The number word on Francisco Ramos lips is ‘evolving.’
The comic just recorded an hour Venezuelan ‘Merican at Brad Garrett’s Las Vegas comedy theater in 2023 – and since then, has not looked back.
“I had a great time recording it and Brad Garrett was an amazing guy,” Ramos says. “The process [with recording] is you are working the set out until the day of the recording, and after, for me, it was done. All that material is done. Luckily I was already working on new material as well.”
Part grieving and part celebration, Ramos agrees the burying of old jokes is a complicated process. “Sometimes like if you’re about to tape, you’ve done it so much and it’s annoying,” he says matter-of-factly. “You just wanna talk about new stuff. But then on the other hand it’s not scary, but it’s definitely challenging to start something new. New material, new output, you have to force yourself out and try new stuff because some stuff doesn’t hit. But you can’t go back to the old stuff. You’ve got to stick it through.”
Ramos, who will be delivering an hour of material not heard on his previous recording at The Riot on Friday, August 30, opens up about transitioning from one premise to another. “For example,” he explains. “I was talking about getting married. Now, I’m already married, so the material is about the process of being married, about the wedding. It is a constant evolution of that new material and then taping. That’s why I got married!” Ramos laughs, before pausing and giving a clarifying ‘Nah’ to make clear he is kidding.
Coming up with materials, Ramos admits to being ruthless with writing good ideas down. “My stand up is based on truth, it happened to me, or I was there or I experienced something. Everything comes from my life, so I allow myself to live a ‘normal’ life. When you start stand up, you do a lot of spending time at the clubs. But you realize when you start doing bits about that, no one can relate. So that’s why I force myself to do that quote-unquote normal stuff. To get out, but also, it’s gonna give me new material.”
But the obvious question might be – how does the new spouse enjoy being featuring in the act? “She is fine with it,” the former Last Comic Standing participant says, initially hesitant before adding caveats. “There are topics I have to… I ask to talk about this and she goes ‘I don’t know…’ Most of the time she is OK with it, but if the topic is more intimate, I have to ask for permission. Me, I’ll make fun of anything. But that’s not even just my wife, its family and friends. There are bits I have about my friends where I don’t mention their names or change the name, but if people know who they are… they know!”
Ramos continues, describing his note taking process for future punchlines. “I’m always writing stuff, and I will go into my phone if something is funny. They ask what I’m doing. Like, I’m not hiding it. Especially, you got to write it down because you will forget. Even just code words. It’s like Breaking Bad and Walter White’s formula. My handwriting is really bad when I write a joke in a notebook. It’s just random thoughts. I move the beginning and ends, it’s a bunch of little arrows and paragraphs. If anyone can make it out and use it, more power to them!”
Ramos, born in Venezuela but raised in Maryland and discovered in the DC comedy scene, acknowledges he’s come far in comedy over his last 16 years in the entertainment business. “I majored in Finance and International Business,” he recalls. “I graduated, I started working and even in my last semester I felt something was off. I did not feel at all passionate for what I was gonna do. I said, I feel like I was having a quarter life crisis. I went to Barnes and Noble and read self help books. Literally.”
“Basically, it helped me discover that I like making people laugh. I started connecting the dots: ever since I was little, I loved watching comedy. So I took an improv class at the DC Improv. I didn’t tell anybody. I never did any acting. I was a very introverted kind of person. But when I got there it was like I was blind and then I could see. It was the first time I felt like I really belonged somewhere. Also I was good, I had like a talent for it. I picked it up quick and that was the start of the journey. I had a year of doing improv in DC, and moved to LA to do improv. But then I did open mics and just took to stand-up.”
Even with 16 years to his name, Ramos estimates he didn’t start to feel too comfortable on stage for at least a decade, if at all! “I’m still figuring that out,” he laughs. “Stand-up is the thing you are always evolving. Maybe around year 9 or 10 is when I felt like this is who I am. I know what I am doing. The other day, I felt – I always say it is like clicks, little clicks on a roller coast. Yesterday I had it, I felt different there. It’s always evolving, that’s the beauty of it. The trap is thinking you got it. There is always more.”
Ramos’ performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Friday, August 30 at The Riot Comedy Club, 2010 Waugh. For more information, call 713-264-8664 or visit theriothtx.com. $25-180
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
