Gregory to bring 'down-home' humor to Convention Center
Jan. 10—James Gregory, known as "The Funniest Man in America," will bring his humor to the Owensboro stage with "The James Gregory Show" stand-up performance at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Owensboro Convention Center.
Gregory, 76, last performed in the city in 1996 at the former Executive Inn Rivermont and previously was at Terry Woodward's WaxWorks Trade Show in 1991.
He's looking forward to coming back and hopes to make Owensboro a routine stop.
"I have been all over the state of Kentucky. ... I just love the great state of Kentucky," he said, "and I'm looking forward to being in Owensboro; and I hope that we start doing Owensboro once a year."
Initially, Gregory was due to perform at the convention center back in September but was postponed due to health issues and halted shows temporarily.
But Gregory assures he's good to go for Thursday.
"I feel just good. I move a little bit slow, but still moving," he laughed.
Born in Lithonia, Georgia — just 20 minutes east of Atlanta — Gregory didn't get into the comedy scene until his mid-30s when he made his debut at a Tuesday amateur night at The Punchline Comedy Club in Atlanta in 1982, which served as a space for comedy that didn't exist nearby.
"Prior to 1982, the only place where you could see live stand-up comedy was in the west coast like Los Angeles, San Francisco or in the northeast like New York and maybe Chicago," he said. "...There was no such place like a comedy club for stand-up comedians throughout the heartland."
Gregory said he's "always been a big fan of comedy and comedians" and he and some friends would go to the amateur nights to watch before Gregory was dared to go on stage and try it himself.
"There's a few starving years," he laughed, "and then comedy clubs throughout the county started opening up everywhere."
The leap of faith has been worth it, as Gregory has become a featured entertainer for a number of corporations including the Coca Cola Company, Kimberly Clark Corporation, Hewlett Packard and Kroger and heard weekly on syndicated radio shows like "The Rick & Bubba Show," "The John Boy & Billy Big Show" and "The Bob & Tom Show."
He's also performed with known entertainers and musicians including Kenny Chesney, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, The Judds, George Jones, Ricky Skaggs and more.
Even with the success and over 40 years in the field, Gregory still keeps busy and doesn't have plans to slow down.
"In the course of my career, I have performed (in) 33 of the 50 states. I've been through Canada at least twice. And I've had the pleasure of going overseas to perform and do the shows for the military; I've done shows in Italy, Greece and Spain; I did a tour in the Middle East," he said, "so it's worked out real well."
And Gregory is pleased that people are still looking forward to watching him perform.
"The people keep showing up. I'm so grateful to all the people who continue to come to the shows," he said. "I don't want to brag or anything — but kind of knock-on wood — I can sell out about 90% around the country."
Gregory feels the success of his shows is based on his "common sense" and "down-home" humor that all can enjoy.
"This is a completely family-friendly show," he said. "Any age can come and enjoy the show — whether it is 8 years old, 18 or 80; and what I do is the kind of humor that relates to everybody."
Gregory said his act doesn't contain any politics or profanity, which he feels has been part of his appeal.
"...They can laugh for like an hour-and-a-half or two hours," he said, "and when they leave, they feel good about it."
For Thursday, Gregory hopes the audience is "glad and happy that they showed up" and that the crowd recommends others to see him when he's back in town.
"That's the best thing to expect — to not only enjoy the show, but that you enjoy it so much that you want other people to experience the same thing," he said.
Tickets are on sale now at owensborotickets.com. Doors open at 6 p.m.
For more information about Gregory, visit funniestman.com.
