MY LIFE

Although Guy's mom was struggling to make ends meet as a single mom raising multiple children, as an educator she knew the improtance of a good education and enrolled them into a parochial school feeling that the public school system wasn't effieciant enough even though she taught in them. A strong foundation in Christianity was also important. Her sacrifice was nothing short oof AMAZING. She did her very best to raise her children to be strong, independent and rooted in CHRIST. 

Catholic school would be an extension of what was going on at home , the reenforcement of faith in CHRIST and discipline. These were the years where Guy's creative brain and doing more than what was required were non full display.  He was quite the performer as well. Whenever there were science fairs  or performances, Guy went above and beyond.  His science projects always won first prize and standing in front the class to recite "The Night Before Christmas"  story  Guy shined like a beacon of light. This was part of the 

 journey.

Because this was the 1800's, well it seemed like it was, Guy's left handless was not popular amongst the teachers who were Nuns. The Catholic church for years thought being left handed was a c curse. They believed that when your were left handed, or "Wrong Handed" as they referred it as,  you owned the devil a days work. I am the ONLY. lifted handed one in the family. Not his Dad, his Mom and none of his siblings are left handed. The nuns would noon allow him to use left hand scissors. They tried to break him.  To this day, Guy can't cut with left handed scissors. 

Guy was an Alter Boy at St. Mark's Catholic Church. Next door to the church was DePorres Elementary School , formally St. Mark's School. Anyway,  when there was funeral, Guy would have to Serve the mass. During the week if the Church would have funeral services during the day, Guy would  have to leave class and serve the service. The Alter Boys that served, would get paid from the priest and also the family. On Sundays as fucked up as this is,  Guy and another Alter boy would look around church and make  bets on who would next who would be next to pass so we could get out of class and get paid. Sick I know, I was young. 

In seventh grade, again Guy loved standing in front of the class and performing. Well the school was having a school spelling bee contest to see who would move on to the next round to represent the school in the city spelling bee. Guy saw this as an opportunity to the center of attention again. The spelling would go on and Guy was great. He made it down to the final two. 

The announcer gives Guy his word. The word is ; "comedienne" . Guy repeats the word and with asking the definition, he confidently spells the word.  "C-O-M-E-D-I-A-N" with a huge smile of his face, he stood there proud. the buzzer sounds. He misspelled the word. He spelled "Comedian" the male version the word. The word was "Comedienne" the female version. he did this not knowing years later being a comedian should be his career. 

This was it. The end of elementary school and junior high and on to puberty. Testicles starting to drop and time to find another use for his "man hood" below. His voice was changing, his  body was changing and so was his identity, he thought. 

Guy had had most of the teachers his older siblings had and Joe being the one he directly followed. Joe was unforgettable to his teachers. he was bad. Got in trouble. Guy and Joe resemble each other and people often got them. confused. When Guy came along, Joe's old teachers would be no different.  Joe left such an impression that they would mistakenly call me Joe. I learned quickly that I had t find a way to establish my own identity. I thought once I got to High School, I could start  to make a name for myself. Boy was I wrong. 

 Southeast Missouri State University is where Guy chose to get his higher education. SEMO as it is affectionately called is a 109 miles from St. Louis located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri . It's a quick 2 hour drive from the mid-major city and  is where Guy would really grow into the personality he is today. The stage was bigger and the jokes were on steroids. Guy, like in high school was the campus clown. He was not alone, his crew of friends were just as funny as he was. This was Def Comedy Jam before Def Comedy Jam but just  playing the dozens. This may have been the prequel to where Guy is today. 

People often ask Guy, is that his real name? Robert Guy Torry II is his legal full name. His siblings called him Bobby, short for Robert. His mom and dad called him B.B. for Baby Boy. His friends called him Torry. The government called him Robert. He actually thought Guy was a strange name until in 1988 a new  R & B group came out named GUY. They were the shit and the ladies LOVED them and the name. So guess who decided to start using their middle name? You guessed it. Guy started using his middle name long before Hollywood. It's sounds Hollywood, but Tinsel Town hd nothing to do with how Robert got the name GUY!

