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A local celebrity is returning home. Comedian Bob Marley, who is presently working on his seventh album, will stop at the Maine Center for the Arts on Oct. 19 as part of his current New England tour.
Best known for leaving his audiences rolling in the aisles with his trademark local stand-up comedy, Marley seems to live off a classic comedic slogan – it’s funny because it’s true.
Marley, who works out of Los Angeles, is infamous for bringing his local Maine humor to a national audience. His jokes focus in part on his days at Deering High School, his aging parents, the Maine Turnpike and ever so poignant local supermarket advertisements.
“This week at Shaw’s, surprise the whole family with a sirloin steak,” Marley said on his comedy album All New Stuff. “I got thinking about that folks. If your whole family is going to be surprised by a sirloin steak, you better get them out of the house a little more often. The only way my family’s going to surprise me with a sirloin steak is if my mother jumped out of the living room naked with it strapped to her ass.”
Marley, who has recently been named on Variety Magazine’s list of “The Top Ten Comics to watch,” also has found a niche in the show business world outside of stand-up.
Besides his extensive comedy experience of over 4,000 shows, Marley has made appearances on “Late Night With David Letterman,” “The Conan O’Brien Show” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.” Marley also has appeared in some commercials, starring as the Keystone Light “bitter beer face boy.”
In addition Marley has starred in multiple films, including the underground sensation “Boondock Saints,” opposite Willem Dafoe. Marley stars as police officer “Greenly” in the film and is currently involved with filming the sequel.
And despite being called “Hollywood’s best kept secret” by the Los Angeles’s prestigious Laugh Factory, Marley has not forgotten his home state, with six albums full of strictly Maine humor . He stands as an inspiration for many local comics.
“I’ve learned a lot from guys like Bob in the short time I’ve been doing stand up comedy,” said local stand up comedian and UMaine student Travis Cowing before his performance with Marley last year. “I like Bob’s style a lot. He’s a high energy comic. He doesn’t really tell funny jokes – he actually tells very funny stories.”
Cowing performed alongside Marley and fellow Maine comedian George Hamm last spring at the Maine Center for the Arts. In his set, Marley gave the audience a dose of his trademark Maine humor and also touched on current national events.
“You know who they should sic on [Osama bin Laden]? Student loan officers – those guys can find anyone,” Marley said last spring. “What the hell is Taliban anyway? It sounds like a powder I put on my crotch.”
Marley’s showing at the MCA last semester left the crowd buckling with laughter after each story, and with recent critical acclaim in publications such as Variety Magazine, audience members can be assured that Marley’s biographical Maine stand-up routine “has never been stronger.”
“People ask me; ‘How do you come up with these skits?’” Marley said. “I go home, and I bring a notebook.”
Tickets are $17 for students, and $20 for non-students. For more information and tickets contact the Maine Center for the Arts box office at 581-1755 or call 1-800-MCA-TIXX.
