LIMA — As a child and young adult, cracking jokes sometimes got Brian Irons in trouble.
But he always loved making people laugh.
Irons, who goes by the stage name “BK Irons” turned his gift of making people laugh into a career. Today, he no longer gets in trouble for his jokes, he makes money, instead.
“I’m finally doing something I used to get in trouble for and now I make a living at it,” he said.
Irons returned to Lima on Saturday with four other comedians from around the country for a show, “Big Trouble in Little Lima” at the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center. For him, it was a chance to see some familiar faces and bring a smile to them. About 400 people attended.
“Lima is home. Lima will always be home,” Irons said. “When we came up with a show of this caliber, I wanted to bring it to Lima. I wanted to bring it here. Something positive. Laughter is medicine,” he said.
The comedians tour many of the nation’s biggest cities with Lima being one of the smaller cities.
“We’re going everywhere,” Irons said.
Irons doesn’t have a hard script. He is spontaneous and rolls with the moment.
“I was the class clown for the class of 2000 at Lima Senior,” Irons said.
Angela Stiggers, of Cridersville, came out to see Irons, a friend she has known since she was 17.
“I think it’s awesome. I think it’s great,” she said.
Anitra Upshaw, of Lima, said she came to get out of the house and have a good time. Irons is a friend so she wanted to see him and hear his jokes. Upshaw said Irons always has something funny to say.
“He will make you laugh,” she said.
Latasha Bagley, of Lima, came to see Irons, who is her cousin. She said he’s been cracking jokes his whole life.
“This is going to be a great experience,” she said explaining it was her first time to see him on stage in person. “He’s always been funny. He’s the life of the party.”
In high school and as a young adult, Irons never even considered getting on stage to tell jokes let alone a career in comedy but others recognized his talents.
“I never wanted to do comedy. I always thought it was lame, not the cool thing to do. My friends talked me into comedy,” he said.
The day he set foot on stage for the first time a couple of years ago was not only fun for him but seeing the smiles, hearing the laughter, and just enjoying the moment changed Irons’ life. He was hooked.
“I got a standing ovation and I fell in love with it. Now there ain’t no getting rid of me,” he said. “When I do comedy, I tell people don’t come watch me act, I tell them to come watch me be me.”
The show was promoted by Larry Nathan, also of Lima. He organizes the comedians and is in charge of advertising. Nathan also wanted to bring Irons back to Lima with some other nationally known comedians.
Action Jaxon, Ryan Davis, Edward Aundraus and Terry Williams, of Lima, also performed along with rapper Zovie Love who opened the show.
Abe Ambroza, the chief executive officer at the Civic Center, said the show was just one of the events to kick off the New Year in which there will be a lot of fun events happening at the Civic Center.
“People want to see this talent. They want to be entertained. We have local talent and a local promoter at the same time,” Ambroza said.
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