Comedian Byron Bowers will perform a free set at 9 p.m., Thursday March 27 at The Maintenance Shop in Memorial Union.

Bowers grew up in Atlanta, Georgia where his schooling situation gave him a unique background which inspires his comedic approach today.

Although Bowers lived in a middle-lower class neighborhood, the Atlanta School Board chose to bus him to the white suburbs for his education. Bowers’ abnormal circumstance gave him experience with both social classes and later in life, material for his comedic routines.

Bowers moved to Los Angeles to pursue comedy in 2008, increasing the cultural awareness that he incorporates into his sketches.

On his website, Bowers’ approach is described as “Crisscrossing a multicultural socioeconomic landscape with the insight of a hip hop prodigy, the punch of a mixed martial artist, and the charm that one would expect from a proper southern gentleman.”

Bowers can commonly be seen in The Comedy Store, The Comedy and Magic Club, The Hollywood Improv, Holy F#ck and with The Nerdist Theater.

Some of his honors include winning the Big Sky Competition in Montana, Uncle Clyde’s Comedy Competition, the Ultimate Laff-Down XVI Competition, and becoming a Boston Comedy Festival Semi-Finalist. Bowers was a new face for Just for Laughs in 2013. 

Bowers appeared on the “Eric Andre Show” on Adult Swim, as well as on Comcast TV. He was on Adam Devine’s House Party last fall on Comedy Central, and is on the current season of Comic View.

More recently, Bowers appeared nine times at this year’s South by Southwest, an annual interactive film/music festival held in Austin, Texas.

Byron Bowers’ event is free to the public at 9 p.m. — doors open at 8:30 — Thursday, March 27 in The Maintenance Shop.