ritch-shydner-comedianOne of the most memorable stand-up comedians for me when I was making the decision to jump into stand-up comedy in 1992 was Ritch Shydner. Talk about funny!

Well, comedian-turned-movie-director Jordan Brady made an introduction to Ritch for me and I got to ask him the same interview questions I asked Jordan, which are provided below.

Here’s some background info about Ritch Shydner before I get to the interview…

Ritch began his stand-up comedy career in 1978 (the year I joined the Navy). Ritch has made numerous appearances on the David Letterman Show,  the Jay Leno Show and before that,  Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. 

He was featured in his own HBO half-hour special called One Night Stand.  Here’s a video clip of comedian Ritch Shydner in action on that special:

He later played Al Bundy’s co-worker on Married with Children and made guest appearances on many other TV shows, such as Designing Women and Roseanne. Ritch was able to translate his modest success on TV into a modest film career as well, appearing in Steve Martin’s Roxanne and Eddie Murphy’s Beverly Hills Cop II among a host of other films.

Ritch also became a staff writer on such sitcoms as Roseanne, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, and Titus. Most recently, Ritch was the Co-Executive Producer and head writer for the HBO show The Mind of the Married Man. He has also written comedy material for Jeff Foxworthy’s Grammy nominated comedy albums Totally Committed and Big Fun. 

As Ritch likes to put it, he has worked very hard at avoiding work for over thirty years.

Here are Ritch’s responses to my interview questions:

Q: What are some of the most significant or exciting things you have done as a result of your stand-up comedy career?

Ritch: I came from a small New Jersey town, and a family with no show business aspirations or connections but ended up on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  Never while I was watching that show as a kid or young man did I ever consider that possible.   Stand-up comedy paid me to travel to every part of America, Canada and England.

Q: What advice would you give to those looking at jumping into the game of stand-up comedy?

Ritch: Get on stage as often as you can and only listen to your mind and audience’s reaction to tell you what is funny.

Q: The next stand-up boom is upon us. Jordan said that he feels the same way. How should a comedian make the most of this boom?

Ritch: Oh, the next stand-up comedy boom is here.   Stand-up is bigger than ever.  Write and perform as much as possible – get as much stuff on YouTube as you can.  Never worry about people seeing your material, just write new jokes.  The biggest challenge is enabling your audience to discover you. Sometimes gathering the horde takes a lot of blasts on the ram’s horn.

End of interview.

Now for the really cool part…

Ritch is writing a book on the history of stand-up comedy. He will also be narrating Jordan Brady’s documentary about stand-up comedy, which I will be featured in! As a matter of fact, I’m leaving for LA soon to complete the interview/filming.

Thanks for the interview Ritch and I look forward to meeting both you and Jordan when I hit LA!

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Professor of Funny for Money

About the Author/Founder of The Stand-up Comedy Professional

Steve Roye is the author of the Killer Stand-up Comedy System and author of the content made available in the Comedy Pro Membership Program available on this site.

Over the past decade, Steve has established himself as a leading, globally recognized expert in the field of stand-up comedy material development, delivery and entertainment business strategies for comedy entertainers as well as speaking professionals.

For more information about Steve, please check out the About The Author section on this site.