Love in laughter: Brooks celebrates 13 years in stand-up

Feb. 21—Comedy and humor have always been part of Lewisport resident Layson Brooks Jr.'s personality.

And for the past 13 years, the 44-year-old has been relishing in that world as a stand-up comic.

But Brooks didn't have thoughts of pursuing a career making people laugh during his upbringing in both Lewisport and Owensboro until he made his "unofficial" stand-up debut at the age of 17 when he enlisted in the U.S. Army.

"We had some downtime during the training exercise. It was at the end of the training; we were going to graduate (the) next week and the drill sergeants were all sitting on these bleachers and they said, 'Anybody sing or have a talent? Do stand-up?,' " he said, "and I had a buddy that kind of nudged me and said, 'Man, you're always cracking jokes. Come on, man — go up there ....' "

Brooks returned home in 2002 and studied at Owensboro Community & Technical College and Western Kentucky University.

While trying to explore more options for comedy, Brooks linked up with fellow stand-up comedian Mike Wimsatt at a competition that took place at the Time Out Lounge at former Executive Inn Rivermont.

Though Brooks didn't take home the top honor, Wimsatt encouraged Brooks to continue down the comedy path.

"That was like, 'OK, I can do this. This guy's a touring comic and he's saying I got what it takes. I'm going for it,' " Brooks said.

By 2010, Brooks decided to go all in and make a living off his talents — albeit with some obstacles.

"It was a struggle at first ... It wasn't all easy, especially here in Owensboro," he said. "... A lot of the business is like any other job — a little bit of luck, a little bit of who you know; location really matters."

Due to having little options to perform in Owensboro at the time, Brooks would travel two to three hours to bars and venues in remote places such as Montezuma, Indiana.

He would also perform at birthday parties for people "that I had no idea who they were."

He eventually had his break in the area when the late Shannon Thompson, restaurant manager of the former TGI Friday's, let Brooks perform and host the summer comedy event series "Saaay Whaaat!? Saturdays."

He also made appearances at the former The Joke Factory Comedy Club in Evansville, which Brooks called the latter his "home club."

Since then, Brooks has built up his venue list playing locally at The GhostLight Lounge, The Brew Bridge and has performed at popular spots in the state like The Caravan Comedy Club in Louisville, while performing on bills for Gilda's LaughFest in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Comedy Binge, the first ever live-streaming stand-up comedy festival based out of Atlanta.

He's also been able to share the stage with actor and stand-up comedian Kirk Fox at the Owensboro Convention Center and got to feature for comedian and songwriter Heywood Banks.

For the year ahead, Brooks secured some upcoming shows in Tell City and southern Indiana in the coming months and a benefit for the Daniel Pitino Shelter — "Stand-Up for Families" — at 6 p.m. April 12 at the Moore Center at Brescia University alongside Shawn Reynolds.

While Brooks said much of his comedy is about his life experiences, he isn't afraid to show vulnerability while taking the chance to explore "weird stuff" that happens that he can't let go of.

Throughout it all, he's never lost sight of what he truly enjoys.

"I tell people that ask me that want to get into comedy — 'Do you love comedy or do you love the comedy business?' " he said, "because if you love the comedy business, you're going to be in for a disappointment and it's going to sour you on comedy.

"I love comedy, and that's what I tell people. I'm just thankful that I get to share it with people.

"It's really rewarding for me to see other people laugh."

And he continues to live out the dream.

"Every comedian talks about the moment they sort of got bit by the comedy bug, and that's it for me," he said. "I just love it so much.

"It's just a rush. It's addictive, it's therapeutic ... and it's just something that I just keep plugging away at.

" ... What keeps me going is just the feeling I get when I'm on the stage and they announce my name. There's no other feeling. Just like a musician that plays music, that's my instrument (with) the microphone; and if more people come and want to listen, it's even better."

Brooks can be seen at The GhostLight Lounge at 9 p.m. Saturday.

For more information and upcoming shows, visit facebook.com/laysonb.