Ralphie May brings the Deep South into the Cat Ranch. He tells Marc how he survived comic hazings, a harrowing car crash, Bill Hicks, Sam Kinison and Last Comic Standing to become one of the most popular headliners in the country. This episode is sponsored by Stamps.com. Click the radio mic and enter WTF for a special trial offer.
Diane January 23, 2012 at 12:28 pm
Loved the interview. I have been a fan of Ralphie May for a long time now and it was great to see him on the podcast. It was interesting to hear his intense journey he went on in life that brought him to where he is now as a husband and successful stand up comedian.
steven January 23, 2012 at 12:47 pm
Is this a new ralphie may interview with marc, or is it just a repeat of the old interview?
kevingiampa January 23, 2012 at 12:59 pm
best opening ever, marc.
some guy January 23, 2012 at 1:36 pm
steven - its the first ralphie may appearance. check out: http://www.wtfpod.com/guide
Spanky January 23, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Honestly, I was a little turned off to Ralphie’s arrogance. I realize it probably comes from a place of low self esteem due to the weight, but I hate hearing people talk themselves up like he did. Still, its a decent success story, and he sounds like a nice guy for the most part. I think he’s just starting to buy into his own B.S. a little bit. His new album sounds a bit self indulgent. I thought for sure Mark was going to jump on him a bit about that or some of the bragging about the ass he kicked, or would have kicked, but he just chuckled and let it slide. But, regardless, I wish him continued success even though he’s not my cup of tea.
Jordan January 23, 2012 at 6:02 pm
I gave this episode a standing ovation.
tin foil nursery on acid January 23, 2012 at 7:09 pm
By far the best interview ever done on this show!! Ralphie’s a genius and really can brag about whatever he wants!! Total success story and one of the hardest hitting laugh per laugh comics in history. He can destroy a room like Mitch Hedberg!
Anna Skye January 23, 2012 at 8:41 pm
I liked your interview about Ralphie. It was interesting to hear about how he was a bully then later in life got bullied by other comics. I agree that he was a little self indulgent, but the whole point was to get to know him better and this interview made me like Ralphie event more. Honest and entertaining - great job Marc.
PS - Will you be doing any shows in Texas this year?
Big Pooper January 23, 2012 at 9:43 pm
More likeable than I expected but the last half of the interview was quite braggadocios. Didn’t like the “tough guy” stuff either (baseball bats, broken noses, etc.). Keep on truckin’ I guess.
Sam January 23, 2012 at 10:17 pm
I’m not the biggest fan of Ralphie May’s comedy, but I think after probably taking a lot of prejudice-based shit re his background (fat, poor, white & from the South), the guy has earned the right to be confident with his success: I didn’t get it as arrogance.
Also, people are deriding him about “tough guy” stuff, but that’s just the way some things are handled in some areas of life. Did you miss the repeated references to movement of non-sanctioned goods? Do you expect people in those businesses to settle things in court?
Anyway, really enjoyed this episode.
Travis January 24, 2012 at 2:00 am
This was really a great interview. And regarding his perceived arrogance, I didn’t feel that much coming across at all, really. He seems like a really driven, genuine person that worked his ass off to get to where he is today and deserves every bit of success he’s achieved. And I’m pretty sure I’d want to smash somebody’s fucking face in who had me drive 12 hours to and from a gig only to find out one didn’t exist. That’s scum of the earth type shit right there.
Thanks for the podcast, Marc. I listen to it religiously.
Catseye January 24, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Finally! A comic who’s from my neck of the woods. He seems like a typical Southern man to me, just taking care of business. I loved hearing Ralphie calling Marc “Mr. Maron”. He was raised right.
