Gary Owen

"Brother's got the WESTSIDE, trailer park's got DOUBLEWIDES!!" comedian Gary Owen is the only white guy to ever host B.E.T.'s "Comicview". Many people recognize comedian Gary Owen as the dancing "Mr. Broccoli" in the blockbuster movie "Daddy Day Care" with Eddie Murphy. Or as the goofy redneck deputy in the movie "Held Up" with Jamie Foxx.

Owen, was always the "class clown" when comedian Gary Owen was growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio. After high school, comedian Gary Owen got serious and enlisted in the Navy. Comedian Gary Owen was chosen for the prestigious Presidential Honor Guard. Spinning rifles and carrying flags for George Bush and Bill Clinton turned out to be the wrong job for a funny guy. "I was always smiling," comedian Gary Owen remembers. "So I got yelled at for smiling all the time."

After leaving his ceremonial position, Owen became a military police officer at the Naval Installations on Coronado Island in San Diego. But comedian Gary Owen was too much of a pushover to be a cop. Comedian Gary Owen made only two arrests in three years. "I was the worst," he admits. During that time, though, comedian Gary Owen embarked on his true calling - stand-up comedy. One night while hanging with his service buddies, Owen worked up the nerve to go at a nightclub. After only a year of doing stand-up, comedian Gary Owen was named "Funniest Serviceman in America."

Off the military base, it was the Black nightclubs that gave him his real breaks: "The only place I could get on stage regularly," he recalls, "was in the so-called 'hood' in San Diego. Then I thought, "Why don't I make fun of black and whites?" We're both sitting here. That's when I started addressing the different black and white issues… interracial dating and social issues. I like to deal with issues white guys aren't supposed to talk about."

Owen never pretended to be one of the homeboys. Basically, I would ask question, like, 'I don't know what a "boo" (a term of affection) is. Do I have this right? Am I thinking right? And they'd laugh because I was so honest about it.'

San Diego's African-American community embraced him, and comedian Gary Owen went onto win the "Funniest Black Comedian in San Diego" contest. That led to his first big gig at Los Angeles' Comedy Store. Then in July of '97 comedian Gary Owen auditioned for BET's "Comic View." Two appearances on the multi-cultural comedy showcase won him his own one-hour "Grandstand" show. At the end of the season comedian Gary Owen was selected from the year's four "Grandstanders" to be the host. Owen was excited because he'd always been a huge "Comic View" fan.

Comedian Gary Owen has numerous appearances on Comedy Central, as well as hosting MUN2's hit comedy show "Loco Comedy Jam". Not one to sit and wait for things to happen, comedian Gary Owen recently released his first comedy CD " Live from Tampa" and his first comedy DVD "Breakin Out The Park". One things for sure, when people see comedian Gary Owen live on stage, they keep coming back over and over again.