He will perform at the downtown Springfield venue at Friday.
Comic Bob Marley
Comedian Bob Marley, who is performing on stage at Springfield's CityStage on Friday, is really a stand-up kind of guy.
“Some comedians are introverts. They’re lively on stage, but quiet when off. You can’t sit down. You have to go out and do stuff. We’re an active family and we’re always out and about. That’s how I find my material and it’s my common thread with the audience,” said Marley, who uses biographical and observational material for his high energy routines.
You might find Marley talking about a recent trip to DisneyWorld with his wife, three kids and mother and calling the popular vacation destination “quite possibly the worse place on Earth when you’re with a group like that.”
Or how he is annoyed by waiters who want to get all friendly with you by telling your dinner party his name, while he really considers them to be “food hookers.”
Or even the time when he as on "Late Night with David Letterman" and he could hear his parents bickering in the front row.
Marley has been featured in his own special on Comedy Central, and is one of the few comics to appear on the complete late-night television circuit including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,’ “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.”
Marley, a Maine native and University of Maine at Farmington graduate, began his career in his hometown of Portland, and then moved to Boston to gain experience in a city known for spawning comedy all-stars.
A regular at the Aspen and Montreal comedy festivals, Marley was named one of Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch,” Marley has also appeared in several films, including the cult favorite, “Boondock Saints.”
Today he works nonstop throughout the country performing in such cities as Los Angles, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., Boston, New York and Denver.
After living in Los Angles for several years, he moved his family, including his wife and three children, to Maine to live.
“I always say the two best things I’ve ever done in my career is first, moving to Hollywood, and the second is moving back to Maine. Moving to LA did so much for my career. It gave me a huge resume and helped my touring around the country,” said Marley.
“I had several development deals with the networks, but they never got to the stage where you shoot a pilot. In addition to my standup, I did commercials and even a couple of movies. But, I wanted to do more standup. I hated auditioning and wondering whether you got the pat or not. I told myself, “You’re not an actor, you’re a comedian. My wife agreed and told me, ‘Whatever you want to do.’ So, seven years ago we moved back to Maine,” he added.
The popular comedian said he considers New England to be the best place in the country to raise kids.
“Even though I love my kids, they can be creepy sometimes. Like when you wake up and they’re standing next to your bed and staring at you,” said the ever-observant Marley.
The Irish-Catholic comedian who sometimes works the “Catholic guilt” that comes along with it into his comedy, said up until the invention of the iPhone you could find “little scraps of paper around the house,” a mess he said his wife “always wanted to clean up.”
“My wife was constantly finding these little pieces of paper that I would empty out of my pockets every night that sometimes would only have three words on them like ‘blue dog outside’ to remind me of something funny I saw. I would always tell her not to throw them away if she ever wanted to go shopping again, because that’s how I make my money,” said Marley.
As for budding young comedians, Marley had some important advice to share with them.
“Don’t sit down and try to write material until you have something you want to write about,” he said.
Because Marley shares his name with the popular late Jamaican singer and songwriter, he sometimes gets residual checks in his mailbox that belong to the reggae singer’s family.
“Of course, I return them,” he said.
There goes that Catholic guilt again.