As a comedian, Larry Joe Campbell is skilled at making people laugh.

As a fledgling novelist, the Pontiac-born Campbell aims to make people think — and reflect.

Campbell sets that course in his debut novel, “Remember That One Time?,” drawing heavily on his life experience in Michigan, his career on stage and in front of the camera, and his wry imagination.

“You know what they say: ‘Write what you know,’” Campbell said in a telephone interview from his California home.

The 240-page book — told as a first-person narrative — spins a story of an aging, out-of-work actor separated from his wife and visiting family members in Michigan at Christmastime.

A bizarre accident silences his voice, leaving him to watch, listen and learn about the people surrounding him. Ultimately, he learns more about himself.

“There are funny and heartbreaking parts,” Campbell said.

The book draws upon Campbell’s years as an actor and comedian on college stages in Michigan, in Detroit’s Second City sketch comedy troupe and in movies with the likes of Jim Belushi.

Campbell’s television credits include a featured role as Andy on “According to Jim,” as well as appearances in “Animal Control,” “Friends,” “My Name is Earl,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine” and “Rules of Engagement.”

Campbell — married to Peggy for more than 28 years with five children — based the book in Greenville, north of Grand Rapids. In real life, Campbell’s brother lives in Greenville.

Campbell was born in Pontiac and raised in Cadillac by his machinist father and a mother who worked in a hospital office.

For Campbell, acting and football have been lifetime passions. These days, he coaches youth football.

But as an undersized lineman at a Cadillac-area high school, he swore to friends that he would play for the University of Michigan.

“I had a $100 bet that I would,” he said. “I still owe them.”

Instead, Campbell graduated in 1992 from Central Michigan University with a double major in broadcast and theater. His time at Central, he said, helped him learn discipline and respect for a story.

“It really gave me confidence in theater work,” he said.

The university returned the favor years later, making him grand marshall for a homecoming parade in 2005. In promoting his book, Campbell returned to the campus earlier this year where students performed scenes from “Remember That One Time?”

After Central, Campbell earned a master’s degree in theater at Wayne State University, then became a member of Detroit’s Second City theater group. Working with Second City connected him with established and up-and-coming entertainers, including the late Bob Saget and St. Clair Shores native Dave Coulier, who starred in television’s “Full House” family comedy.

Campbell said that relationship helped pave a path for him to Hollywood.

“I am forever grateful,” he said.

“Remember That One Time?” is Campbell’s first novel, but is his second book. He previously authored a children’s book, “Castle Messengers.”

Writing a novel came in fits and starts, Campbell said.

“It took a couple of years,” he said. “I keep writing small stories for different characters and they started to come together.”

The blend of personal experience and creativity is among the novel’s devices. In taking a log to the throat that damaged his voice, the book’s main character experienced an accident similar to one of Campbell’s relatives.

“I think it’s a book for everyone — I really do,” Campbell said in a Central Michigan University campus radio interview in February. “I want to live in a place of presence, and that’s not always joyful. I get that. And it’s not always suffering. And most of the time, it’s probably very mundane, day-to-day, and that’s OK, too.”