Bobbie Oliver is one of America’s funniest comics, but she had to come a long way to get here. Born Barbara “Bobbie” Evans in Covington, GA, the city where The Dukes of Hazard was filmed, she grew up dirt poor in the Dirty South. The economy was depressed and so were the people.

 Bobbie found escape in staying up late with her father to watch The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Carson and the comedians who performed on his show, including Roseanne, Brett Butler, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Lily Tomlin and Garry Shandling, became an inspiration to her.

 

Studying theatre in high school, Bobbie discovered that she had a gift for comedy and went on to receive a BA in theatre from LaGrange College, where she founded a standup comedy group with her future husband Chris Oliver.  After graduating Bobbie and Chris moved to the cultural hub of Athens, GA. From that base, Bobbie began working the grueling comedy circuit of the East Coast. Comedy clubs, colleges, one-nighters, military bases, corporate gigs, frat parties…you name it, Bobbie did it, for seven years. This experience, the comedy school of hard knocks, has provided her with a rock-solid foundation that cannot be acquired through any other means.

In 1998, tired of the road, Bobbie and Chris made the move to Los Angeles. Ready to make a new start, Bobbie completely scrapped over an hour of material and started fresh. In 2004, she founded the renowned comedy school StandUp Academy, and in 2013, opened Tao Comedy Studio, where she currently teaches her Tao of Comedy workshops. Bobbie has appeared on TNN, The Style Network, Entertainers with Byron Allen, at The Riviera in Las Vegas, The Ice House Comedy Club, Flappers, The Improv, The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club, The Comedy Store and many clubs, colleges and corporate events, including NASA, USC and congressional fundraisers.  She has won many comedy contests, including the Hollywood Ha-Ha Festival and the L.A. Soup-or-Bowl of Comedy, and was featured on the cover of Pasadena Weekly.  Bobbie is the author of The Tao of Comedy: Embrace the Pause, to be published in 2012.  Bobbie Oliver is smarter, sexier and funnier than ever, and her Southern charm wins over audiences wherever she performs.