Interview: It's Never Too Soon for Jonah Ray
Jonah Ray is one of the biggest up-and-comers of the LA alt-comedy scene. He'll be appearing in NYC several times in October, so Gothamist's Ben Karakh caught up with the stand-up for an interview.
Among the topics covered was the old adage that comedy equals tragedy plus time. If you ask Ray though, it's the people that need time, not the comedy:
Is there anything that's off limits in your comedy?
No. I think anything goes. I can't think of one thing that would be like, "Ah, jeez, I don't know," because everything has the potential to eventually be funny. And if something is, as they say, "too soon," in a year people are going to be like, "Remember when you said that thing and it was way too early?" And you'll go, "Yeah," and they'll say, "That was hilarious." But at the time, it wasn't.How do you determine whether it's too soon about something?
I don't think anything's ever too soon. It's just a matter of preference. Some people need more time to handle certain events and it's usually their own problem, a sort of nervousness or politeness. No one's really sure how comfortable some else could be, so someone might think, "It's funny, but maybe I'll just stay quiet, because it's rude or inappropriate." I don't understand why things can be funny after time has passed.
For the complete interview, check out Jonah Ray, Comedian at Gothamist.
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