THE NATURE OF THE STAND-UP INDUSTRY can be quite competitive. In some cases famous comedians undergo long-standing hiatuses before coming back into the limelight. Many have successfully transitioned from comedy megastars into regular citizens and back again, but some comedians are not quite so lucky. Here are some names you may remember that aren’t seeing the spotlight quite as often anymore:
Martin Lawrence
Martin Lawrence has recently come back as a comedian with plans to star in Bad Boys 3 with Will Smith. For over 14 years however Martin Lawrence would retire from standup. His first standup special would come back in September of 2016, but during his long stand-off Martin reconnected with family and took a much-needed break.
Carlos Mencia
The comedian suffered a number of backlash incidents and accusations of plagiarism that nearly cost him his entire comedy career. It took a long and necessary hiatus to recover. Mencia lost over 70 pounds and launched a comeback with a brand-new tour. Although he may not be quite as prominent a comedian as before, he continues to tour and entertain audiences on a smaller scale.
Jim Carrey
Once famous for stand-up as well as his prominent roles in films like Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura, in the 90s it was very difficult to escape Jim Carrey. These days however he has only appeared in a few films every year generally of the art and festival variety. Jim Carrey is taking time off to slow down, focus on teaching others, working as an executive producer and more. “I’m Dying up here” is the latest project where he is executive producing a story of stand-up comedians from the 70s for the Showtime network.
These are just a few famous comedians who enjoyed their time in mega-stardom but have since slowed down their careers considerably. Keep in mind that any amount of fame is truly a gift and not everyone is able to sustain a long career as a stand up comedian, actor and high profile celebrity.