Photo by Marny Malin
Michael Prince entertains the audience at the Community Center Friday with his humor that draws from life and his Army days.
Michael Prince’s world wasn’t large in Tifton, Ga. It was filled with hand-me-downs and humor growing up. Times were tough, but his father always lightened the family load with laughter, teaching Prince and his siblings the importance of laughing and how it can form a strong connection.
Not surprisingly, Prince followed in his father’s footsteps, using the family gift to entertain friends in small-town Tifton. As he states, it was where someone would come up to you and say “I’m your cousin’s auntie’s, best friend’s daughter and I know all about you!”
Twenty years later, this former Army Ranger still entertains, only with a much larger audience. Friday night, the comic performed at the Community Center. Drawing his humor from life and his Army days, Prince drew laughter from all in the audience.
Seeking structure, Prince joined the Army after high school, and was a Ranger for three years of his seven years in, before a back injury sidelined him. His first attempt at humor in the Army wasn’t appreciated.
When a drill sergeant yelled at him, “Gimme ten,” Prince responded by emptying his pockets and stating he only had five dollars and some change. That exchange ended with additional push-ups.
“You have to have a great sense of humor to get by in the Army, you really do, and it gives you a great deal of material,” Prince said.
After the Army, Prince found his calling on a dare from friends urging him to step on a comedy club’s stage in Atlanta during an open mike session. One successful performance turned into another. He became a host for the club, learning from the comedians who performed on tour.
Prince finds it rewarding these days as he tours the U.S. and regularly entertains at military bases with Big Nose Entertainment, a company he founded. He has shared his brand of humor while touring with the USO, as part of a military appreciation group performing in Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Korea with Robin Williams and Michael Richards, best known as Kramer on “Seinfeld.”
“You come to a place when you haven’t got anything in life but your own spirit and your sense of humor. If you turn that into motivation and can pick another person up off the ground, that’s a gift you have to give,” Prince said.
Prince recalled how his humor’s sense of healing deepened in 2000. A woman came up to him after the show stating she had been divorced and lost a child that year. She went on to tell him she did not believe she had the ability to laugh anymore until that night, when his humor touched her.
“You can never tell what a person has been through, never tell what they have experienced along life’s road, at home, at work or at war. If I can make someone laugh, it’s a gift I have to share. Life without laughter is not good,” Prince said.
