Gary Owen (comedian)

Gary Owen (born July 26, 1974)

Owen was born Gary Owens in Cincinnati, Ohio to Barb and Gary Owens. He later dropped the s from his surname, adopting the stage name Gary Owen, to avoid confusion with television announcer Gary Owens.^[1]

Owen's parents had been high school sweethearts and his mother was 18 years old at the time of his birth. Owen's parents separated a few years after his birth, and his mother remarried shortly after.^[1]

Owen's family struggled financially during his childhood. His mother worked in a factory making electrical connectors and his stepfather was chronically unemployed. Owen spent the majority of his childhood in a trailer park in Oxford, Ohio along with mother, stepfather, step sister and three younger half-siblings.^[1] He graduated from Talawanda High School in Oxford, Ohio in 1991.^[4]

He joined the

Owen began doing standup in 1995 while stationed with the navy in San Diego, California. The following year he started driving to Los Angeles on weekends to perform standup in the city. According to Owen, his stand up was initially not well-received by audiences. In 1996 he was invited to perform at a comedy club in front of a majority black audience. Recalling the experience in 2015, Owen told Buzzfeed News that when he first performed for a majority black audience, "I was shocked when I walked onstage and told the exact same fucking joke and it worked. [...] And that was when I knew."[1]

After a year of doing stand-up, Owen was named "Funniest Serviceman in America".

In April 2011, Ebony dubbed Owen "Black America's Favorite White Comic".^[8] Owen has produced two stand-up DVDs: Breakin' Out The Park, which is now available nationwide, and Urban Legend. He was also one of the headliners on