Biography
Brian Regan nearly bypassed a career in comedy altogether, despite becoming known for a family-friendly style that highlights the absurd side of everyday conduct in both grown-ups and kids. As the fourth child in a family of eight, he studied accounting at Heidelberg College in Ohio. His football coach unexpectedly urged him toward theater, after which an acting instructor steered him to standup. Regan launched his professional path in 1981 as a short-order cook and host at the Comic Strip in South Florida, eventually rising to club MC and logging two and a half years onstage before touring full time. Steve Martin served as an early influence while Regan played venues nationwide through the mid-eighties; he then moved to New York City in 1986, later recalling that his apartment there was so cramped he kept his goldfish in a shot glass. In 1988 he captured the Miller Lite Funniest Person in New York title and its ten-thousand-dollar prize.
After nearly ten years of low-profile work, Regan’s accessible material found wider audiences throughout the nineties. He performed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, taped Something’s Wrong with That Regan Boy for Showtime, collaborated with his brother Dennis on the network’s A Pair of Jokers, and hosted Comedy Central’s Short Attention Span Theater. Frequent spots on The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O’Brien followed. The American Comedy Awards named him Best Club Comedian in 1996, and he released Brian Regan Live the next year. His screenwriting debut arrived with the 2000 film 102 Dalmatians. Continuing to headline live dates, Regan recorded his second special, I Walked on the Moon, at the Irvine Improv and issued it independently in 2004; the set showcased both his physical delivery and observational routines such as “Visiting the Doctor” and “Phones and Codes.” Strong sales propelled him into theaters, where he began selling out a forty-city run in 2005.
Around the same period Regan moved his family to Las Vegas. In 2007 he secured a Comedy Central contract for two hour-long specials, Standing Up and The Epitome of Hyperbole, which aired on the channel in 2007 and 2008 respectively and later appeared on DVD under the Comedy Central imprint. All by Myself arrived in 2010 as a self-released CD sold exclusively through his site. While maintaining his touring and writing schedule, Regan joined Jerry Seinfeld for a 2012 installment of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. On September 26, 2015, Comedy Central televised his hour-long special Live from Radio City Music Hall live, with a DVD release following later that year.
After nearly ten years of low-profile work, Regan’s accessible material found wider audiences throughout the nineties. He performed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, taped Something’s Wrong with That Regan Boy for Showtime, collaborated with his brother Dennis on the network’s A Pair of Jokers, and hosted Comedy Central’s Short Attention Span Theater. Frequent spots on The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O’Brien followed. The American Comedy Awards named him Best Club Comedian in 1996, and he released Brian Regan Live the next year. His screenwriting debut arrived with the 2000 film 102 Dalmatians. Continuing to headline live dates, Regan recorded his second special, I Walked on the Moon, at the Irvine Improv and issued it independently in 2004; the set showcased both his physical delivery and observational routines such as “Visiting the Doctor” and “Phones and Codes.” Strong sales propelled him into theaters, where he began selling out a forty-city run in 2005.
Around the same period Regan moved his family to Las Vegas. In 2007 he secured a Comedy Central contract for two hour-long specials, Standing Up and The Epitome of Hyperbole, which aired on the channel in 2007 and 2008 respectively and later appeared on DVD under the Comedy Central imprint. All by Myself arrived in 2010 as a self-released CD sold exclusively through his site. While maintaining his touring and writing schedule, Regan joined Jerry Seinfeld for a 2012 installment of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. On September 26, 2015, Comedy Central televised his hour-long special Live from Radio City Music Hall live, with a DVD release following later that year.
Albums
