Alex Thomas stood in line for 14 hours for his 3 minutes of stage time at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, CA. It was 1992 and Thomas had decided to take his friends’ advice to a start a career in comedy. Previously, he was known for his dance moves and worked with talents like Rosie Perez and Jennifer Lopez on the show, “In Living Color.”
Once he was off stage after doing his bit, Thomas was approached by Will Smith, the star of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” which had been on air for about a year at the time.
Smith asked Thomas, “Do you write?”
Thomas responded, “You got a pen?”
And the rest is history, as they say.
You can catch Thomas at the Odori Nightclub Friday night, where he will perform with two other comedians, Billy Sorrells from Houston and Celebrity the Comedian from Dallas.
From his first encounter with Smith, Thomas went on to co-write several episodes of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” and then later on became an on-camera star in films like, “The Players Club,” “Two Can Play That Game,” and “Woman Thou Art Loosed.”
His next project is an animated children’s series on the history of Motown, produced by Netflix, due to be released in May.
The Odori Nightclub is a family-owned business that open its doors to customers just a week before the Crossroads area was hit by Hurricane Harvey.
Heather Steinkuehler, co-owner and CFO of Odori, said she hopes to see plenty of people out enjoying themselves Friday night.
Steinkuehler said she was able to book such a high-profile act like Thomas by partnering with Charles ‘Pop’ DeRouen, a Victoria native and promoter.
“Pop loves the entertainment industry and in years past has been heavily involved in bringing musical acts to Victoria,” Steinkuehler said.
To purchase tickets click here.
The Odori Nightclub is located at 801 S Laurent St, Victoria, TX 77901. Here is a link to the Facebook event.
You can also follow Thomas on Instagram at @funnymanalexthomas.
Be sure to check out our full interview with Thomas by watching the video below: