Brad Stine

Brad Stine (born January 21, 1960 ) is an American comedian and author.

Biography

Early life Stine was born and raised in Bremen, Indiana by Jerry and Nancy Stine. His father was an auto-body repairman and front man for a local musical combo called the Regents, and his mother was a housewife who was a devout Christian. He is the second of four children. He decided to become a comedian in kindergarten when he and a classmate put on a puppet show.

Stine's parents divorced when he was eight, but they later remarried and moved to California, only to divorce again. He stayed with his father, who briefly left the auto-body business to travel with his brother to carnivals in the Midwest. His father later remarried and returned to his previous work.

Career Stine started practicing magic tricks at age 13, which later led to his performing magic in Southern California bars and restaurants. Stine also learned to perform sideshow stunts and began honing his comedy skills.

In the late 1980s, Stine was hired by a manager and toured colleges across the country with comedians Craig Anton and Emery Emery. His first television appearance was on Showtime’s Comedy Club Network.

Stine continued to work in comedy clubs and on TV, and eventually dropped his magic tricks and stunts. He started taking acting lessons and auditioned for movies and television shows.

Personal life He resides in Brentwood, Tennessee, with his wife Desiree, and their two children. In his 2003 debut album, Put a Helmet On! he identified as a conservative Christian.

Comedic style Stine's style has been described by Newsweek as "conservative " with a "rat-a-tat delivery"

Stine has claimed that his conservatism has sometimes resulted in the loss of appearances. Stine himself admits that much of his more extreme material is facetious and satirical, using ridiculous scenarios to make a finer point.

Major appearances Stine has appeared on several stand-up comedy shows, such as A&E’s Evening at the Improv and MTV's Half Hour Comedy Hour, and has appeared on news programs such as Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, CNN's Paula Zahn NOW and Glenn Beck, and the NBC Nightly News. Stine has also been interviewed on National Public Radio and has been featured on FOXNews.com the New Yorker, Stine founded GodMen, a proposed alternative to Promise Keepers that emphasizes "spiritual conservatism". GodMen's inaugural event was held on October 28, 2006, in Nashville, Tennessee, and drew 200 men. Their second event was held on March 10, 2007, in rented space at a Franklin, Tennessee, mall and drew about 300 men. Many more events were scheduled for 2007 and 2008. As of spring 2012, Stine has returned to Promise Keepers.

Acting work Stine has appeared in minor roles in the films Welcome to Paradise, Sarah's Choice, Homeless for the Holidays, Christmas with a Capital C and Persecuted.

Multimedia In September 2008, he was featured in the multi-comedian DVD The Apostles of Comedy, which also features comedian/actors Ron Pearson, Jeff Allen and Anthony Griffith. The four comedians have been touring the country as The Apostles of Comedy since 2008 and are scheduled through May 2009.

Books

Videos/recordings