By Robyn H. Jimenez
Special to the NNPA from the Dallas Examiner
DALLAS (NNPA) – Bruce Bruce, a talent so hot, you have to say his name twice. But what makes him so hot? According to Bruce, he’s simply good at what he does. After all, he’s had a lifetime of practice.
Even as a child, he was considered very funny. Young Bruce developed his routines of jokes and imitations at a very early age. His fondest memories are of making everyone laugh when they came to his house.
Growing up, Bruce admired several comedians, such as Richard Pryor, Red Foxx, Bill Cosby and most of all, Milton Burl. However, his greatest inspiration was his uncle, Paul Henson Jr., who has since passed away.
Bruce recalls Henson’s interactive stand up routine that he performed for the family. “My uncle was a very funny man. When he told a story…everybody had to be involved,” he said.
Bruce Church, now known as Bruce Bruce, was born and raised in Atlanta. He was an only child, raised by his mother and father, who offered him a well-rounded childhood and several opportunities to explore his talents such as football, soccer and a variety of after-school activities.
After high school, Bruce worked as a chef, where he kept his customers entertained through humor while they waited for their barbecue. He later worked as a salesman for Frito-Lay, where he was responsible for such tasks as stocking store shelves. However, he took his comedy routine to the corporate meetings, captivating the audience of professionals with his wit and charm. Little did they know, the entertainment they received free, others would be willing to pay top dollar for years later. They were in the presence of a star.
Bruce made his career debut on the stage of the Comedy Act Theater.
The love and response he received when he first walked out on stage, before he even said anything, still stands out in his mind. Bruce said they loved his look and his smile; two qualities that Bruce has maintained throughout his career.
“I’ve been a comedian all my life,” Bruce said, “but I went on the stage the first time 18 years ago. As soon as I hit the real stage, I knew that was where I should have been all my life.”
When BET’s Coast to Coast made its way to Atlanta in the early 1990s, looking for new stand-up comedians, Bruce was persistent in following them to each club in the area to audition. After making the final cut, he appeared on the show three times.
In 1993, he performed during HBO’s Def Comedy Jam. In 1994, he wowed the audience on Showtime at the Apollo, which was hosted by Steve Harvey. He was called back to the show two more times, the following year.
Bruce’s career began to soar, when he landed a job as the host of BET’s Comic View, winning over thousands of viewers as they tuned in week after week to watch their favorite comedian work his magic. Bruce received the highest ratings ever as host during BET’s 10th Anniversary season of Comic View in 2001, as well as the following season in 2002.
In 2004, he returned to BET, to host the second season of Coming to the Stage.
Bruce made appearances at the Black Film Festival in Acapulco in 2001, the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal in 2000 and 2003, Laffapolooza in Atlanta, each year from 1999 to 2002 and the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen in 2002.
His most recent works include his own special Comedy Central Presents and a one-hour comedy special DVD Bruce Bruce Live.
Bruce’s career has not been limited to the stage or even to stand-up. He’s also portrayed a few interesting characters on the big screen, Among them, the lovable security guard Dewayne, in The Wash, starring Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. He has also made an appearance in XXX: State of the Union. His most recent role was a cameo in Idlewild.
However, the movies he most enjoyed performing in were Health Inspector, in which he played Big Shug and especially Hair Show, in which he played Lime Pimp.
Of the two, Bruce said Hair Show was the movie he enjoyed participating in the most, for three reasons. He had fun making the movie; of all the celebrities he’s worked with, he truly enjoyed working with Mo’Nique, because of her sense of humor and personality; and he identified with his character.
“People know me as Bruce Bruce, but deep down I’m a pimp,” Bruce confesses, “[I] love women. Women know me as LW, Love Women,” he said, with an emphasis on ‘love’.
The larger than life comedian looks forward to adding many more big screen movies to the list.
Bruce is also the spokesperson for Popeye’s Chicken and is featured in their Stand-Up for Flavor television commercials.
But his versatility doesn’t stop there. Bruce has also made appearances on music videos with Ludacris and the Ying Yang Twins, as well as Quad City DJs’ Come On Ride the Train (Ride It) and Outkast’s So Fresh, So Clean.
If that’s not diverse enough, he has also added ‘author’ to his list of titles. Bruce released his first book, Baby James Brown, an autobiography containing hilarious stories from his childhood in September 2005.
Currently, Bruce is featured in his own national comedy tour, The New Ground Tour with the House of Blues Entertainment, while also costarring in the Bad Boys of Comedy tour with Doug E. Fresh and Earthquake, produced by Walter Latham, who also produced The Original Kings of Comedy. The 12-city Bad Boys tour will come to Dallas at 8 p.m. on Oct. 8 at Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie.
Bruce said he enjoys performing because he loves to make people laugh and he loves to make people happy. When he’s not performing or touring, he is either at home in Los Angeles or Atlanta, where he houses his automobile collection.
Bruce loves his automobile collection, almost as much as he loves the ladies. While his garage houses a variety of makes and models, he is most passionate about his old Buicks.
But there was a time when he shared a home with more than his car collection. This amiable bachelor hasn’t always been single. He was married and divorced before he made it big. When asked what he learned from the experience, he said that it was to “never be naive about anyone or anything that you do.”
He was blessed with three children, two sons, who are 26 and 22, and a daughter, who is 21.
But despite the many adoring women ready to party with LW, he does plan to get married again, someday, but not at this time in his career. And until the right woman comes along, he’ll continue to enjoy dating and the single life.
However, contrary to Too Short’s, Shake that Monkey, the lady on his arm doesn’t have to be skinny, but she does have to be smaller than him, said the other Overweight Lover, adding, “Somebody in the relationship should be athletic and it might as well be her.”
Giving big girls a reason to sweat, this ever-expanding performer is leading the way in the battle of the bulge, losing a total of 70 pounds and is aiming for a loss of 100 more, saying that he will still be a big man, just not as large.
Bruce encourages youth to reach out to comedy, but whatever they choose to do, “Be creative and stay focused.”
As for his legacy, he hopes that when people remember him, they will say, “He was funny. He was good. And he helped a lot of people.”
