Getting A Little Serious
with Funny Man
Rodney Perry
by Renata Brown
Perry loves the spotlight at center stage and will never abandon his life as a stand-up comedian delivering his brazen reality based comedy. With 20 years of marriage and six children (5 girls and 1 boy) Perry is an expert on all things family and rips the seams of crowds that attend his shows to hear all about his fatherhood fodder. Perry finds delight in giving back and sharing what he’s learned over the years with his
weekly classes that he hosts in Atlanta where he calls home. Preparing the next generation of comedians is what he feels is a small contribution in his legacy that will keep laughs going for generations to come.
Perry delivers the funny any way viewers or listeners want to receive it, whether it’s his highly popular weekly radio show Rodney Perry Live, or his sold out live shows, Perry truly is the hardest working man in comedy and he doesn’t see himself slowing down any time soon.
Comedy is his forte, however, this funny man isn’t afraid to explore his serious side in roles as is evident his appearances in the film “Mr. Right” where he gets to flex his acting chops alongside actor Columbus Short as well as the upcoming drama Broad Street Bullies where he plays a notorious gangster. Adding producer to his long list of credentials he’s also producing shows like the independent release, A Song for Jordan.
The early years of comedy found Perry his first gig as a writer/warm up guy for Kim Whitley on her talk show “Oh Drama.” Being on the scene, he was able to parlay his skills into opportunity and began opening for the likes of George Lopez, Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer, to name a few. He would spend the next 10 years nonstop on television in various capacities. Hosting comedy shows like “Who’s Got Jokes” helped him fine tune his craft and fueled the fire for the screen, big and small. (WWW.RODNEYPERRY.COM)
Q &A
I know you are a comedian, but the last couple of years have been no laughing matter. Your stroke, the loss of Tommy Ford. I just want to know how are you doing? Do you have any take-a-ways from these experiences?
Two years ago I had a stroke. As of now I am actually doing great. My blood pressure is under control. I have almost no noticeable deficits connected to my stroke. I do have to manage my energy can’t just operate on no sleep like I used to. My take away from this part of my journey: I have spent the lions share of my career striving to reach that thing called success, or the top, or “making it” and it was always a lofty goal. Then I laid in that hospital bed, unable to take a single step and God revealed to me that the success is in that step. If you can take a single step toward your goals you have already won. Tommy Ford called me while I was in the hospital, we chatted and prayed. A week later he was gone. Say what you need to say to people because you just do not know what the future holds.
As a seasoned artist, and yes comedy is an art form. What advice do you have for up and coming comedians.
Seasoned?!?! I guess I am seasoned just not with lawrys anymore. My best advice to comedians is “perform as much as humanly possible”. Every time you get on stage you get better.
Tell us about the new project.
My latest Comedy Project is Rodney Perry: Survivor. Recorded LIVE in Atlanta at the Atlanta Comedy Theater it is available for pre-order now on iTunes and a few other platforms. Its is one of the Funniest pieces of comedy I have ever done.
We are doing mantras all this year. Do you have one you live by?
Find What you LOVE to do and do that for a Living.
What’s coming up with for you in 2019?
There are few things brewing but you don’t get seasoned serving the soup before its done. Just Keep watching, listening and Following… Rodney Perry is poised to take over the world.
IG:@RODNEYPERRYLIVE
FB: /RODNEYPERRYLIVE
TWITTER: @RODNEYPERRY