Mike Garcia spoke with Aloha State Daily in Waikīkī before the show on Thursday, April 3.
North Shore comedian Mike Garcia laughs ... a lot. Walking in the door of Romer House Waikīkī, he stopped to take photos with two of the staff members who heard his laugh and immediately recognized him as the Instagram star @IslandMagicMike.
On Thursday, April 3, and Friday, April 4, Garcia will open for “Chris Pontius & Friends,” which is part of the Romer House Waikīkī’s new monthly series called “House Comedy.” The show features Pontius, a star of the reality series “Jackass,” as well as Rachel Wolfson from the movie “Jackass Forever.”
Ahead of the poolside show, Garcia spoke with Aloha State Daily about how he got his start in comedy.
“To be honest, I have been a goofball my entire life,” Garcia said. “But professionally, it obviously started when Covid hit. I lost my job at the time. I wasn’t working. ... One of my nephews had a funny video that he was watching on Instagram. I really wasn't on social media much, and it made me laugh. But I was like: ʻBruh, that's hilarious. I can do a local-style way better, guaranteed.’ ”
His nephew challenged him to follow through and posted that video.
“And ever since then, everybody just wanted more and more and more,” he said. “It’s just been a blessing.”
Now, Garcia is emceeing for weddings and events. He is also performing at the Blue Note in Honolulu on May 4, and at the Grand Naniloa Hotel in Hilo on May 10. The comedian will also be in Henderson, near Las Vegas, Nevada, in July, as well as in Pasadena, California, in August, he said.
The Kahuku High School graduate had a few different gigs before making comedy a full-time profession. In school, he was a running back for his high school football team, which won a state championship in 2003. Later, he was a drummer for a reggae band. He also worked as a prision guard at the Halawa Correctional Facility.
“For about three years, I worked there — and with my character and who I am — my personality just doesn't fit well,” Garcia said. “When I tell people that I used to be a prison guard, they're like: ‘What? How does that work?’ But hey, in Hawaiʻi, you got to make money somehow.”
But Garcia credits the decade he spent working at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, as inspiration for a lot of his skits.
“That's how I got the name Island Magic Mike,” Garcia said, referring to the name of his Instagram account. “Disney magic because I made magic happen at that hotel.”
Being a full-time comedian was not the plan.
“I never thought of it — that it could be my career, which now it is, and it's been a blessing,” Garcia said. “Laughter and joy, growing up in Hawai'i, that's just who we are and how I was raised to be.”
In addition to a list of professional comedians, Garcia looks up to his brother, who was six years older than him. Watching him be goofy inspired him to do the same, he said.
“My brother is now in in heaven, and I miss him so much,” Garcia said. “But my brother was more of a goofball than me.”
Wondering about “Samantha,” the mythical second person who is always offscreen in Garcia’s skits? He was re-enacting how some tourists were trying to keep their balance while walking on the reef.
“The name Samantha just rolled off my tongue,” he said. “And it stuck ever since.”
The comedian spoke with ASD following a trip to Boise, Idaho. As soon as he landed on Oʻahu, he went straight to the store to pick up some local grinds.
“I had to get my fresh poke, and I had to go jump in the water because it's so muggy,” he said. “It was onolicious.”
Chris Pontius & Friends perform at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 3, and 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday, April 4. Buy tickets.
