PEABODY — Gary Gulman, a nationally-acclaimed comedian and Peabody native, kicks off his new comedy tour “Born on Third Base” at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
In this new material, Gulman addresses class inequalities, chronicling his impoverished childhood which included food stamps, free lunch and welfare checks and addressing the wealth gap in modern America.
Gulman started his career more than 25 years ago, first performing at the Nick’s Comedy Stop in Boston. He went on to create four TV specials and perform on every single late-night comedy program.
Gulman’s most recent stand-up special for HBO, “The Great Depresh,” came out in 2019 and was produced by Judd Apatow. In this hybrid comedy-meets-documentary special, Gulman detailed his experience living with depression. The comedian opened up about having a major depressive episode that had prevented him from working for two years and undergoing electroconvulsive-therapy treatment at a psychiatric hospital.
Gulman grew up in a Jewish family in Peabody with a single mother and two brothers. He graduated from Peabody Veterans Memorial High School. In the HBO special, Gulman said that he wasn’t a good student. He was a sensitive boy who spent a lot of time playing basketball alone. He described himself as “Charlie Brown, had Snoopy died.”
Due to his height (he is 6 feet, 6 inches tall) and build, Gulman was recruited to play football in high school and received a football college scholarship to Boston College.
In 2019, he appeared in the movie “Joker.” According to the tour’s press release, Gulman will be seen co-starring with Amy Schumer in an upcoming Hulu comedy series, “Life & Beth.” He is also currently writing a memoir tentatively titled “K Through 12 for Flatiron Books.”
On Nov. 13, Gulman will be performing at Carnegie Hall for the New York Comedy Festival.
Tickets for Gulman’s shows can be purchased at www.GaryGulman.com.
Alena Kuzub can be reached at [email protected].
