ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, November 18, 1996 TAG: 9611190043
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
JAMES Pickering once yelled at Mark Lowry.
It's his claim to fame, he tells his students at Liberty University, and now his name is in prin t, in Lowry's new book, "Out of Control."
Right there on Page 1, Lowry says he hopes Pickering, "who scolded me one day in television and film class for looking in the camera and mouthing 'Hi Mom,''' reads the book and notices that his former student is now an author (not to mention a singer, songwriter, comic and poster boy for people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder).
Pickering points out that Lowry also made faces at the camera that day, faces that these days prompt comparisons to the rubber-skinned Jim Carrey. Lowry discusses his face - particularly his chin - at great length in his song "My Face in This World," which is sung, of course, to the tune of Michael W. Smith's "Place in This World."
"He's always been a clown and a cut-up," Pickering said. "But I wouldn't call him a distraction or a nuisance. He was very funny to have in class."
Lowry, now 38, likes to say he squeezed four years of college into five years, that while some people graduated "Summa Cum Laude," he graduated "Thank the Laude." In truth, he was busy during those years, singing and traveling on weekends with other students and professors to minister to country churches.
He is still ministering through his comedy and concerts, like the one he will give tonight at the Salem Civic Center.
"If we're Christians, we all have a ministry," he explained in a recent telephone interview. "You don't have to be in a pulpit to have a ministry."
He said he wants to leave each audience with something special. "I don't want them to just laugh and hear great music. The Bible says God is God of all encouragement. I want them to leave encouraged."
He also wants to leave them interested.
A hyperactive child raised in the days when the disorder was known as general brattiness, Lowry often dedicates stage time and chapters to the subject.
When performing, he waxes comic:
"I had airbags on my baby buggy, I was so hyperactive.
"I was so hyperactive that the minute I learned to walk, Mama pointed me toward the door."
But during a recent interview, hoarse from the previous night's concert and some spicy Chinese food, he was soft-spoken and (mostly) serious.
"What I try to do is make it special," he said. "I let those kids know that they're not handicapped, they're blessed. People ask me questions as if I'm a doctor, but I'm just a guy who experienced it."
Hyperactive people are creative, he said. "I love attention-deficit disorder. When I get bored with someone, I can just walk away. I have an excuse."
Off stage, Lowry jumps from writing children's books to his comedy show, from parody videos of Christian singers that have earned him the dubious title of "Weird Al Yankovic of Christian Music" to singing and writing songs like "Mary Did You Know," which is labeled "Mark's Serious Song" on "Remotely Controlled," his newest CD and video. The song has been performed by the likes of Kathy Mattea and Kenny Rogers and Wynona Judd.
"I may do another parody of a video, but it's not going to become what I do because I'll get bored with that, too," he said. "I have to keep changing. If I'm going to be bored, I'd rather have a 9-to-5 job and sleep in the same bed every night."
Instead, he is in a different city each night, finishing up a series of 60 concerts. He also tours for much of the year with the Gaither Vocal Band.
"God has blessed me," he said.
His parents believe their son has finally found his niche.
They will be at the Salem show, which will include the music of East to West and Chris Willis and which will likely portray them as strong disciplinarians (his mother as a screaming disciplinarian).
Bev Lowry, now a psychology professor at Liberty University, said she's disappointed if her son doesn't mention the family during shows.
"I see people nudging their mothers when he talks about me," she said. "I like that."
Lowry got his start in musical theater in Houston, where he was born. He got every child's role that came along, first in "The Music Man," then in "Annie Get Your Gun."
"We didn't really want him in the theater," Bev Lowry said. "In those days, they didn't have a lot of Christians in the theater - except Pat Boone. There were no Christian comedians at the time. We asked God to give him his little ministry. I think God has answered our prayer."
When Mark was in school, Bev Lowry spent more time in the principal's office than she ever had in her life. But he did manage to learn, she said, and people have learned from him. He has received notes from teachers who said they've gone back into the classroom after one of his concerts and looked at their hyperactive kids in a different way. Bev Lowry looks at him in a slightly different way now, too.
"Parents need to look at their children through God's eyes as much as possible," she said. "I'm not sure I always did that. But [Mark] can make people look at their children and realize that this is a short life we have that God has a plan for their lives and he has a plan for ours."
"It's a great thing to have been his mother," she said.
* Mark Lowry will appear at the Salem Civic Center tonight at 7:30. No advance tickets; a $5 donation will be requested at the door.
* To hear Mark Lowry sing his song "Hyperactivity," call Infoline, 981-0100 or in the New River Valley 382-0200, and enter code 7810.
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 2 photos. color. KEYWORDS: INFOLINEby CNB