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“I am family-oriented,” Gregory says. “Sometimes, when you say family-oriented, people think it is dull, but my show is hysterically funny from beginning to end. I think that is why people come to the show over and over again. When they leave, they feel good about it.”
Gregory will take the stage at 8 p.m. Nov. 11 at The Clayton Center. Gregory entertains sold-out crowds in theaters, colleges, corporate events and comedy clubs all over the United States.
Gregory, who lives near Atlanta, Ga., has been performing comedy for more than 20 years. Touring 45 weeks a year can be hard, but Gregory knows the reward is worth it.
“There is no such thing as a perfect job,” he says. “The packing and the unpacking, the loading and the unloading, the checking in and checking out at motels, the flying here and there is the work part. Being on stage and making people laugh is the fun part.”
Born into a poor family in Lithonia, Ga., Gregory, at the age of 11, began working 37 hours a week in a grocery store to help support his family. Times were tough on Gregory, but he had high hopes for the future.
“There was never a backup for me,” Gregory says. “I knew that everything I wanted in life, I’d have to pay for myself. Anything you want costs something. I had to earn it on my own.”
In 1982, friends convinced Gregory, a salesman in his 30s, to do an open mic night at the Punchline, a comedy club in Atlanta. “It was an accident that I ended up in comedy at all,” he says. “I never had the desire, or else I would have started earlier.”
Gregory has since performed for the Coca Cola Co., Kimberly Clark Corp., the American Red Cross and Hewlett-Packard Corp. Throughout the years, he has appeared on more than 200 radio shows, including “John Boy and Billy” in Charlotte, “Rick and Bubba” in Birmingham, Ala., and “Bob and Tom,” based out of Indiana. Gregory has also released an album and book, “It Could Be a Law, I Don’t Know” through Sony and Sweetwater Press. He has appeared in concert with Kenny Chesney, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, The Judds, George Jones and Ricky Skaggs, just to name a few.
Gregory says his unique style of humor is what brings a diverse audience to his shows. He chooses not to use any vulgarity in his act but is quick to touch on crazy relatives, health fanatics, animal-rights activists and the covered dishes that pop up at funerals. His shows, which usually last two hours, are pretty much stories based on his life experiences.
“I don’t go onstage and tell jokes,” Gregory says. “It takes years, believe it or not, to come up with two hours of hysterically funny stuff. I have routines I have been doing for years, and I will do them until the day I die because they are really funny.”
The Clayton Center is at 111 E. Second St. Tickets are $25 apiece. For more information, call 553-1737 or visit www.theclaytoncenter.com.
