There are two things in particular comedian James Gregory loves about coming to North Carolina. The first is Bojangles chicken, which the “John Boy & Billy Big Show” regular can’t get in Woodstock, Ga., the Atlanta-area city in which he lives.
The other is the Powerball lottery, said Gregory, who’s scheduled to perform two shows at the Joy Performance Center on Jan. 28.
“If I pick the right number, the Kings Mountain show will be my last,” he said.
Dubbed “The Funniest Man in America” by a Huntsville, Ala., newspaper columnist almost 25 years ago, Gregory is also one of the hardest working comics in the country, traveling two to four days a week and 45 to 46 weeks a year. Most of his traveling is done by car, where he can stop and go as he pleases.
“I don’t mind flying once a year to catch up on my drinking and my praying,” he said jokingly. “It’s not a white-knuckle fear. I’m not afraid to fly. It’s the crashing and the burning I don’t like.”
But while he may spend plenty of time in the fast lane traveling from town to town, getting his career to where it is today was more of a slow crawl, Gregory said. He worked as an encyclopedia and vacuum cleaner salesman for years before breaking into comedy in his mid-30s.
That was back in 1982. The first comedy club in the Southeastern U.S. opened in Atlanta that year and Gregory and a few of his friends regularly attended the club’s amateur night. His friends kept daring Gregory to get onstage. Once he finally did, he found it hard to stay off.
“I wasn’t funny then,” he said, “but I got my feet wet and got the bug.”
Since then, his tell-it-like-it-is brand of comedy with a down-home Southern twang has earned him hordes of faithful fans across the country. In addition to his radio appearances on nationally syndicated “John Boy & Billy,” Gregory is also featured on syndicated radio shows “Rick and Bubba” and “Bob & Tom.”
The personable comic relishes in poking fun at those who take political correctness a little too far and the sensitivity of some modern parents. He’s not a punch-line kind of guy, though. Instead, he’s a master storyteller that crafts yarns based on everyday life.
“Building up to the end is just as funny as the end,” he said. “The story is funny along the way, so the audience doesn’t have to wait until the end of a story before they start laughing.”
He’s also not big on profanity, opting to stay away from adult or raunchy language in his act. It’s the kind of show he prefers, he said, and it’s good business sense.
“I think it broadens your customer base doing it the way I do it,” he said. “People will come and see a show, even if it’s x-rated, but they’d never tell their mom to go see it.”
‘The Funniest Man in America’ Comes to Kings Mountain
Comedian James Gregory, the “John Boy and Billy” regular dubbed “the funniest man in America,” will perform at 7 and 9 p.m. Jan. 28 at Joy Performance Center, 202 S. Railroad Ave., Kings Mountain. Tickets are $26.50. For more information, call 704-730-9408 or e-mail jimchampion@carolina.rr.com.
For more information on James Gregory or to see or hear clips of his act, visit his Web site: www.funniestman.com.
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