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Kirkwood's Comedic Connection

Comedian Greg Warren talks about breaking into the business.

Greg is known for turning his life experiences into laugh-out-loud situations that everyone can identify with.  Greg’s early material was based on wrestling at Kirkwood High School, spending a year at West Point, graduating with a journalism degree from Mizzou. Fast forward to Greg’s 2020 comedy special filmed for Amazon Prime about farming, finance, and an interesting experience at Red Lobster. It’s funny how this nationally known comedian got his start.

After spending over 10 years in sales in Procter and Gamble’s food and beverage division, Greg decided to call it quits. “I walked into my boss’ office and I told him I was going to leave P&G. He asked me if I was leaving to do comedy. I said yes. My boss, Rob DeMartini, who went on to become the CEO of New Balance, said to me, ‘Greg, I have binders of material that tell me how to talk an employee out of leaving P & G to go work some place else. But there is nothing in those binders about how to talk a guy out of following his dreams to become a comedian.’”  While working at P & G’s corporate headquarters in Ohio, Greg spent weekends performing standup. So, in 2001, Greg quit his day job, bought a car, and spent 48 weeks out of that year on the road. Greg smiled and said, “It was one of the best and most fun years I’ve ever had.”

Greg was in his early 30’s when he left P&G and he was relatively unknown on the comedy circuit. He didn’t have an agent or a manager, but he was determined to make it on his own. However, he hit a roadblock while trying to book a slot at a comedy club in Omaha. Greg reluctantly relied on dropping the name of his very well-known friend and club owner. “I worked for Freddie DeMarco when I was in college at Mizzou. He owned a comedy club called Déjà Vu. Freddie is an Italian guy from New York. He is such a character. He knows everyone and his word is gold in the comedy community. I am like a son to him.” As soon as Greg mentioned Freddie’s name, he was booked for multiple nights in Omaha.

Greg had performed standup a few times at Déjà Vu, so Freddy was familiar with Greg’s comedic way of telling stories. They have remained good friends over the years. “Freddie would make fun of me for working at Procter and Gamble. He would tell me, in is his thick New York accent, ‘Greg, what are you doin’? You’re gonna be bored for the rest of your life. You’d be better off back at West Point. You’re a peanut butter salesman. Whatta ya doin?’”  Naturally, Freddie was one of the first people Greg called when he left P&G. Freddie said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. There’s a lot of stability in peanut butter.”

After landing impressive gigs while living in LA and New York, Greg is back home in Kirkwood. When he’s not touring around the country, he can be found working on new material at Kaldi’s. Greg said that he finds his best material by noticing things that are interesting or different. “I find it’s impossible to write about what is funny. But often, I can turn something that is interesting or different into something funny,” said Greg.  

Check out Greg’s comedy special Where the Field Corn Grows on Amazon Prime. You’ll laugh along at his common-sense attempts to understand the absurd.

For more information about Greg’s upcoming tours visit www.gregwarren.com

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