Epps returns to do what he does best

Mike Epps maintains a low-key attitude despite being a high-profile comedian. —Courtesy photo

Money and success can change your life in many ways, but they don’t have to change who you are. Mike Epps made that clear when he called June 22.

The high-profile comedian-actor is back in Hawaii this weekend and playing a one-nighter tonight at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.

Many fans will be waiting for Epps to pop the question — “Where the big girls at?” The phrase is the lead-in to his song that praises women of a certain size, and the song, “Big Girls,” is one of Epps’ signature bits. That said, there’s a lot more to the song than many people realize.

Yes, there are comic elements to it, but in other ways Epps is speaking from his heart.

“My mom’s a big lady, and my auntie. All of my people are big ladies, and all I remember (as a child) is falling asleep on a big lady in the summertime and waking up with your whole face and head sweaty from laying on their chest or shoulder or whatever at the barbecues. It’s something you never forget.”

With those few words Epps puts “Big Girls” in a different context.

The song and the video comment on issues that can be touchy in a society that often seems to define skinny, flat and bony as the physical ideal. But Epps’ song celebrates women of a certain size as a desirable companion, rather than a desirable body part.

“‘Big Girls’ represents fun,” Epps says. “Most big girls are really, really fun. They’re happy, (but) ‘Big Girls’ also represents struggle for — everything.

“It’s all about what you’re used to and grew up with, and I grew up with big, big, big women. That’s what I’m used to … the money and success doesn’t change who I am. ‘I like big girls/I cannot lie/If you need a man, baby/I’m that guy.’”

Epps was last here a little more than a year ago. Anyone who isn’t familiar with him and still undecided about catching the show can check out his 2006 television special, “Inappropriate Behavior,” in its entirety on YouTube.

Plenty of his other work is on YouTube as well — from chunks of his television specials to fans’ cellphone footage — but Epps says, “(YouTube) does nothing but help me.

“I don’t pay attention to YouTube, I just do what I do,” the comedian says. “If there’s a problem somewhere I’ll try to fix it.”

EPPS DOESN’T hold back when he talks about public figures — President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama, Michael Jackson, Tiger Woods, Danny Glover and Bobby Brown, to name six.

He has no shame about turning celebrity recognition to his own purpose, as with his convincing impression of Michael Jackson as the feared boss of a violent prison gang. And while some celebs might consider it as a form of validation that a comedian of Epps’ stature is riffing on them, and others would be offended, Epps says he never met Jackson and hasn’t heard from Glover or Brown.

“A lot of people don’t take it personal,” he notes. “That’s my job. I crack jokes. I try not to go too hard (on public figures) … but I crack jokes, man. Everybody that tunes into me, they have the option to tune out.”

Asked if there were any recent events that he found interesting, Epps shared some thoughts on LeBron James:

“LeBron James finally won a ring (but) if he wants to look like Mr. T at the hand he’s got to win some more,” he said. “He’s definitely got a 56-inch-screen forehead — a platinum, plasma, flat-screen TV head. And I do, too — we share hairlines.”

Good thing he’s got a head for the big screen, because Epps fans who know him as a film actor are anticipating his appearance in the August release of “Sparkle,” a remake of the 1976 film about three singing sisters from Harlem. This time around the sisters are from Detroit and the era is Motown. Jordin Sparks stars as a young woman in search of stardom, the late Whitney Houston is her skeptical mother, and Epps plays a character named Satin.

His next stand-up movie, “I’m Still Standing,” will be out for the Martin Luther King Day weekend in January.

Although he’s on the big screen, Epps doesn’t claim to a role model or teacher or a preacher.

“I crack jokes, man,” he says. “My jokes are jokes, but if you listen you might get a message out of it.

“Every now and then I throw in a little truth or some facts. All of the shows are honest; it’s just that sometimes (the audience can) take away a little motivation with it.”

He explained, “A lot of times the motivation is the setup of a joke.”

For instance, Epps is serious when he says that people shouldn’t think of getting arrested and going to prison as something to brag about.

On the other hand, pointing that out allows him to crack jokes about people who do.

Listen up, and you’ll hear the comedian’s honest opinions at the root of his humor.

“I’d like to thank all my fans in Hawaii for supporting me throughout all my endeavors,” Epps said as we wrapped things up, adding, “For all the beautiful women out there: It ain’t your beauty, it’s your booty.”

—John Berger / jberger@staradvertiser.com