Bobbie Oliver is one of Los Angeles’ funniest comics, but she had to come a long way to get here. Born Barbara “Bobbie” Evans in Covington, GA, a small town outside Atlanta whose chief claim to fame was being used for location shooting for The Dukes of Hazard TV series, Bobbie grew up in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom trailer inhabited by a family of seven. The economy was depressed, and so were the people. Bobbie found escape in staying up late with her father to watch The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Carson and the comedians who performed on his show became an inspiration to her.

Studying theatre in high school, Bobbie discovered that she had a gift for comedy, and followed this path to the renowned theatre program at LaGrange College in LaGrange, GA. At the age of 19, frustrated by the limited scope of the college theatre program, she started Lost Comedy, a group that put on variety shows featuring stand-up and sketch comedy. It was in this group that she met her future husband, writer Chris Oliver. On her twenty-first birthday, Bobbie took the stand-up act that she had been honing with the group to the Punchline Comedy Club in Atlanta. She killed.

After receiving a B.A. in Speech Communications and Theatre and marrying Chris, Bobbie moved to Athens, GA. From that base Bobbie began working the grueling comedy circuit of the East Coast. Comedy clubs, colleges, one-nighters, military bases, corporate gigs, frat parties…you name it, Bobbie did it, for seven years. This experience, the comedy school of hard knocks, has provided her with a rock-solid foundation that cannot be acquired through any other means.

In 1998, tired of the road, Bobbie and Chris made the move to Los Angeles. Ready to make a new start, Bobbie completely scrapped over an hour of material and started fresh. With a completely new act, she won Uncle Clyde’s Comedy Contest, The Superbowl of Comedy, and was named “Best of the Fest” at the Hollywood Ha Ha Festival. She went on to perform at The Riviera in Las Vegas, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, The Comedy Store, The Improv, and The Ice House, and she is a regular on the LA comedy scene.

After 17 years of performing stand-up comedy, Bobbie decided that she might have something to offer as a comedy teacher. Bobbie started the StandUp Academy in 2003 as a workshop at the Extended Learning Center of Pasadena City College. She then moved the class to its home at The Ice House Comedy Club in Pasadena.

The StandUp Academy continues to turn everyday people into full-fledged comedians, and now offers an Advanced class for working LA comics. StandUp Academy graduates have gone on to perform on The Tonight Show, BRAVO, E!, the Aspen Comedy Festival, The Ice House, The Improv, The Comedy Store, The Friar's Club, and to win comedy contests all over the Los Angeles area. Some have shared the stage with Chris Rock, Emo Philips, Andrew Dice Clay, Norm MacDonald, Dave Attell, and more. Others have simply continued their lives and careers with a new sense of fun and self- confidence, and a new group of friends!

Bobbie Oliver continues to work as a standup comedian, public speaker, writer, and comedy producer, as well as instructor and mama to hundreds of Los Angeles comics.