Mark Lowry
Genre: Pop/Comedy
Official Web Site
Mark Lowry Bibliography: (click on each album cover to view tracks and Mark Lowry lyrics)
Mark Lowry Biography Mark Lowry, you see, is one of those rare commodities: a clean comic. Fact is, Mark has been delivering hilarious, G-rated comedy to sell-out crowds for years, on the road, in his popular recordings and on his award-winning videos. His Mouth in Motion video was recently certified gold, another indication of his remarkable success.
Like many other successful comics, Mark was a "hyperactive" child who had what is now known as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). "I had it before people knew what it was. All I knew was that there weren't enough trees to make enough paper for all the notes my teacher would have to send home with me." Even so, his childhood stories seem to have an impact beyond their humor. At his shows, parents often tell Mark how he has given them hope for their hyperactive child. "They should talk to my dad," says Mark, "I know he's just happy that I made it to adulthood without landing in jail ... although, I think he's given up hope of me landing a real job."
Fortunately for his career, he has never quite outgrown his childhood hyperactivity. His non-stop, rubber-faced mugging punctuates his uproarious stories and pithy one-liners about growing up in the Bible Belt, his childhood career in musical theater, and the colorful characters that inhabit his world, the most colorful of whom is Mark himself.
His first stage experience (besides singing in church) was with the Houston Music Theater at the age of 9. "I wasn't any good at sports, so Mama had to do something with her hyperactive child. She took me down to the theater for an audition, and I got the part because I was the only kid who could sing on pitch." After the Houston theater went bankrupt, a man in Mark's church got him an audition with the National Quartet Convention, a huge gathering of Southern Gospel music fans. "I was 11 years old, and Mama dressed me up like a flag. I sang a patriotic medley in front of 10,000 people, got two standing ovations and a recording contract."
That led to a road gig with a tour bus, backup singers, and a record called Introducing Mark Lowry. From there, it was church camps and gospel meetings until Mark started college at Liberty University. After graduation, he hit the road again with gospel songs and funny stories, leading eventually to the multi-faceted career he now enjoys.
Besides his solo performances before sell-out crowds and his appearances on national TV, Mark Lowry has also shared the stage with entertainers like his friends Amy Grant, Sandi Patty and Michael W. Smith. Mark's talent is not confined to the comedy arena. He is also a singer with several albums to his credit and a songwriter, who co-wrote "Mary Did You Know." But it is in comedy where Mark really shines. Along with his stories of life as a bouncing-off-the-walls child, Mark turns his observational wit to the workaday routine of everyday life in the 90s.
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