I'm literally at my house in San Diego I'm dubbing VHS tapes to show magic trying to put a highlight reel together and Nick comes over and Nick and his manager came over Nick was like 17 I was like 21 because nothing I'm gonna do stand-up so you should man so Nick start dealing to stand out it was funny because the first couple of times you were on stage he was doing other people's jokes not on he didn't know so he like went onstage he did his joke I said Nick that's so social yeah I saw it last night if I was funny that you got to do your own jokes he goes oh he just didn't know when like he was stealing the steal he just was 17 I was like that was funny I'm gonna tell that onstage really black on black on black on and on very black let's change the name of this to nice and point 9 the fan bargain on this is so funny how does a coffee sweater so maybe you could get kool-aid came in wearing a hoodie I looked at the weather was like 55 degrees it's cool out there warmer yeah but Nick and then Nick start doing this thing and I remember we went up to Oakland California together and we did the Bay Area black comedy competition and that's where Disney and some real execs was there they saw Nick and then next thing you know he was the warm-up on all that and then the rest is history Wow so it was an interesting little comedy history lesson wait you know but you hear these stories about Nick - man he's turned out to be I love [ __ ] I called him Goldie because he was honest we see he comes here very often and he used to say he had his show so he could date certain women it's hard for ya yeah I believe that I want to get person real quick by the way this weekend Gary Owens at The Improv how many shows tonight saturdaysunny shows Friday Saturday's gone were we just added a third was that already yeah but we added a third one and then we had a show Sunday three shows on Saturday yeah yeah it's not that bad what it's not yeah it's nice there's people really punching the clock there's garbage men there's freaking picking up garbage okay we you know when you break it down I get nervous before the shows you've been you're probably been doing this for so long do you ever get nervous till I get nervous on radio stations when it's hot question does Gary at this point doesn't even get scared to hit a stage any jokes how they gonna go over uh-huh no really I get anxious I don't get nervous really I'm ready to go on stage and do my thing yeah I miss those days I miss like the open mic when when you make a phone call and you don't know if you're going on that night and then you call them back at like nine o'clock they go yeah you got the you got the 11 o'clock to 11:05 spot tonight you're like oh my god I'm going up and then the butterflies come and then you're just excited to get on stage now it's a business you know now you're like okay I got my homerun jokes I know what I'll hit the crowd and I try to you know I try to get the crowd to like me so I try to do local stuff first mm euston zzs a lot of stuff going on in Houston all the time what do you do if a joke goes bad never happen no don't remember that some of Jellico in bed what about this the reality show that you were doing I thought that was absolutely great I was surprised that you did it too cuz it's so intimate when somebody allows the camera in their home around their kids yeah that was that was I was very very surprised oh well a lot of people that know T I was executive producer on that and T I helped put the show together and it was random how the show came about I literally I meet with this lady named Stella who was Mariah Carey's old manager like I'm name-drop it now but but I just it was a it was a general meeting hmm as I'm having to meet with Stella T I walked in and then T I said hey what's up man so we started talking we're just at a restaurant I think we're at that we were at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills in the restaurant and T I walked in and then he just joined the conversation right out of left field he was meet with somebody else for something else and then so he comes in are talking to me and Stella and then Stella goes I'm gonna get I'm gonna he's got in she story I'm gonna get a reality show with him and T I go this sounds cool then I start talking to him about it and general conversation went to something else next thing I know we're at we're at Buena Marie the same people that did like the real world and the Kardashians that's what they do is reality TV and Ti is there and then we put the show together and that was what I always asked them was I was like yo my kids you know that's the ones I'm worried about and he goes hey he goes he goes dude I went to the same thing with mine he goes just preparing for social media because you know they're gonna get there's gonna be people like why she got that on why she act like that you know she snuck up or whatever he said but it's funny cuz if you go to season to watch how they changed though he goes cuz season one the black I don't want to work I don't want to do this season two they're like okay I need a stylist yeah well we're not cancelled I thought the show was pretty good we did get canceled because of the show we got cams ACCA's BT overhaul the network and ever like Stephen Hill left and Deborah Lee everybody that got our show like Viacom came in and clean house and we just got caught just take it to another network or something like that I mean it that sounds easy but it's you know it's not it's not that yeah yeah it's not that easy that I mean it does happen mmm but you know our show was