Michael Colyar's One Man Show Comes to Chicago in December

I had the pleasure of interviewing Chicago actor, comedian and author Michael Colyar who is coming to the Windy City for three days (Dec. 21-23) to perform his One Man Show ("Michael Colyar's Momma") about his love for God, his mother, his life and how he overcame his 23 years of drug addiction.

What shook me the most about meeting him and talking to him for an hour was his positive thinking, his energy, wisdom and his outlook on life. You rarely meet such people who posses all of those qualities in one. The way he made me feel in this one hour and the way he inspired me is how he will touch the ones who will come and check out his show, which will be performed in 100 cities across America.

Michael's goal is to have charity and church organizations, shelters buy tickets for the drug addicts so that they can benefit and hopefully change their lives from seeing the show and hearing first hand how Michael overcame his addiction.

"A lot of people won't go the other way until they hit their bottom. I had reached my personal low - I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, trying not to wake up my wife, sneaking out watching her cry, feeling bad about myself and feeling guilty about blowing my money and my integrity. I was tired of being that person. I started praying. I said God I want you to make me sick if I try to go near that drug or I think about it and I got to the point where when I thought about cocaine my stomach would bubble up and I would get terrible headaches. I couldn't drive near the street where I would get my drugs. I was physically ill. It was the power of the mind. Now you can put all cocaine in front of me and I won't touch it. I am not tempted. I don't miss it and it doesn't attract me. I am attracted to being a better person," said Michael.

During my interview Michael didn't mostly talk about himself as I expected but he also focused on giving me great advice about the relationship with my mother and what he did to have a great relationship with his. "I love my momma. My mother died 8 years ago (tearing up about his mom). I think about how great she is. Everywhere I go she is with me," he said.

Michael Colyar and his mother / Courtesy of Michael Colyar

In addition to comedy, Michael is in the peak of his life as he puts it. He is busy working on several projects, TV shows, his clothing line, his book and he is in love with a beautiful woman. As he puts it "He is hard to ignore but impossible to forget" and "living the dream." "We all have a choice. If you don't like where you are choose again. I just chose differently for myself," he said.

Michael gives us all a great advice: "As actors when we are on stage we are not supposed to act for the audience we act for ourselves. If you try they see you. Your life is the stage. You are the creator of all of it." His kindness never stops . Michael loves to help the homeless and do what's right. He has been broke 17 times and rich 3 times. He says the secret is to be content with what you have and know that you are already rich now and build from there instead of complaining about "how broke you are." Michael consistently performed every weekend, 5 shows a day on Venice Beach and was dubbed the "King of Venice Beach" while performing 9 years straight. He shared his Star Search prize with the homeless. "I did it because I wanted to help people and I love people. I would feed the homeless and buy them 10 meals. When I gave away $37,000 to a homeless shelter I couldn't touch the ground, I was floating. It was a great feeling," he said.

Michael is best known for his starring roles in Blackish, House Party III, Norbit, The Princess & The Frog, and his role as Mr. Whitaker on the hit television series “Martin”.

His mission for the One Man Show is "to bring to stage a powerful, healing, funny, loving story about redemption, recovery, family, God and the overwhelming energizing liberating power of our Mothers. It will make you laugh, cry and even cheer with Joy as you walk through the life of a true artist, a funny dude and a passionate loving man who will never give up on Life or You. A man who loves who he looks at in the mirror everyday because of his Mother and God."

What was interesting in our conversation is that Michael said he didn't get into his addiction because he had an alcoholic father or an addicted family. "I got into my addiction because I have an addictive personality and I like to have what I want to have. Next thing you know I am stuck in it. I had fun when I was getting high. I was partying but I lost so much from it - jobs, opportunities and friends. I can change my life any point I choose to but which point should I choose. If you don't like where you are choose again and choose different. It is really that easy," he said.

Michael also has a blog for celebrities where they share their personal stories of sobriety called The Happy Beginnings Podcast: https://thehappypod.fireside.fm/.

To purchase tickets to his One Man Show, go to: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3234768 and  http://therealmichaelcolyar.com/shows2/

You can find out more about Michael Colyar and what he is up to at his website: http://therealmichaelcolyar.com/.