Comedy is not an easy business. A comedian may have a funny joke
or two, but few can move past those few jokes and consistently stay
fresh.

Brian Regan has been able to keep this level of comedy for close
to 20 years now.

Regan said his comedy stems from seeing Johnny Carson, Steve
Martin and the Smothers brothers on televison.

“When I saw these guys, I said to myself, ‘Maybe I can do this
for a living,'” Regan said.

Regan began performing while he was in college in Ohio. He said
that it was in college that he realized that he couldn’t have a
normal job.

“I had a 7:30 a.m. class when I was a freshman,” Regan said. “By
the first Wednesday of the first week of the first semester, I knew
I couldn’t wake up that early.” Another important moment was when
Regan saw a comedian who came to perform on campus.

Regan started performing soon after college in his hometown of
Miami, Fla. in the mid-1980s. He could not have had better timing,
as stand-up comedy was making an explosion in America.

“When I first started, I had to use a megaphone. In the late
’80s, a lot of places started opening up, and now there are plenty
of places to play.”

Now Regan has moved beyond the megaphones and is headlining the
Pageant this Saturday. Though he has never headlined a venue like
the Pageant, he has opened many times for Jerry Seinfeld when he
played concert venues.

He said there are big differences between concert venues and
comedy clubs.

“With the clubs, the people are up close, so you can read their
reactions and see what’s funny. With the bigger venues, you’re just
up there alone,” he said.

Regan said he gets his ideas from real life, and really doesn’t
try to come up with jokes.

“I get an idea, write it down on a napkin and then try it out. I
tried to sit down and consciously write jokes, but it didn’t work,”
he said.

Unlike most comedians, Regan is happy to do just what he is
doing.

“A lot of people use comedy as a stepping stone to something
else. Comedy is an end for me right now.” Regan said that if an
acting job does come up, he is not opposed to maybe taking it.