Owen Egerton

Owen Egerton is an American performer, comedian, screenwriter, and author based out of Austin, Texas. Egerton frequently presents and performs special events for Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas and is the author of the books Marshall Hollenzer is Driving, How Best to Avoid Dying, and The Book of Harold: The Illegitimate Son of God.
Life and career
Born in England, Egerton was raised in Friendswood, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Both of Egerton’s parents are writers and doctors originally from Wales, who met while working on a cadaver together. Egerton moved to Austin in 1991 and proceeded to obtain an MFA from the graduate writing program at Texas State University in San Marcos, where he studied under the writers and Barry Hannah.
With Jeremy Pollet and John Erler, Egerton was the creator of The Sinus Show (also known as Mister Sinus Theater or Mister Sinus). Similar in format to Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Sinus Show consisted of humorous commentary of various films, performed live at Alamo Drafthouse theaters since September 2002. In August 2004, however, Best Brains Inc., the owners and producers of Mystery Science Theater 3000, filed a lawsuit to block The Sinus Show for trademark infringement. Jim Mallon, president of Best Brains and producer of Mystery Science Theater, denied a request by Drafthouse cinemas to license The Sinus Show, citing objections to The Sinus Show’s adult-oriented humor. The Sinus Show has since been rebranded as Master Pancake Theater, and members (including Egerton) continue to perform the show regularly at Drafthouse theaters. Egerton and his Sinus cofounders remain on good terms with the creators of Mystery Science Theater 3000, citing them as a tremendous influence and collaborating with Mystery Science Theater’s Mary Jo Pehl for a live lampooning of John Carpenter’s Halloween.
In 2008, Master Pancake Theater was voted the Best Comedy/Improv Troupe in Austin by readers of the Austin Chronicle.
Egerton has been involved with numerous organizations in the Austin area. Egerton is the founder of Right to Marry, an organization advocating equal marriage rights for LGBT couples. Egerton founded the organization in response to , which amended the Texas constitution to legally define marriage as being between a man and a woman. Egerton is a part of DadLabs, an online information and entertainment production company whose stated mission is “to strengthen families and benefit children by empowering today's fathers.” For many years, Egerton was also the artistic director for the National Comedy Theatre of Austin and Comedysportz Austin.
Egerton is frequently involved in theater, having directed and acted in Plays Well With Others with Austin comedian Les McGehee and performing at Esther's Follies. Most recently, Egerton wrote and performed a one-man show, entitled The Other Side of Sleep, for Austin’s Zach Theatre.
Egerton also produced a comedy album in 2001, entitled Big Thick Wooden Board, clips of which were played on VH1 and The Doctor Demento Show.
Egerton is the author of two novels and one book of short fiction. His writings have appeared in Puerto del Sol, Killing the Buddha, Tiferet, and Word Riot, among numerous other journals and magazines. Readers of the Austin Chronicle voted Egerton the Best Local Writer in 2007, 2008, and 2010.
As influences, Egerton cites George Saunders, Woody Allen, Charles Mingus, Dagoberto Gilb, Walker Percy and Flannery O’Connor.
Egerton is also a screenwriter. He is currently developing the screenplay for the movie Henchmen in collaboration with writing partners Chris Mass and Russel Sharman.
In 2008, Egerton taught Humor in Creative Writing at St. Edward’s University in Austin, where his wife, Jodi Egerton, serves as assistant professor of English writing and rhetoric. The couple live in Austin with their two children.
Works
Novels
*Marshall Hollenzer is Driving (2000)
*The Book of Harold, The Illegitimate Son of God (2010)
Collections
*How Best to Avoid Dying (2007)
Audio
*Big Thick Wooden Board (2001)

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