Harvey strives to mix laughter with message

Steve Harvey is a renaissance man.

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Associated Press

Comedian Steve Harvey said he found different ways to use his gift, comedy so he could have a diverse career. He has performed stand-up, starred in a television show and, this year, written a book that made it to the top of The New York Times best-sellers list.

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He has a syndicated drive-time radio show, a successful sitcom history, a fashion line, and this year wrote Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think about Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment, a dating-and-relationships guide that topped The New York Times' best-seller list.

It's an empire built on a foundation of laughter by Mr. Harvey, who is set to perform his stand-up act Saturday at James Brown Arena.

"I try to explain to young people that the thing you have to do is find out what your gift is," he said in a recent telephone interview. "Once you find out what that is, one thing will feed off the other. Let your gift become your passion."

Mr. Harvey said he developed and diversified his career by finding commonalities. He found ways to adapt the basic skills of comedy.

"Comedy is a microphone and a spotlight and a stool," he said. "I discovered that if I hang that mike from a television or movie set, well, I could make money from that. If I put it on a table at a radio station, I could make money from that. I used my gift."

Mr. Harvey began his career as a stand-up comedian in the mid-1980s. Although he's cutting back his gigs, he said the careful application of humor is important to everything he does. He said comedy is powerful, because it makes meaningful messages easier to deliver.

"It's something I learned from Bill Cosby," he said. "He had me to his house in 1993 and he told me that if you can make a person laugh, you can sell them anything. That's when you can slide in a message, say a lot of stuff."

Mr. Harvey said that while his comedy vacillates somewhere between classic Cosby and the blue streak delivery of Richard Pryor, it's Mr. Cosby who informs how he approaches his career.

"I haven't always been as squeaky clean as Bill, but he's a real role model," Mr. Harvey said.

Being a role model, he said, is a responsibility he takes seriously. He said as a public person, he will influence his fans. He said the realization that his action might affect more than himself has altered the way he approaches everything.

"I think about that when I'm selecting what I do," he said. "I'm still going to be funny and I may make the occasional off-color remark, but the message matters. I'm preparing my legacy here, and I don't just want to be the funny guy."

Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.