XL Arts

Lawyer by day, funniest person in Austin by night

By Rob Nash
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Thursday, April 06, 2006

John Ramsey entered this world Aug. 1, 1980, in Houston. He's a lawyer at Nunis & Associates and, last year, this unknown triumphed at the Funniest Person in Austin Contest. (And I'm not the only one who hates him for it.)

XL: You did do some improv in college, which must have trained you for standup, which you had never done before your preliminary round in last year's Funniest Person contest.
John Ramsey: What is this? An interview where you make compound statements with multiple relative pronouns and subordinate clauses, and I then try to formulate appropriate questions? This is going to be more difficult than I first supposed. I'll need you to ask questions.

Uh. . . how did you win the contest?
I got really lucky. And I couldn't win again if I tried.

How do you reckon? Who'd beat you?
About 11 local comics. And Gallagher. So long as they don't count cleanup toward his eight minutes. Cap City is a cozy room, and he would get pea soup and watermelon everywhere. Oh, my goodness. I get to laughing just thinking about it. I'll need just a second to collect myself. OK. I'm good.

Surely you'll leave law to go on the road in this business we call show.
I'm getting married. I need medical insurance. Women are attracted to a sense of humor, but it cannot make life-saving surgery available at an affordable rate.

Standard question: Were you the class clown?
I despised class clowns. I only spoke out in class if it was to make fun of class clowns. I was never interested in competing to see who could say a nasty word the loudest. That sticks with me today. In college, like I said, I had the improvisational troupe. In law school, I was part of an a cappella group that took pop songs, arranged them to make them a cappella, and then changed the words to make them about law school. Now that I explain that out loud, it sounds really lame. Don't print that.

I wouldn't dream of it.
Thanks.

Have any fave comics?
Brian Regan. He stays clean. He makes a great observation, puts physical humor in his material and tells a great story. I cannot tell a story. I would give an example of a time I tried to tell a story and it failed, but telling the story about how I tried tell a story and failed would actually turn into a horrible story itself and become a better example.

Any comics you despise?
No names, but I am not into offensive humor. Don't expect me to laugh simply because you are being so outrageous as to suggest Jesus was a pimp, or some such thing. Never once have I said, "That is so funny because it is so counter-cultural and offensive. Edgy! See that?! He takes something sacred and desecrates it! Hilarious! Will he ever stop?! How does he come up with this stuff?"

You must hate my act.
I said, "No names."

Can I use the Pimp Jesus premise?
Just don't incorporate the phrase "My pimp is a Jewish carpenter."

So what's your comedy plan now?
I want to get better. I want to have an hour's worth of material. I want to be able to perform to any crowd, not just Austin crowds. I want to be quick on my feet. When I am that much closer to where I want my comedy to be, I will set goals regarding where I want my career to be. Or, did you want a joke or something? OK. And, I need to get a cool nickname. I think I will change my name to Nicholas Namerson. That way my nickname could be Nick Name.

Heh, I think you're funny. Quit your day job, John.
My name is Nick. But my friends call me . . .

On second thought, don't quit your day job.

Rob Nash is an Austin playwright, comedian and solo actor. Despite several tries, he has never been the Funniest Person in Austin.