Going As He May

Comedian still pursuing success on his own terms

Ralphie May spent much of his childhood in Clarksville before leaving high school to pursue a career in comedy. He returns to the area for a pair of shows, one in Fayetteville and one in Fort Smith.
Ralphie May spent much of his childhood in Clarksville before leaving high school to pursue a career in comedy. He returns to the area for a pair of shows, one in Fayetteville and one in Fort Smith.

Not many people get their start in comedy at the Ramada Inn in Fayetteville.

In fact, Ralphie May suspects the open mic sessions once hosted there didn’t last more than a year.

But those were May’s first comedy gigs, and from those rather humble beginnings, he’s gone on to many bigger and better things. May’s popularity grew after his appearance on the first season of the television show “Last Comic Standing,” where he took second place. He would take the momentum he earned there and cross the country, working in ever-larger clubs all the time. He’s since filmed four Comedy Central specials, the latest of which, “Too Big To Ignore,” aired in 2012.

Even then, he’s not comfortable, something he credits to his upbringing in Clarksville, where he moved with his family from Tennessee at a very young age. He offered about 300 shows in 2012, a feat made even more remarkable considering he stopped in October to deal with his health. He was on pace to complete more than 400 gigs in the year.

“I guess, being from a small town in Arkansas and feeling like the underdog (pushes me). You’ve got to make hay while the sun is shining.

That’s just what I did,” he says by phone from Los Angeles, where he is recovering from broken toes he suffered when he slipped jumping into a pool.

The exhaustion that forced him to cancel a few dates late last year has been managed, and May reports he’s under“the great care of great doctors,” who are helping him regulate his stress levels.

He’ll be taking a little bit more time off between gigs this year, but he’s recently returned to the road for his current tour, which will bring him to Arkansas for a series of shows, including a stop Wednesday in Fort Smith and one Thursday in Fayetteville.

May says he feels slightly nervous about returning to the area he once called home.

But he plans to spend his trip here reminiscing; he’ll spend time with nieces and nephews who remain in the area, find his parents’ names on the University of Arkansas sidewalks and grab lunch somewhere in Fayetteville.

Although May hasn’t been around here in some time - “other than putting flowers on graves, there wasn’t much reason to visit,” he says - he knows his Southern upbringing is reflected in his comic style.

He remains open and friendly to all, a trait he says he learned while living in this area. And while thatmay allow him to make observational humor, his material takes a decidedly adult-friendly tone when delivered onstage.

He finds humor in the taboo, often talking about raceor sex.

“I’ve made up my own words for a lot of stuff,” he says, which allows him to hint at dirty topics without actually going there all the time. “If you’re godly andeasily offended, I’m not your comic.”

But he is the comic for an ever-growing fan base. In 2013, he will appear on Comedy Central’s “The Burn With Jeff Ross” sometime in February and is also in negotiations for two new comedy specials. There’s also a new barbecue sauce he will launch called “Fat Baby Jesus BBQ Sauce” - made using his own recipe - and no doubt many other opportunities will arise, too.

He’ll be pursuing them all.

That’s the Southern work ethic, he says, and it’s the only one he knows.

Whats Up, Pages 15 on 01/11/2013

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