One oof Guy's early influences was noon other than FLAVOR FLAV a member of the legendary Hip Hop group "Public Enemy" Flavor Flav was a character. He had rap skills but he was in his own world. Guy loved that. that was his guy. When one oof his college buddies and his college room mate, Stan "One Man Stan" Joseph and Leon "Ace Man Lee"  Whitener teamed up with up and coming "Kid K" in Cape Girardeau, Mo, they formed a Rap group named "Brothers Like Us" They asked Guy if he wanted too join and of course Guy being the attention whore he is said yes and went by the Rap name: "Tasty T" in honor of "Flavor Flav. 

The University Center at SEMO was the Student Union. This is where the parties were, some adminstravie offices and the best cafeteria on campus. This is where you could grab breakfast lunch and dinner. At lunch time every day, this is where the action was. This is where Guy and his hooligans would commandeer a section in front of a huge glass window and it was "Show Time"  It was a full blown "fool party". Like the school bus, you either had a front row seat or you were a target. Five days a week at lunch time, people gathered around for the show. 

Birds of a feather flock together. Everyone I hung around in college had thick skin. We were all from the city and we all were funny. Guy and his friends were Moor prankers than gangstas. Guy's  roommate Leon Whitener was not different. They would take turns either pranking each other or someone else. In this photo, Guy's roommate got him with the baby powder. We were too broke to afford cocaine so you can stop trying to guess. All our pranks were so fun and never personal or malicious. They had a ball in college. Maybe to much fun. 

The first stand up comedian Guy had ever seen live in his life was a Korean comedian from Tennessee named Henry Cho. The show was one oof those free comedy shows the university brings in as a student activity. At this point Guy didn't realized at that  time that  comedy was actaully a real job. Henry was funny. He came on stage talking in a THICK Korean accent. Then a few jokes later he'd go into his Tennessean accent. It blew my mind. The bug that bit Guy to do stand up was later, but Guy feels that planted the seed. 

The Fraternity Phi Beta Sigma was having a telent show on campus. Still not knowing that stand Up comedy was a profession, Guy begged to be on the show as an opener/ host. He really didn't have a set or jokes per say, but between seeing comedian Henry Cho on stage and his brother Joe on "Showtime at The Apollo",  He was going to figure it out. He went on stage and just talked shit! The same thing he had done on the school busses and in the University Center except this time he had a mic in his had. It was a smash. He ruffled some feathers, but what comic doesn't? 

Epididymal Hypertension. Street name: Blue Balls. Most men don't experience them and it's not too dangerous, but when it does happen iIt's NO fun. Guy experienced this condition multiple times in college. Because he was none for making people  laugh, girls would call Guy's dorm room late night early morning, you know booty call hours. They would ask if he could meet them on the stairs of the library. Guy would get dressed quicker than Donald Trump could tell a lie and rush over to Kent Library. Studying  there was the furthest from his mind. he'd get there and they would want him to make them laugh because they had just broken up with their boyfriend and need cheering up. They would leave happy and Guy as deflated as a 3 week old balloon. Leaving with 

Epididymal Hypertension.

Guy was caught up in a case of mistaken identity. There was a Frat party in the University Center. Phi Beta Sigma was having a shin dig. The party was going well. The different Fraternities and Sororities were stepping around the party. The guys were dancing with the ladies. (They did that back then) It was going well. Then all of a sudden, some scuffling started. Fists to cuffs ensues. Some guys were starting to fight. It was one Fraternity fighting a different one. The Sigmas vs The Quest (Omega PsI Phi). What was strange was there was only one member of the Que's that attended SEMO. Where did these other Ques come from? Apparently, some Que's came from a near by college and a fight broke out. it looked like an old western bar fight in a saloon. Somebody grabbed Guy from behind and Guy, turned around and just swung. Bad idea, it was a cop. The cop went down, and rest  was history. Guy got roughed up by the other cops and taken to jail. Yep. Number across his chest and 3 hots and a cot.