Brian Regan is the kind of comedian that other comics point to and call their favorite funny man. It’s an honor he doesn’t take lightly.
“It’s very comforting. Of course, I want to make my audiences laugh but when other comedians like what I do, that’s a huge compliment,” he said.
“I always think if you want to find out who’s good at something, ask people who do that. If you want to know who the best catcher in baseball is, ask a catcher. If you want to know who the best astronaut is, ask astronauts. If you want to know who a good comedian is, ask comedians.”
Regan, 65, will perform at 8 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan. He’s known for his self-deprecating and observational humor and his consistent touring. He writes his material everywhere, not strictly when he’s on the road or at home.
“Whether I’m working or not, I’m always out and about doing things. Comedy comes from life. Ideas can come from anywhere,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter whether I’m working or not in terms of the original spark for an idea but when I am out working, I’m more in the mode to take something I’ve already written and to try to put some words to it and give it a shot onstage. That part takes a backstage when I’m off.”
Regan first appeared on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” in 1991. Since then, he’s released several stand-up albums and specials. He appeared on “The Late Show with David Letterman” 28 times and was also one of the few to appear more than once on Jerry Seinfeld’s web series, “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.”
He even played Mugsy on 30 episodes of the Peter Farrelly’s series, “Loudermilk.”
His most recent special, 2021’s “On the Rocks,” can be seen on Netflix.
Despite working as a comedian for 30-plus years, it’s still a job that he puts the effort into.
“I always feel like jokes are like kids in gym class. When it’s your turn to pick the basketball team in gym class and you’re standing there looking at all the kids in their gym shorts and sneakers and you say, ‘I’ll take Joey, Johnny and Becky.’ A joke is the kid in the back jumping up and down saying, ‘Pick me, pick me. I’m funny,'” he said.
“Life is like that. You go through life and things jump up and down sometimes that you don’t expect to see. You look at it differently than you a looked at it a moment before and think, that could be kind of funny. That’s how I get my jokes, like I’m picking kids in gym class.”
Regan doesn’t recommend bringing kids to his show, but only because kids probably don’t want to hear about mortgages and taxes.
“I talk about some serious things but it’s clean, you wouldn’t have to cover your kids’ ears,” he said. “I would think young teens you could bring and they would relate to it. If you were to bring a little kid, nothing I say would offend them, but they might not be as into it as older people.”
Even if he doesn’t know how to describe his act, he’s confident that audiences will enjoy it.
“I never know how to describe my act because I like to talk about a wide variety of things,” he said. “I feel like my act is kind of like a Christmas tree. You put a bunch of different ornaments on there and step back and go, ‘Wow, that looks pretty cool.’ If you describe the individual ornaments, you wouldn’t know what the whole tree would look like.”
Brian Regan
When: 8 p.m. Dec. 9
Where: Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan
Tickets: $45-$69.50
Information: 847-263-6300; geneseetheatre.com
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
