Matt Tobey
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.
Previously: Texas Sufficiently Messed With: A SXSW Roundup
Related: What's Wrong With This Picture?
Related: I'm Attending Bin Laden's 50th Birthday Celebration
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tour dates:
Sep 30 2007 10:00P
Pianos, NYC РBig tour kickoff! @ Piano’s
Oct 2 2007 8:00P
Jonah @ Webster Hall w/ Man Man @ Webster Hall
Oct 3 2007 8:00P
DC9 – Washington, DC @ DC9
Oct 4 2007 8:00P
Rutgers University – New Brunswick, NJ @ Rutgers
Oct 5 2007 8:00P
Internet Cafe – Red Bank, NJ @ Red Bank
Oct 8 2007 8:00P
Garfield Artworks – Pittsburgh, PA @ Garfield Artworks
(Andrew, Nick, and Cracked Out)
Oct 8 2007 8:00P
Ithaca College (Just Jonah and Sean)
Oct 9 2007 8:00P
The Khyber Bar – Philadelphia, PA @ The Khyber Bar
Oct 10 2007 8:00P
Local 506 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
Oct 11 2007 8:00P
Lehigh University – Bethlehem, PA @ Lehigh University
Oct 13 2007 8:00P
Kafe Kerouac – Columbus, OH @ 2250 N. High St
Oct 17 2007 8:00P
BottleTree- Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletree Cafe
Oct 18 2007 9:00P
The Earl – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Oct 19 2007 8:00P
Little Kings – Athens, GA @ Little Kings
Still) Born in the USA Comedy Tour
We are doing a stand-up comedy tour featuring:
Jonah Ray (Live at Gotham, Human Giant, Sarah Silverman Program)
Sean O'Connor (NY Post's Top 20 Entertainers to Watch, 2006)
Nick Maritato (Subject of forthcoming This American Life episode)
Andrew Wright (Co-host with Nick & Sean of Here's The Thing, one of SPIN Magazine's Top 101 Nights Out)
w. special guests!!!!
Still) Born in the USA Comedy Tour
We are doing a stand-up comedy tour featuring:
Jonah Ray (Live at Gotham, Human Giant, Sarah Silverman Program)
Sean O'Connor (NY Post's Top 20 Entertainers to Watch, 2006)
Nick Maritato (Subject of forthcoming This American Life episode)
Andrew Wright (Co-host with Nick & Sean of Here's The Thing, one of SPIN Magazine's Top 101 Nights Out)
w. special guests!!!!
Still) Born in the USA Comedy Tour
We are doing a stand-up comedy tour featuring:
Jonah Ray (Live at Gotham, Human Giant, Sarah Silverman Program)
Sean O'Connor (NY Post's Top 20 Entertainers to Watch, 2006)
Nick Maritato (Subject of forthcoming This American Life episode)
Andrew Wright (Co-host with Nick & Sean of Here's The Thing, one of SPIN Magazine's Top 101 Nights Out)
w. special guests!!!!