Comedian Brian Regan has been featured in everything from Comedy Central specials to a feature Hollywood film, and he’s making a stop in Baton Rouge on his tour around the country. The Jan. 25 show will be held at the Baton Rouge River Center. The Daily Reveille spoke with the performer, known for his clean comedy, about life as a comedian and his plans for the future.
The Daily Reveille: You’ve been know for not using as much profanity in your material. What influenced you to maintain that particular style?
Brian Regan: Well, it’s not something that is as big a deal to me as it is to other people. I just tend to think of certain kinds of things for my comedy, and they tend to be just everyday kinds of subjects. So therefore, they’re not particularly dirty. It’s not a wholesome choice, it’s just a creative choice. I think some people think it’s a statement that I’m making, but it’s not. It’s what interests me comedically. There’s comedians out there who are blue or dirty who I think are great — it’s just different choices.
TDR: Where do you find inspiration for most of your material?
BR: Anywhere and everywhere. It’s not easy for me to sit down in front of a blank piece of paper and write comedy. So what I do is I do what I would normally do, go where I would normally go, watch what I would normally watch, read what I normally read and then every once in a while, I see things in a way that is funny.
TDR: Are there any comedians in particular that have influenced your work or inspired you?
BR: Well, there are a lot of comedians out there who I think are great. When I first got into comedy, Steve Martin was one of the guys who was huge. I don’t know that he inspired me to do stand-up, but he got me interested in comedy. Before that, I used to just love when comedians were on TV, but he was one of the first comedians where I would try to find out when he was going to be on TV. But still, even at that time, I still thought I was going to be an accountant.
TDR: Do you have any friends in comedy that you play off of when you’re coming up with material?
BR: I have friends in comedy, but when I come up with something that I want to try on stage, I kind of keep that to myself. To me, that’s part of the fun. Getting on stage and throwing something out there that’s really brand new without knowing what’s going to happen. I love just throwing some brand new stuff out there. It’s kind of scary but in a fun way. It’s like getting on a rollercoaster.
TDR: You had a cameo in Chris Rock’s “Top Five.” What was that like?
BR: It was really cool. I did it over a year ago, and I’d never been in a movie before. I showed up and they had a trailer. It wasn’t even my own trailer, it was this big trailer, but it had different rooms in it. I had this little room that I just kind of sat in, and it was all metal in there. I didn’t know what the protocol was. “Am I just supposed to sit in here until someone knocks on the door?” It was just interesting to do, and I loved the process of it and the fact that I ended up in the movie. I’ve gotten some pretty nice comments about it, and it means a lot to me.
TDR: Would you ever consider making that transition to film?
BR: Listen, if the phone rang and somebody said, “Hey, we saw you in ‘Top Five’ and we’d like to use you in a film,” I certainly would be open to something like that. It’s such a new, fun experience. I’d love to entertain that. I don’t know that I would give up stand-up, though. I would probably do both.
TDR: Do you have any plans for another special or DVD?
BR: It’s not 100 percent, but things are looking pretty solid that I’ll have another Comedy Central special. We won’t be shooting it until later in the year, but that’s the plan right now. It’s been too long. The last thing I did was a CD and that was about five years ago. I usually don’t like to wait that long between releasing stuff. I’m kind of itching to do it.