cool and we held the audience from real husbands but it wasn't like Empire we're like you know 20 million people interesting because you know what not often on TV do you see the dynamics of a mixed family and honest honest mixed family you know what I'm saying about what happens and dealing with the dynamics of that so I thought that's what made it an interesting one yeah I believe me I would have loved to been do ten seasons easy you know like oh yeah yeah but everything got taken off bTW I mean real husbands be a Mary Jane everything just got nobody realized no I didn't even think about that you think everything just got wiped clean and Viacom he goes all right and now they think they were doing they was like we're just gonna get rid of everything and try to figure out we want your network to go and we just got caught up in that after season one it would have been lovely if that would happen after season five but it happened every season one I got you I got you by always got well I enjoy the style I literally enjoyed I watched every episode I enjoyed the show I appreciate and the best friend thing that I was an interesting dynamic having the best friend living in your home in the basement yeah yeah that wouldn't have been me j-mac I love your brother but we had one rule no hos in the house I don't know how you managed that cuz he's a grown-ass man you know what I'm saying hey Red Roof Inn for $69 anything about the movies with them doing parts two three four five six are they gonna extend that brain with the movies which one thing like a man yeah me do part two it was crazy I meet the blacks two is I died in the first one completely died and meet the blacks right they shot me in the back and I I was I was the killer I was the perjure the lead perjure and then they shot me in the back at the end of the movie I just run the movie four people didn't see it the director calls like yo Gary man we do it a sequel I was like but I died in the first thing he was like yes yeah we worry about that when I tell you I'm playing a completely different character and nobody brings it up I'm playing a completely different person I was like who does that like you might they didn't boil in the hood two or more chances just walking down the street but is a good movie cats in it Mike Senate Duval's in it black sands in it it's nice when you got somebody like Dion Taylor's a director of it and he sees the value in comedians and bringing them together because a lot of times we don't it's like lately when you hear about comedians as we're always beefing and I was gonna ask you about that too because I saw you you you you jumped in a beef of a very tactful about it which one baby girl Oh Monique yes you try that Monique without this where I thought Monique was out of line when I put one of your partners out there so you can like will Packer to Harvey Weinstein and that's what I went that's a little too far okay you're talking about a sexual predator again it's probably one of the most upstanding individuals I know is will time for them I just took up for him a night hey listen I never call many cat her name I never said I don't want nothing to do with you I just went if you got problems with a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons it might be you and that was my thing I was like there was no I made sure I didn't disrespect her it anyway or anything like that I just went come on mo you know well I'm like that they you know it ask anybody in this because I've never really seen you jump into the fray so to speak so I was surprised when I started I get like I I try to stay clear that way even the beef to me and Michael Blackson was fake let cats out the bag we were texting each other saying this say this because I would go to Mike's pains and it was like damn I could killing gear I go yeah like who's your favorite longtime Bernie Mac okay without question pretty much Brady did on stage it was more the the the the man he was offstage that may be such a fan of his you know just how he carried himself and great great Bernie Mac story that probably nobody's ever told so I did a movie called college which came out in 2008 and it tanked at the box office we came out on Friday was a blockbuster on Tuesday but we shot it in New Orleans and everyone that worked on college had just come off of pride the movie with Terrence Howard and Bernie I'm talking out they the crew and the craft service people because they they left New Orleans and we came in and Bernie I guess every like Friday Bernie would like buy the bar out for two hours so the cast and crew could just like bond and drinks and you know just come together and and Bernie's only rule was drink what you'd normally drink so if you drink by light don't be ordering Louie all the sudden oh now you have a pallet for Louis you know so every every you know every week it was the same stuff Bernie bought the bar all of a sudden they're about five six weeks into shooting Bernie the bill there's two bottles on the bill every night why would somebody two bottles and everything's free just order a drink so Bernie drinks Bernie brings everybody was trailer like Monday morning and starts going off I told you normally drink you took advantage of my generosity going off and like like really cuz they were out and then everybody leaves and the director comes to Bernie I was like Bernie man can you bring it right back together cuz people are nervous to work with you today because they think you're upset Bernie's like all right everybody comes back to Bernie's trailer he goes it's been brought to my attention