Atlanta’s Bruce Bruce lands first Netflix special: ‘It was time!’

Atlanta stand-up specialist Bruce Bruce is the true definition of a road comic.

After 36 years working stages across the country, the vibrant storyteller continues to hit the road almost every weekend, logging more than 250 shows a year.

And for the first time in 15 years, he has released a stand-up special, landing on the biggest platform in streaming: Netflix. Shot in Chicago, the one-hour show is dubbed, “I Ain’t Playin’.”

“It was time!” said Bruce Bruce in an interview at Houston’s in Buckhead with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Fifteen years is a long time. I’m still selling clubs and theaters out, but I hope this takes me to a whole different level.”

Bruce Bruce, whose real name is Bruce Church, said he wants to expand his fan base from his core Black audience. “I like mixed crowds,” he said.

During the special, he talks about his relationship with the members of Outkast, landing in the act’s 2000 video for “So Fresh, So Clean,” playing a pimp in a lavender Versace suit, and acting in their 2006 film “Idlewild.” He recalls Big Boi and Andre 3000 coming to his comedy shows in the mid-1990s, he told the AJC.

“I was like their big brother,” he said. “I’d hang out with T.I., Goodie Mob, Ludacris.”

With the air of a wise uncle on a front porch, he is a high-energy anecdote machine on his Netflix special, whether he’s talking about his wife LaShella’s obsession with purses, a preacher who whistles while he talks or using a manual lawn mower as a kid.

“I don’t tell jokes,” he tells the crowd. “I tell real-life stories and make ‘em funny.”

Bruce Bruce was born a Grady baby and only child who grew up in the Bluffs on the Westside, a tough neighborhood at the time. He was a goofball, loving comics like Richard Pryor and Flip Wilson.

His mom Ruby kept him out of trouble: “She told me not to touch the drugs, and I was scared of her more than anybody. My mom would kill me and you, buddy!”

Bruce Bruce (real name: Bruce Church) is a lifelong Atlantan who has been doing standup for more than 30 years. (Publicity Photo)

Instead, he graduated high school and went to work at Frito-Lay delivering chips to stores. “I used to sell a bag and eat three bags,” he joked during the special. But he knew that job wasn’t his destiny.

At age 27, he made his first jokes during amateur night at the newly opened (and ultimately short-lived) Comedy Act Theatre in Midtown.

“When I got on stage, for some reason, I knew this is what I should be doing my entire life,” Bruce Bruce said. “I just knew I enjoyed doing comedy. So I took it and ran with it.”

He became a busy club comic, then got TV exposure on shows like “Def Comedy Jam,” “Showtime at the Apollo” and “BET ComicView.”

While time spent on the road can lead to unhealthy habits, Bruce Bruce said he’s tried to keep an eye on his physical well-being.

“I’ve lost weight, gained it back,” he said. “But I’m healthy. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke.”

A natural flirt, during the lunch with the AJC, he eyed an attractive female server and said, “You’re looking super sexy today. Is that OK to say?”

She smirked and said, “As long as you keep your hands on the table and keep your clothes on!”

He grinned: “I’m trying to keep my composure!”

Despite the flirtatiousness, he’s happily married. (He has three grown children from a previous marriage.)

Bruce Bruce attends the premiere of "Top Five" at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Gary Abdo, who runs Atlanta Comedy Theatre in Norcross, has known Bruce Bruce since the 1990s when Abdo ran Uptown Comedy Corner.

“He’s not only funny but he has drive, determination and hustle,” he said. “Having a Netflix special just validates his career journey.”