MODESTO -- If you didn't already buy tickets to comedian Brian Regan's June 8 show at the Gallo Center for the Arts, you're out of luck. The show sold out six weeks ago, making it one of the fastest-selling programs in the Gallo Center's five-year history.
"We're not surprised that Mr. Regan sold out," said Doug Hosner, the Gallo Center's director of marketing and public relations. "He is really hugely popular. While he is popular with all ages, he has a huge audience among college-age students. That will be a big part of our audience."
Regan, 54, tells jokes about the ordinary events of life, from mailing a package to UPS to figuring out how to put together a children's toy and the aches and pains of aging. He is known for being a clean comedian who doesn't use profanity or off-color language. In an interview with the Columbus Dispatch in November, he said that wasn't always the case.
"When I did have profanity, it was such a small part of my show," he said in the article. "To have 5 percent blue and the other 95 percent clean seemed to put things off-kilter. When I did do a clean show, the (positive) comments were so intense, I realized this is important to some people. I decided the other 5 percent wasn't that important, anyway. It seems to work out. It's how I think organically as a comedian anyway."
That doesn't mean he is a completely wholesome person. "I just like doing clean comedy, but when I'm off stage with my friends, you know, in a circle of people that I know can handle it, I might get a little darker," he told Yes! Weekly in December. "When I stub my toe on the coffee table at 2 a.m., I say words that don't make it into my shows."
Born in Miami, Regan grew up with seven brothers and sisters, who he says all were funny. His brother Dennis was a writer on the CBS sitcom "King of Queens."
Regan played football in high school and enrolled in Heidelberg College in Ohio with the intention of becoming an accountant. When that didn't hold his interest, he switched to major in communication and theater arts, but dropped out to pursue his career in stand-up comedy (he ended up finishing the degree about 15 years later).
In 1986, Regan moved to New York City and just two years later won $10,000 in the "Funniest Person in New York" contest held by radio station K-ROCK.
He first appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman" in 1995 and has since performed on the program more than 20 times. He released his first stand-up album, "Brian Regan Live," in 1996.
More recently, he has released two one-hour Comedy Central specials: 2008's "The Epitome of Hyperbole" and 2007's "Brian Regan Standing Up." A couple of years ago, he issued the album "All By Myself" as a digital download available only on his Web site.
Regan says he works hard to keep his material fresh. "You think of something or see something and you think maybe that will be a bit," he told The Columbus Dispatch. "Sometimes your gut is on the money and sometimes you're off the mark. If everything I thought of worked, it wouldn't be as fun. I like throwing stuff out there, not knowing what's going to happen."
WHAT: Brian Regan
WHEN: 8 p.m. June 8
WHERE: Rogers Theater, Gallo Center for the Arts, 1000 I St., Modesto
TICKETS: Sold out
CALL: (209) 338-2100
ONLINE: www.galloarts.org
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