I'm nervous working with baby you were nervous did y'all find out who bought they said it was a wardrobe assistant it was something ruined her whole career and she put two bottles in her purse this is a story I got from a crew member you know and it got validated by a couple other crew members but it's never worth two bottles wardrobe assistant and if you had to realize it was gonna be something like that it was gonna be somebody low on the totem pole that you know mmm whole crew was aware that to liquor bottles wherever she is right now wish we could ask right yeah probably at Chipotle brown rice go ahead yeah no I mean um your family how did they take your black wife I'm just curious I mean I'll get the seat I don't well I don't want to get to the reality show it's fine I don't I don't have any really [ __ ] my mom oh no I must have there because you know I got I got a family there they're all black sheets them the white sheet usually you got a black sheep of the family right my family you know I'll talk about it from a trailer park I got one brother you passed away with a heroin overdose my other brothers in prison for dealing heroin and as you know it's just it's just dysfunction so I'm I'm a better person not being around that I can't be around it you don't think your celebrity and your money has will be has brought you where you can heal the some of the pain since you have made it so family pain oh it's still my mom so even though I have nothing to do with her I when things go left I take care of things to do like my my brother need to go to rehab I sent them I picked him up drove him to rehab paid for rehab you know my mom's car broke down I got a new car okay I still take care of things I just hold my distance I can't be around it it's just it's too dysfunctional and you know it's just and that's pretty big down cuz a lot of people I'm one of those kind of people when I cut you off I probably I cut you off so to hear that I study my distance but I'm still take care of my family no matter what that's incredible well that makes me respect the comedian way more than for all the comedic stuff that I have known you for yeah well I mean you gotta be real I wasn't her stomach for nine months and she didn't have an abortion so I mean well if you look there's a book out there called hillbilly elegy and it's by a guy named JD Vance and Ron Howard's about to turn the book into a movie but it really gives an insight and it helped me insight into that mentality of I'm from Ohio I grew up in a trailer park and like broke white people are the most pessimistic people on the planet they don't find joy in anything so they always look for the negative and that's what my my family's caught up in like I had a comment last conversation I have my mom tried four years ago and I had said how you doing and she said you know just living paycheck to paycheck like everyone else and I go I'm not she surrounds herself with those people that and and that's a big reason why Trump won you know like you had listened you know it's honest with his campaign manager is the winner because you have you know you have the Brawn and Diddy and all these celebrities endorsing Hillary so they're hitting Atlanta in LA Trump went in all these towns in like Ohio and Pennsylvania and Indiana and Kentucky we got always Broadway people that are looking like it can't be us it's not a well whose phone is it Trump's like look I see you you you have a voice and I believe in you he's like so come out and vote for me just like black people come and vote for Barack all those broke white people they keep many other trailers and their section-8 held because there's a lot of white people in section 8 housing too they came out and voted for Trump and that's what got and I guarantee my vote for him you think so mama I'd stepped in oh my god stay bright thought he was with him Trump she's like he let Bret Michaels when The Apprentice is there he had a stretch [Music] clearly was a stronger person but when he let bret michaels win how can i not vote for him so how do you break out from that how'd you break the the how did i yeah from that what makes from all the rest of them you got I got lucky I got lucky because the people I befriended in high school they they like I saw I saw a guy with the mom and dad right and I Mike Mike my high school coaches I was a terrible high school athlete terrible well mycosis looked out for me you know I I did on my reality show I told a story look your camera man's taking it off it's freakin hot I had a coach sometimes a true story I I didn't show up to football practice on on Tuesday or Wednesday and I'm Tam in 10th grade I'm not playing I'm like JV I'm you know the team was fine without me but Thursday morning like literally he pulled me out of class and he goes he's where you been the last two days and I go I just came up with an excuse he goes he goes do we need you he goes so I need you to be at practice today and all the day was like whoa I'm valuable to somebody because at that point I didn't I didn't see my value and literally I was I was doing nothing but walking home there was a it was about five miles from my high school to the trailer park so we had a train track that ran behind the high school so I just I was literally just got a school and walked a train track back home cuz it took a couple hours and then I didn't know what I was doing I just is just like I didn't see the value of me and that that one incident where the coach pulled me out of class and goes we need you we need they need me you need you need this 135-pound five to forty