Martin Lawrence has always been comfortable in comedy.
He’s been a riot on television, a hoot at the movies, a laugh dynamo on stage.
But the 51-year-old Lawrence, who brings his “Doin’ Time: Uncut Live Tour” to the Times Union Center in Albany tonight, also has a serious side. He can be a pretty thoughtful dude.
“For me [in my stand-ups], I do what is from the heart,” Lawrence has said. “I do what I relate to, what I can talk about, things that I can define. I don’t try to talk about things just because they might be a popular subject. I talk about things I know about.”
The man is also a professional. Playing characters on television and at the movies may look easy, but it takes time to bring a guy to life on screen — and make him kind of funny.
“I try to always step up to the plate, be professional, be good at what I’m doing and deliver on the character,” Lawrence said. “In Hollywood, what more can you ask for. You want a consummate professional.”
Martin Lawrence: ‘Doin’ Time: Uncut Live Tour’
WHERE: Times Union Center, 51 S. Pearl St., Albany
WHEN: 8 p.m. tonight
HOW MUCH: $95-$20
MORE INFO: 487-2000, www.timesunioncenter-albany.com
He appreciates his fans.
“My audience is a diehard audience,” he says. “They are dedicated. My audience always follows me and sticks with me. They’re the reason I’m still here — in the films and in stand-ups.”
Lawrence is known for his creativity in humor: Here are some of his greatest hits:
* “White parents use time out. My mom used a different type of time out. She’d be like “There, take time out to pick up your teeth.”
* “You used to look good from afar. Now you just ‘far’ from looking ‘good’!”
* “I didn’t know the full facts of life until I was 17. My father never talked about his work.”
* “NO ONE is immune to the trials and tribulations of life.”
* “Get to steppin’.”
* “When I’m playing Big Momma, it’s so much work that all I want to do, when I’m finished, is go back home and just relax and study my lines and get ready for the next day.”
* “As long as there’s Big Momma, we’re going to bring you comedy.”
* “I don’t want to sound facetious, but humor is the key to the soul. You know what I mean?”
* “Here goes all these rumors writin’ about me. I see on the paper, one of ’em says ‘Martin tries to jump out of a plane using his jacket as a parachute.’ Now ain’t that some bull! As I’m trying to get my life together, they’re gonna write that bull. I know damn well you can’t jump out no plane using your jacket as a parachute … I know you got to use your pants.”
* “This place is so small, that you gotta go outside to change your mind!”
Reach Gazette reporter Jeff Wilkin at 395-3124 or at [email protected] or @jeffwilkin1 on Twitter. His blog is at www.dailygzette.com/weblogs/wilkin.
Categories: Entertainment
