FANATICALLY FUNNY : The Comedian’s Passion for Stand-Up Extends to Putting Together 2 Different Shows
Brian Regan’s refreshing ability not to take himself too seriously can be traced to his teen years in Miami and a high school locker room. The football coach and a college scout were huddled in an office discussing players and scholarships. The young wide receiver was sitting outside, wondering about his future, when the coach called him in. His heart soared. “It’s show time!”
“Could you go get Mike Whittington?” the coach asked.
That, Regan said from L.A. last week, was one incredible elevator ride, lasting less than 5 seconds.
He rebounded, however, and played four seasons at tiny Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, before blowing out his knee in his senior year and discovering that playing in pain also meant needles and cortisone. (“C’mon. We were 0-and-8 last year.”) He retired.
It was at Heidelberg, however, that the friendly, outgoing Regan, who’s playing the Irvine Improv through Sunday, developed his taste for comedy. After giving up on an accounting degree, he turned his major into communications and theater arts. He was the unofficial campus emcee and was tapped for several comic-relief roles in campus plays.
The comedy bug bit.
“When I first started, I was just firing buckshot to see what would hit,” he recalled. “From doing it over and over, you start gravitating to what you hope is unique to you. I found my strongest laughs were (for material) about myself and my feelings.”
With football behind him and the comedy jones replacing that passion, the Miami native quit school 13 credit hours short of a degree. Telling his folks wasn’t easy.
“I still remember that phone call: ‘I was wondering if you could, uh, pick me up at the airport.’ Under the circumstances, they were surprisingly cool. The advice they were giving me was so unbelievably sound, but I was listening to it with youthful ears.”
He got the ride and he got their understanding, too.
For many comics, doing “The Tonight Show” or a cable special is a career highlight, both of which Regan has done. But Regan’s biggest moment occurred early in his career at the Comic Strip club in Fort Lauderdale.
“They had an open-mike night. On my fifth audition, I passed. That’s the most thrilling night of my career, always will be. That meant I was a local regular. I asked (the manager) if I could work seven nights. He said, ‘Nobody ever has, but I suppose you can if you want.’ ”
Regan, one of eight children, was living with his parents in Miami and commuting an hour each way to the club. He did it for about a year before taking a night off.
That might sound a little fanatical, but Regan has a passion for stand-up. He recently moved to Los Angeles to be closer to the Hollywood scene and admits he’s after a series, but for the right reasons.
“I’m hoping to get a situation comedy, and it looks like I have some pretty strong interest out there. No deal is in place, but an offer has been made. We’re looking into it now to see where to go from here, so it looks like we’ll end up with at least something.”
This is where Regan, 36, differs from other comedians.
“I’m planning on keeping my stand-up. I’ve always thought getting a sitcom could help my stand-up career. The more exposure you get, the more the audiences are coming out to see you . The audience has a predisposition to like you already. You can feel the difference when you go on stage. You can sense when an audience is aware of you or not aware of you at all. They just stare, a prove-it-to-me crowd. ‘We’re listening, but you better start scrambling fast, clown.’ ”
Regan, who spends about three weeks a month on the road, remembers one such crowd at a corporate show he did several years back.
“I got off stage and a guy hands me a glass of scotch and asks, ‘By the way, what do you do?’ The guy was trying to be nice. People give you the weirdest compliments: ‘My brother thinks you stink, but I think you’re pretty good.’ Well, thank you. What the hell was that all about?”
These days, Regan’s reputation precedes him at most places, but he still doesn’t take any chances.
“I just try to establish friendliness before anything else,” said the comic, a sharp, self-assured performer whose older brother Dennis is also a club headliner. “If people like you, they’re more inclined to go along on your little ride, as opposed to having a chip on your shoulder. I try to let the audience know . . . we’ll have some fun and get out of here and no one will get hurt.”
And as far as TV goes, even if a series happens, Regan doesn’t plan on trumpeting his triumph without knowing if the show will air for sure. The last time he did that was for a “Star Search” show that never happened, despite a camera operator’s assurances that the producers really liked him.
“That was good enough for me,” Regan said, laughing at the memory. “I was blaring from a mountain. People still ask me when that show is going to air.”
But while Regan works on a sitcom deal, he isn’t letting his act languish. His most recent innovation is putting together two different shows to entice fans to come back for another hour of material from his ample canon when he plays a club for more than a week. He calls them “The Idiot” and “The Oddity” and plans to do them when he returns to Irvine next month.
“It’s kind of weird because nobody else does this. I’m doing it to get a return business and to answer this one-man show push,” said Regan, referring to Ritch Shydner, Robert Dubac, Jeff Jena and others.
“I have nothing against one-man shows, but I love being a stand-up comic, and the one-man shows tend to have more of a theatrical connotation to them. Sometimes they’re doing more serious moments. I want to get on stage and kill for an hour. It’s almost impossible to kill for an hour and a half. I did this as a statement for stand-up. That’s what I am, and I’m proud of being that.”
He’s also proud to be a Jerry Lewis fan, which is not surprising. Regan’s mugging and physical style are kissing cousins to Lewis’s work.
“I think the people of France are right. I think he is a comedic genius,” Regan said, before moving on to other influences when he was starting out in the early ‘80s. “Steve Martin was big then. He really brought silliness into the picture. I know some comics feel there needs to be a point of view. I think there needs to be a pratfall. Getting the audience laughing is a lofty enough goal.”
* Who: Brian Regan.
* When: Tonight, Sept. 15, at 8:30; Friday, Sept. 16, at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 17, at 8 and 10:30 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 18, at 8 p.m.
* Where: The Improv, 4255 Campus Drive, Irvine.
* Whereabouts: Take the San Diego (405) Freeway to the Jamboree Road exit and head south. Turn left onto Campus Drive. The Improv is in the Irvine Marketplace shopping center, across from the UC Irvine campus.
* Wherewithal: $8 to $12.
* Where to call: (714) 854-5455.
MORE COMEDY
IN IRVINE: KATHLEEN MADIGAN
The Missouri native, who’s only been doing comedy full-time for about five years, has already put together an enviable list of credits, including a late-night spot with Jay Leno. She brings her light sarcasm to the Irvine Improv from Tuesday, Sept. 20, through Oct. 2. (714) 854-5455.
IN BREA: MACK & JAMIE
Northern vegetarian Jamie Alcroft and Southern carnivore Mack Dryden aren’t exactly a perfect match in private, but on stage the comedy duo clicks. They play tonight through Saturday (Sept. 15-17) at the Brea Improv. (714) 529-7878.
IN HUNTINGTON BEACH: HEWLETT and PARIS
Jay Hewlett, a former class clown who grew up in Arizona, has performed at comedy clubs across the nation. Claudia Paris, a former 80-pound lightweight, takes difficult subjects (including anorexia) and mines them for humor. They’re at Midnight Java on Saturday, Sept. 17. FREE. (714) 842-5668.
Brian Regan on:
How small his old apartment was: “I kept my goldfish in a shot glass.”
Animal research: “How do you argue with a guy who tells you what the whales are saying?”
Farmers talking: “You know, we usually not grow tomatoes, but there’s more money in not growing corn.”
“Calling” things: “My older brothers always took whatever they wanted anyway. When we were all getting in the car I knew where I was going to end up sitting, so I’d pretend that I wanted that and I’d call, ‘Back seat! In the middle! With my feet on the hump!’ ”