Brian Regan "takes luck," brings observational comedy to Oklahoma shows

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Comic hopes to tickle funny bones with observations

Oklahoma fans eager to hear Brian Regan wax eloquent about Pop-Tart instructions, science fairs and easily misused common phrases can “take luck” this week.

The popular comedian is bringing his new show to three state venues, but he is keeping his tradition of ending his performances by taking fan requests for their favorites of his stand-up standbys.

“I can’t guarantee that everything is going to be brand spanking new, but maybe 50 percent or more will hopefully be stuff that people didn’t hear the previous time,” Regan said in a recent phone interview. “The comedy antenna’s always up. You know, you’re always trying to think of things, and when you put something in, something just by default has to fall by the wayside.”

The rare comedian to move his stand-up routine from comedy clubs to theaters without the benefit of a TV show or movie appearances, Regan is playing Midwest City’s Rose State Performing Arts Theatre Thursday, Thackerville’s WinStar World Casino Friday and Tulsa’s Mabee Center Saturday. Known for his stooped posture and occasional goofy faces, he finds humor in visits to the eye doctor, in childhood rites of passage like spelling bees and in easily botched turns-of-phrase, like accidentally mashing up “take care” and “good luck” into “take luck.”

He admits his comedic style is a bit difficult to define, especially since his “joke answer” backfired.

“I wouldn’t know how to describe it. I used to say as like as a joke answer that my comedy is Machiavellian with Kierkegaardian undertones. And I just said it just to be silly, and I was doing an interview one time and I said that … and the writer was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I can see that.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, no.’ I don’t think they realized I was being absurd,” he said with a laugh. “I guess observational is a way of describing comedy when you talk about everyday things. So I do have an observational quality to what I do.”

One of eight children, Regan grew up in a house of mirth in Miami, Fla. He went to college to become an accountant but changed his major to communication and theater arts on the recommendation of his college football coach. His speech class assignments became a kind of proving ground for his stand-up career.

His first comedy recording, the 1997 CD “Brian Regan Live,” became a dorm room favorite, selling more than 150,000 copies and consistently charting among iTunes’ top 10 comedy albums. He has since released three stand-up DVDs, and a new CD, “Brian Regan: All By Myself,” will be available for download Dec. 7 at BrianRegan.com.

His comedy has changed over the years, and not just because he often uses current events, from US Airways pilot Chelsey Sullenberger’s emergency landing last year on the Hudson River to the 2008 discovery of 125,000 endangered gorillas in the Republic of Congo, as fodder for funniness.