An Evening With Ralphie May
Ralphie May was in town last night, and I caught his show.
For those of you who have never viewed Last Comic Standing, or do not know who Ralphie May is, he was the runner-up, second place overall winner(?) for last season's LCS. The winner for last season's series, Dat Phan, was good, but personally I thought Ralphie was the better of the two. Whereas both comics have a style which draws on personal experiences, Dat Phan's style was like "Personal experiences as portrayed in a sitcom." Ralphie, however, pulls no punches. He tells it like it is. He has a very gritty, "urban" delivery, but with a very innocent, cherubic face.
I get the impression that Ralphie is a very prolific writer. The DVD that was offered after the show, contained two completely different sets which does not include the set I saw last night, nor does it include any of his 3-to-6 minute sets from LCS. I also get the impression that no two sets, at the same venue, will be exactly the same. I get the impression that there may even be slightly different material for each nightly set, at the same venue.
The show last night was excellent. Ralphie opened up the show with a very nonchalant, hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his feet "So how's everyone doing tonight" attitude. "How 'bout this weather, huh?" It has been in the 90's here, with a heat index of over 100 degrees, and Ralphie is a good 400, 450 lbs. He definitely isn't a "small guy".
Once he was a little warmed up, he started noticing different couples in the audience. Apparently, proportionally MY date was outside of my league because he made a point of pointing that out specifically. It certainly wasn't a bad thing - I was sitting in the front row, and I fully expected it!
He progressed to what I consider to be the "meat" of his set. The bulk of his set was about "relationships". A lot of the material I could most definitely relate to! For all the women reading this, did you know that when you ask "What're ya thinkin'?" and we say "Nothing", did it actually occur to you that we may actually not have any thought in our head? I can attest to that. Based solely on the responses to the other articles on my blog, apparently I operate without a thought in my head on a regular basis. And guys, did you know that Tivo could save your relationship? If you're watching a game or ESPN, and you are asked (nicely) to take out the garbage, push the Tivo pause button - "Beep-beep" - and come back to the TV when you're done. You won't miss anything. Relationship saved!
The last quarter of his set dealt with "ethnicity". Well, I take that back. It wasn't so much about ethnicity as it was about getting to know people, all walks of life; mentally challenged people, people of different ethnic backgrounds. As I mentioned, he has a very "urban" delivery, and holy crap, can he do "urban" well!
The very last portion of his set dealt with the group of entertainers that went to Iraq to entertain the troops, of which he was a part of. It was amazing to hear about a few of his experiences in the "Green Zone", albeit in a comedic, very gritty, "urban" delivery.
Ralphie May tells it like it is, with no political motivation or any political correctness. He has no fear about how people will judge him. Idiot, he is not. He has an extremely keen sense of basic human behavior.
As a side note, whatever happen to Dat Phan? Wasn't his "prize" to make an appearance on the tonight show and have a sitcom pilot? Has anyone seen him? All I can say is that the second runner-up from last season's LCS is kickin' ass!
LLS
(Author's Edit)
Lahna Turner is Ralphie May's opening act. She is also Ralphie's fiance'. Don't let that "Cutsey" demeanor fool you at the beginning of her act. She is definitely as gritty and "urban" as Ralphie is. No wait...she's more "gritty suburban". Don't let that cutsey, innocent demeanor fool you! Actually, don't let either of their cutsey or innocent demeanors fool you! Did you ever play "bread and butter" as a kid? Y'know the game....someone throws something up high, and while you're paying attention to the high object, they launch another attack down low?