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Greg Travis

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For the Houston politician, see Greg Travis (politician).
Greg Travis
Born (1958-07-31) July 31, 1958 (age 66)
Dallas, Texas
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian
Parent(s)Gerald Travis
Elaine Dennehy-Travis
RelativesStacey Travis (sister)
William B. Travis (ancestor)

Greg Travis (born July 31, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian and actor.[1]

Based in the U.S. he created the comedy character David Sleaze, The Punk Magician, in which he wore a punk rock-style wig and does a variety of bad magic tricks using audience participation.[2] This routine appeared on Rodney Dangerfield's HBO specials.

Early life

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Travis was born July 31, 1958, in Dallas, Texas, the son of Gerald Travis and Elaine Dennehy-Travis, with one younger sister; actress Stacey Travis. At the age of twelve, Travis began performing as a magician and winning many school talent shows. In High school, he won the talent competition in the school talent shows and also won best comedy magician at the Texas Association of Magicians convention. In his senior year in high school, Travis became vice president of the Thespian Drama Club and made a feature-length film entitled "Joe Dynomite". Also he appeared in many of the school's play productions. After obtaining an Associate Arts degree at Richland College, Travis headed for Hollywood, where he attended Sherwood Oaks Film School.

Career

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Comedy

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While attending film school Greg began performing stand up comedy at The Improv and Comedy Store. Six months later he appeared on "America's Search For Tomorrow's Stars". This led to regular spots at "Bud Friedman"s Improvisation". He began appearing as a regular guest on the talk show circuit, Dinah Shore, The Merv Griffin Show, a Steve Allen Special and Evening at the Improv. The William Morris Agency signed Greg as his representation. He began landing small acting roles in film and TV, while developing a strong stand-up act, headlining at all the major comedy clubs across the country. In 1986 he worked for Saturday Night Live making short comedy films, appearing regularly on Evening at the Improv he was also the opening act for stars like James Brown, Tom Jones and Dolly Parton. In 1990 Greg appeared on a Rodney Dangerfield HBO Special, which made his routine The Punk Magician famous. This led to him being the opening act for Cher on a long East Coast tour.

Greg has performed comedy on television shows such as: Surprise Surprise, Thicke of the Night, Sunday Funnies, Showtime Comedy Night, Comedy Club Network, Comic Strip Live, Evening at the Improv, Into the Night, The Tonight Show, Comedy Central, and Lewis Black's Root of all Evil.

Acting

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Travis was cast in the co-starring role of Phil Newkirk in the film Showgirls.[1] Showgirls was followed by such films as Lost Highway,[1] Starship Troopers,[1] Poodle Springs[1] and Man on the Moon.[1]

Travis also produced and starred in a theatrical production called "America the Bizarre" where he played seven different characters in full make-up and costume, ending with a dead on impression of Lord Buckley. He also received positive reviews for his portrayal of Andy Warhol in the stage play Girl of the Year. Travis has appeared in several television shows, including CSI Miami, Strong Medicine, and Cold Case.

Travis has worked with such directors as David Lynch, Paul Verhoeven, Bob Rafelson, and Miloš Forman. His recent roles include Rob Zombie's Halloween II, Zack Snyder's Watchmen as Andy Warhol, Night of the Living Dead 3D, and Sex & Death 101.

Filmmaking

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After film school Greg began making short comedy videos with his New York City based friend David Daniel. Together they made “Last Tango in Poland”, “Carlos the Artist”, “1984 Now”, “Double Exposure”, “Complainer Vs. Complainer”, “Who’s Afraid Now”, “Hildegard” and “The Fine Line of Charlie James”. In 1984 Greg partnered with Steve Bishart and they co-wrote, co-produced with Greg Directing a 16mm feature-length black-and-white film noir “DARK SEDUCTION”, starring Tyler Horn as detective Dic Jones and Victoria Hughie as Vera The Vampiress. Greg continued to make short videos with fellow Texan and filmmaker Louis Roth such as “Dreamdate”, “The Last Date”, “Home Life”, “Ultra Dopes on Punk” and “Kaptain Komack on The Planet of Death”.

In 1986 Greg was hired to make short films for “Saturday Night Live” entitled “Andy Warhols 15 Second Workout” and a Nick Nolte spoof “Never Get Out Of Bed”. Later Greg directed two music videos which aired on MTV called "Immune System Breakdown" and "The Art of Noise". In 89/90 Greg directed two Independent pilots “GT Ink” for CBS and “The Decadants” for Playboy Cable.

As a screenwriter Greg has written twenty feature film screen plays. Three of which were for Paramount, Disney and HBO. In 2003 Greg wrote, directed a feature-length psychological thriller entitled “Night Creep”. Recently Greg wrote and directed a web series entitled Drama Kings www.dramakings.net. He continues to make short films, like “Eat The Rich”, “Super Spy Love” and “Hot Soup”. He is currently developing two feature-length films for production, “Bofugly” and “The Sinner”.

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Greg Travis". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-03-25.
  2. ^ (28 August 1987). Television, Los Angeles Daily News ("nifty set by standup comedian Greg Travis, whose gallery of impressions and characters includes foul-mouthed "punk magician" David Sleaze")
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