John Marks is the type of comedian who can do a squeaky clean corporate show with original material and make the suits happy and laugh and he can also take a crowded bar full of smoking, drinking, sarcastic ne’re de wells on a beautiful ride to comedic enlightenment. From original material about growing up in Mississippi in the 60’s and being raised in the Catholic church, the son of a Catholic mother and a Jewish Father who graduated from West Point Military Academy on D-Day and married his Mom on the same day, then served under Patton in WWII and taught at West Point after the war, to having 3 older brothers in Vietnam, one a Marine, one a Navy Seal, and the other a Green Beret, helped John develop a keen since of humor as a kid in order to survive daily household living. Recalling his oldest brother practicing his chokeholds on John at the pool during summer family outings with his mom excusing that brotherly behavior because Fred, the Marine was practicing his moves he used to kill the Viet Cong and it was protecting the country so it was okay to almost drown John in the pool,… is something everybody can relate to. 

John’s show also branches out into original material about the frustrations of balancing a checkbook “Do you ever try to balance your checkbook, you just can’t do it, so you close your account and open another account at another bank?”, owning a car with 298,000 miles on it “I never have to wash it.”, to relationships, and kids, to time he spent waiting tables and the silliness that goes on when people order pizzas “I got a question about your menu, uh, how big is your 16” pizza?”,  to playing original comedic material with his alto saxophone that he also used to open for Chicago and the Moody Blues.

Why John is perfect for all events except squirrel hunts.

Some of his most famous material is about growing up in the south “Stupid people are equally distributed around the country. US Congress is proof of that!”, but also about living in DC and doing hundred’s of shows at the famous Comedy Café, 2 blocks from the White House. “It was the only spot on the planet where  I  could make 175 people laugh, walk outside to my booted car, break my key in the frozen lock , almost get robbed (a cop came around the corner and the guy ran), then look up and see the White House where our nations leader is snugly sound asleep. That combination is rare these days. The club is a pool hall last checked.

John’s credits include being the author of Lost Quotes, (Custer approaching Little Big Horn “Man, wouldn’t it suck if there were thousands of Indians over that hill!”) (Collaborated on with his great friend, the famous Chris Bonno), being on Showtime, performing for Comic Relief, Gilda’s Club, and opening for Jim Carrey, Drew Carey, Ricky Mokel and Jeff Foxworthy.  John has also done shows for such famous people as Bill Clinton,  and Shaquille O’Neal. (Hey they were in the crowd!)

The Austin Chronicle describes Marks as a “certifiable character”. His act has been described as “subtle energetic outrageousness”. Comedy, as an art form, has many great practitioners. John Marks is a natural, unique original comedian well worth seeing at any opportunity, except for squirrel hunts.