"The cop cars in the area have more lights than a discotheque. They used to be red and blue. Now, they're red and blue and have a yellow neon light strip. You can't tell if you're being pulled over or if they're having a mattress sale. All the ravers with their glow sticks are behind the cop cars saying, 'Cool, man."'

_ BIG Ben Kennedy

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BIG Ben Kennedy's sole focus these days is making people laugh.

But the events that got the 24-year-old Glen Burnie resident into standup comedy were anything but funny. In November 1995, Mr. Kennedy's father, Brian, shot and killed his 7-year-old half-brother,...