Jon Reep did not win NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” because he had a HEMI. At least, he doesn’t think so. “Seriously? Come on man, you’re better than that,” Reep said. “But, yes, and I will be selling my HEMI on eBay soon.”
The comedian, who lives in Los Angeles but is from Hickory, North Carolina, recently won the latest round of NBC’s most popular talent show. But most people probably know him from the Dodge commercials. “Well, I was discovered at a Home Depot. I used to sale (sell) sweet corn out in front of the Home Depot in Hickory, and one day a guy in an old Dodge Charger pulled up in front so, I just yelled at him, ‘Hey that thing gotta HEMI?’” said Reep. “And he said, ‘Oh my God is that real? Get in here, I’m going to Hollywood.’ And the rest is history.”
Reep, who parlayed his success from the Dodge commercials into acting and stand-up, may have gotten the biggest break of his life, but nothing compares to what he left with from doing the car spots. “I got a truck. It’s a black 2006 1500 Quad Cab Dodge Laramie. It has heated bucket seats, Sirius satellite radio, and a GPS navigation system,” said Reep. “I love it, but I never get to drive it ‘cause I'm always on the road. So I’m going to sale (sell) it on eBay soon to the highest bidder and give a portion of the money to the American Diabetes Association.”
However, even though Reep is flying high with his success, it doesn’t mean that it’s always been smooth sailing. “The worst thing that I've experienced was I accidentally hit a girl in the forehead with a Zippo lighter one time. I was on stage at a club in Virginia and I asked for a lighter from the audience and this guy handed me a Zippo,” said Reep. “So I said, ‘Cool a Zippo, do you know any tricks? And I started hitting it on my leg to see if I could light it that way and it flew out of my hand and hit this poor girl square in the forehead at about mach 10. It knocked her head back and left a huge red rectangle that said OPPIZ. It was horrible.”
Now, Reep has a developed an act that proves why he is the last comic standing. “It’s funny. It elicits laughter. People always want to lump me in with the Blue Collar guys, and I'm flattered, but I'm different from them,” said Reep. “I’m not just “country.” I’m a mix of rock, pop, and hip-hop. I like to dance. You ain’t ever gonna see Bill Engvall gettin jiggy with it. My comedy isn’t just for blue or white collar people. My comedy is 100% collar (color) blind. All kinds of people come to my shows. Even Goth people, and they’re not blue or white collar, they’re dog collar.”
Aside from stand-up comedy, Reep is tinkering with the big screen. “Look for me in the new film “Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanomo Bay.” It comes out in theaters April 25th. I play a character named Raymus. I’m a redneck farmer from Alabama,” said Reep. “Also, I would love to add everyone reading this as a friend on MySpace. Just go to Myspace.com/JonReep.”
BYLINE:
Jason Tanamor is the Editor of Zoiks! Online. He is also the author of the novels, "Hello Lesbian!" and "Anonymous."
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