on the field really that's what you need but that one thing was the catalyst that make you yourself in kickstart something inside right right I was like oh okay I'm important to somebody like somebody saw me and noticed me or me or Navy maybe yeah the Navy what made you go there it was a way out of the trailer park they was like we did say I didn't know where I wanted to go I just know I didn't wanna be where you funny at this time I was class clown mostly noxious prom king from was it from your mom well you know my real dad's funny like my real dad wasn't around growing up but now we've reconciled and we're good now but my mom and dad had me in high school I was I always said I was a homecoming baby because my birthday's in July I was that means I was conceived in October so my dad had a great time at the dance you know so how did you reconnect with your daddy and do you do your daddy understand your mom right now and why she's like oh yes he is yeah he's he's not as forgiving as me yeah cuz he's because you know there was a there was abuse in the house and I said there was abusive so he in a lot of people like that they don't understand how a mother could allow that to happen to a kid and and you know I ain't looking back on yeah she probably should have stepped in and did something but I mean like I said it to me it's I'm okay you know I'm solid but my dad isn't as forgiving but he wasn't around either growing up right so now how do you explain that to your kids how do you tell your kids like hey what do you tell them I mean I don't know and well they they only you know they they just know it better him no no way where is your mom do they asked about you they know where they're old enough we tell them they know what's going on they saw they saw my they know they went to my brother's funeral they know ones in prison uh-huh they in the news might like we're leaving it's a small town in Ohio Oh it's Tuesday they still live there so when my brother got arrested it was it was big news in the town he was like front page of the paper cuz he knows it was a big drug bust Wow he got he got caught he was he was high and dealin I go wow this guy's a beast 17 and 16 oh so they understand - yeah yeah yeah but they're good you know yeah I love being a dad it's funny because if you look at society they would think it's the opposite the black side is the functional everybody's good everybody's together hell much my stepdad when we got married my stepdad sucker-punched my real dad at the wedding no all my life oh my kid's life that happened Wow yeah second part of boom wedding was over I was like really my wife was like really I was like it's trailer park baby shed apart man so you're really not supposed to be here sitting by us oh hey and this successful oh I don't know I think some people have an inner spirit and I always think like no matter what circumstance you put them in they're gonna come out okay right now even if I want a comedian Eli I'm not used to sitting and when I said in the trailer park I used to sit in my room and look out the front window and I was like I'm not gonna be here hi this is not me no this is not me I'm not meant for this cuz I used to love going to big neighborhoods and see houses and when I say big neighborhoods I mean probably average neighborhoods right but I was like yeah I wanna go I'm gonna have me a house thank you what kind of I'm gonna give me a house right well finally they so what made Gary different than the rest of them not just your family but those people that can't get out of that that rut that a trap what do you think that was about you that was different yeah I get that you said to yourself at an early age I'm not gonna be here yeah what do you think made you different that puts you more even though yeah I get it you said that there was a coach that gave you some self-worth but there has to be something to you to help you get over the hump is pro stand-up was probably it cuz even before I ever got on stage I knew I was gonna be a stand-up I don't I mean I knew it I told my guidance counselor in high school she'll tell you I was like I'm B and up because I didn't take the SAT or the a CT there's like you're not gonna tell you I said I don't need on B stand up I don't need College now you understand B stand up I used tell her to high school you should date me I used to date my obese now make it anybody now go back to reunions I go give me all the details again Gary we got an air-conditioned improv two shows a night Friday we got and then I got we Saturdays gone so we just added a third show Saturday and they got one on Sunday but tickets are going he got my wouldn't get him all the shows are gonna sell out so that's why this Late Show Saturday probably is the your best bet Jimbo give me to number seven one three three three three 8,800 been quiet this old tell you hot Gerry Gary's a good cool man I didn't some of the stuff I never really knew some just intimate stuff that thank you very much Gary for being honest and telling this story I think it helps people hear this kind of stuff yeah yeah yeah you can get out any broke white listeners pop station but y'all guarantee you got some boys in a trailer park right now you know what I mean we can do it yeah all right so I got like who's that doing that voice right there I was gay it wasn't me thank you appreciate you guys Thanks

Channel: Gary Owen

Views: 1,263,305

Rating: 4.8660493 out of 5

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Id: s2Xcas3qMp8

Length: 33min 42sec (2022 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 06 2020