Reynolds to perform stand-up benefit for Daniel Pitino Shelter

Apr. 11—Christian comedian Shawn Reynolds will be heading to Owensboro to headline "Stand Up for Families," an evening of stand-up comedy to help benefit the Daniel Pitino Shelter, at 6 p.m. Wednesday inside the Brescia University gymnasium.

The event will also feature local stand-up comedian Layson Brooks Jr.

Originally from the state of Michigan, Reynolds, 43, has found a home in the commonwealth when he moved to Lexington over 20 years ago.

His first inklings of getting into comedy started when he was in high school.

"I wanted to be a writer — so I wanted to write for ... 'SNL' ('Saturday Night Live'), I wanted to write David Letterman's 'Top 10 List,' " he said. "I used to work at Dunkin' Donuts and I used to post every Saturday morning a Dunkin' Donuts 'Top 10 List' that was all inside jokes for our workplace (and) everybody loved it ...."

But it wasn't until he was 30 that he finally took a chance to make it into something more.

"I gave the best man speech at my brother's wedding," he said. "We're very close, but I roasted him instead of toasting him; and it was the first time that I had been in front of a group of people with a microphone and making people laugh."

Reynolds said he received "quite a lot of compliments," with some even influencing him to try his hand at a stand-up comedy career.

"Actually, enough people told (that) to me that (and) I (decided) to try and do it," he said.

But his first real attempt on stage during an open mic at the former Improv Louisville didn't go as planned.

"I totally bombed," Reynolds said. "But I was still hooked because I'm pretty competitive; I'm like: 'I want to try to figure this out.' "

Eventually, Reynolds found open mics around his home and was able to find his groove.

"Comedy is like anything else; it's like golf, it's like cooking — you gotta practice and do it wrong over and over and over before you learn how to do it right," he said.

Since then, Reynolds has made a living performing stand-up internationally, has appeared on tour with fellow Christian comedian and singer-songwriter Tim Hawkins, comedian Michael Jr. and Anita Renfroe, comedian and special contributor for ABC's "Good Morning America".

Reynolds has also headlined multiple tours including the MidWest Clean Comedy All-Stars Tour and UpStanding Comedy Tour in Canada, appeared locally on ABC and NBC, has been a finalist in Chicago's National "Clean Comedy Challenge" and was the winner of the "Funniest Comic East of the Mississippi" contest.

Reynolds' Dry Bar Comedy special — "Got Room For One More?" — was released in 2020.

Regarding his material, Reynolds refrains from using "colorful language."

"The first time I went to do stand-up, my kids were like: 'Dad, you got to take the camcorder .... We want to see what you're doing,' " he said. "... The first few times I went, I was like: 'Well, I'm taking this back to my kids (so) I have to make sure I keep it clean."

But it was when he heard an interview with Emmy Award and Golden Globe winning stand-up comic Jerry Seinfeld that kept Reynolds on the clean path.

"He said: 'I feel like comedy is like a racetrack, and the idea is to go all the way around the track,' " Reynolds said. "And he goes: 'I think comedians that rely on the f-word and using shocking and dirty material (have been) halfway around the track and ... cut through the infield to get to the finish line.'

"He goes: 'I think it's a shortcut;' and I just heard that literally right when I was doing stand-up and that really resonated with me."

Reynolds is also the founder of "Stand-Up For Adoption" — a comedy benefit series that has raised thousands of dollars for families looking to adopt children with special needs.

"This is my way of kind of giving back," he said. "We adopted our son when he was 3, and it was really complicated and it was very expensive; and I don't understand that. We have good families in this country that have great homes to give to kids that need a home, and we've made it really hard for these families to bring the kids into their home because it's a long, expensive process."

Reynolds is looking forward to the event on Wednesday and is happy to be part of something that looks to improve people's lives.

"(This) is exactly what I want to be doing," he said. "That's my biggest goal. If I can do 50 shows a year like this one ..., then I will have achieved the top of my own personal mountain and goal.

"When I get to do a show like this, this is like Christmas morning for me."

The event will also include testimonies from some of the shelter's former family clients.

Free refreshments and hors d'oeuvres will also be available. Alcoholic beverages can be purchased at the event.

The event will be presented by the John M. and Kathy R. Wright Family Foundation.

For tickets, sponsorship opportunities and additional information, pitinoshelter.org/stand-up-for-families.