Comedian Gary Owen hasn’t performed in Fresno in decades. Why he’s finally back

Gary Owen remembers his first performance in Fresno.

It was around 1999, and he brought along a then-up-and-coming comedian named Gabriel Iglesias.

It was a decent enough show, as Owen recalls.

“I had a little heat on me, but not like now,” says Owen, a comedian/actor who made a name for himself on BET’s Comic View and later in films like “Ride Along,” and “Daddy Day Care.”

“We did OK.”

Iglesias went on to become “Fluffy,” and earned a local following on subsequent trips through town, including multiple runs at The Big Fresno Fair and the Save Mart Center.

Owen never made it back to Fresno. Until now.

The comedian talked to The Bee in advance of a performance Thursday at the Saroyan Theater; the second date of his No Hard Feelings tour.

This is his first major theater tour across North America (and Europe this summer), which means he’s hitting new markets (Cheyenne, Wy, for example) and returning to cities he hasn’t been to in decades (see, Fresno).

“Those are the ones that I’m most excited about. Those are the ones that really get your juices flowing,” Owen says.

“Thank God it’s selling,” he says.

A good time to be a standup

Owen is part of a seeming trend.

Those watching Fresno’s entertainment scene have likely noticed an uptick in the number of comedians touring through town; at smaller venues (Just the Tips recently moved its Wednesday night showcase to Dave and Busters), but also the various theaters and the Save Mart Center.

A quick list of upcoming performers includes: Kat Williams, Tim Allen, Patton Oswalt, Martin Amini, Henry Cho and Rob Schneider.

Comedian Trevor Wallace plays opposite Owen on Thursday night, just up the street at the Warnors Theatre.

“It’s a good time to be a stand-up right now,” Owen says, even with comedians competing for venues and audiences. He realized this several years ago, after a set of gigs he did at the Improv in Chicago.

Kevin Hart was at the United Center the same night.

Owen still sold out his shows.

“There’s enough for everyone,” he says.

“Your audience will find you.”

Of course, exactly how that happens has changed dramatically since Owen started as standup in the late 1990s.

At the time, comedians were angling to find their way into television or movies. Owen’s resume includes both. He had his own show on BET, a sketch show (with Shaquille O’Neal no less) on TruTV and was cast on Tyler Perry’s House of Payne on TBS. His film roles include “Back on the Strip,” with Tiffany Haddish and Wesley Snipes and “Little Man,” alongside the Wayans Brothers.

“If I would do a movie now, I would take a pay cut,” Owen says.

“There’s no way a movie can pay me what I could generate being on the road.” He would do it, for the right film; something starring Denzel Washington, maybe. “But those are the decisions you have to make.”

And comedians can now short-cut all of that anyway and go directly to their fans.

“My social media is my TV channel,” Owen says.

“I can put anything out when I want.”

For the last year, that’s been a daily habit. He has a full-time camera crew that captures everything that happens on the road. Sometimes that’s crowd work; the often improvised riffing comedians do as part of their act. “Sometimes it’s something else,” he says. He posts show clips on Youtube channel and does more off-the-cuff content on his TikTok and Instagram accounts.

He’s not looking for a viral moment. It’s the consistency that counts.

Owens likens it to the kind of TV that was popular when he was growing up.

“Back in the day,” he says, “it was judges and talk show hosts. Because they were on every day.

I have to post a standup clip every day.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Comedian Gary Owen hasn’t performed in Fresno in decades. Why he’s finally back."