On this day in comedy on October 13, 1965, Comedian, Actor, Reginald Ballard was born in Galveston, Texas
Known best as “Bruh-Man from the 5th Flo” on the Fox sitcom, Martin, Ballard got started in comedy in reverse. He’d already gotten a lot of attention from women. He’d been an all-district linebacker and received a full football scholarship to Southern Methodist University. He’d already acted. Ballard had taken theater in college and appeared in several prestigious productions. He already knew he was funny since he was on a top-rated show and was a breakout character. As Bruh-Man, Ballard would get laughs every time he’d enter Martin Lawrence’s apartment through the window for whatever reason struck his fancy, hold up four fingers and announce he was from “the fif flo”.
Ballard had made films (Lock Up, Menace II Society) and done television (The Bernie Mac Show, The Parkers, Sister, Sister, Crumbs). The one thing Ballard didn’t know was could he do stand-up comedy. Reynaldo Rey answered that question for him. Rey suggested to Ballard that since he had all that notoriety from being on a comedy why not parlay that into a stand-up career. He mentored Ballard; gave him pointers and directed him to places he could perform to get his feet wet. This assistance opened up a whole new career for the journeyman actor, who now tours the globe as an established stand-up comedian.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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