Most people have seen Martin Lawrence's sitcom, Martin. If you're old enough, you caught it when it first ran in the 1990s, and helped establish Fox as a legitimate contender in the network ratings wars. If not, you've probably seen it in reruns on a random cable channel late at night. Even though it only ran for five years, it made an impression that still resonates decades later.
So did its star, Martin Lawrence. Lawrence's outrageous personas and comedy left their mark on audiences, and he followed up with action movies like the Bad Boys franchise with Will Smith (word is a third installment is in the works) and comedies like the Big Momma's House franchise (no word on a fourth one, and that might be for the best).
Big Momma's House doesn't really showcase Lawrence's true talents, anyway. Hopefully, fans remember You So Crazy, his stand-up comedy film that was released in theaters. It's not as iconic as Eddie Murphy's Raw, but it still has its share of powerful and funny moments. It captured Lawrence at the height of his popularity, going back to his stand-up roots and delivering a frenzy of animated, adult comedy.
It's also is a pretty good template for what to expect when Lawrence performs on stage, and he'll be doing just that on his Live Doin' Time tour, which comes to town Sept. 12 at The Straz Center's Carol Morsani Hall. Tickets for the show go on sale at the venue's website on Friday at 10 a.m., so get good seats while you can.
Showtime is Saturday, Sept. 12, at 8 p.m. Tickets go on sale Friday, July 31, at 10 a.m. $39.50-$110. 1010 N. MacInnes Place in Tampa. Info: strazcenter.org or 813-229-7827.
This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2015.