Mike January 24, 2012 at 7:31 pm
I also felt a bit conflicted in my feelings towards Ralphie’s “arrogance.” On the one hand, it is always refreshing to hear someone who by all objective standards represents an extreme outlier in terms of professional success, come into the Cat Ranch without an agenda, and sit down and have a completely sincere, honest, matter-of-fact conversation with Marc. For example, I think Chris Rock was one of the best interviews for exactly those reasons. I also thought the Todd Glass interview was amazing if for no other reason that it perfectly captured something pretty rarely recorded- a raw, unfiltered moment of catharsis. I think that interview was great in the same way that I think Pinkerton is an amazing album, and Garden State is a good movie (not for the soundtrack, but because you can tell Zach Braff wrote it as a sort of anthem for suburban adolescence).
If you have a different opinion, I think we can all at least agree that Stephen Tobolowsky and the recent auditory rape committed by Annabelle Gurwitch and her husband represent the very worst kind of guest- each came into the interview with an agenda of some sort, a formula which, the Carlos Mencia masterpiece excluded, results in one of the best sources of entertainment available in any format becoming near un-listenable.
So, where does Ralphie May fall along that continuum? Is he just a successful guy simply telling his honest story? Or, did he spend time beforehand making a game plan for the interview? A safe answer is “somewhere in the middle,” but if I had to place him in either camp, it would definitely be at least slightly closer to Chris Rock, if for no other reason than he’s trying desperately to get as far away from Annabelle Gurwitch & her husband as possible.
Annabelle January 25, 2012 at 1:29 pm
@Mike - go fuck yourself.
Beelzebud January 25, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Really great interview. I ended up liking Ralphie, where before I really had no opinion of him.
Pete January 25, 2012 at 7:37 pm
I got tired quick of the Ralphie stories which all started with him being the victim and ending with “I killed! Standing ovations!” No, this man does view himself as a victim, which may be true. But he’s also a great comic, and I hope he does something for his health before he joins Patrice O’Neal.
Mark Movagh January 27, 2012 at 9:24 am
Marc, great commentary on the hype surrounding those expensive, rodent-processed Indonesian coffee beans. I have never tried it, but I do know the awful stank of used coffee grounds, and I imagine that a bean going through the GI of some animal would acquire a similar quality. That said, I wouldn’t mind trying it if offered…wanna send me the rest of those beans?
Feela January 28, 2012 at 6:46 pm
excellent interview! WOW. Ralphie May is NOT who i thought he was. I’d Only seen him on Last Comic Standing and realized during this interview that to a degree i wrote him off for the exact (horrible) bias brought up during this interview: I thought of him as a “Big Comic” instead of a Comic. I also only saw him do sets within the confines of (limited expression) Television instead of his actual act - now I’ve seen some clips online and find him to be very very good at what he does: making people laugh. (Marc please consider doing a feature or feature-ette on the epidemic problem of comics working within the ridiculously censored confines of television.) One of the most eye-opening interviews you’ve done: LOVED IT and thank you.
rosesu February 07, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Was the show that you created about your divorce recorded, and is it available anywhere? I would love to see/hear that one. Thanks.Seed Decorticator
ricardo February 09, 2012 at 1:36 am
Your overall conclusion is good…
ricardo carvalho February 09, 2012 at 1:38 am
nice information.keep coming
sdfy4f February 09, 2012 at 11:22 pm
Honestly, I was a little turned off to Ralphie’s arrogance. I realize it probably comes from a place of low self esteem due to the weight, but I hate hearing people talk themselves up like he did. Still, its a decent success story,wbhivdbpu je efmtvjisx dr watmesan fg kunson
and he sounds like a nice guy for the most part. I think he’s just starting to buy into his own B.S. a little bit. His new album sounds a bit self indulgent. I thought for sure Mark was going to jump on him a bit about that or some of the bragging about the ass he kicked, or would have kicked, but he just chuckled and let it slide. But, regardless, I wish him continued success even though he’s not my cup of tea.
GM February 13, 2012 at 12:58 pm
My skeptometer was going off during that one. Really, he breaks almost every bone in his body, then a short while later beats the shit out of a tormentor? I mean, it could have happened, but the way he presented it seemed sketchy. And then later when Marc asked “Are you sure it was me?”, that put his stories further into doubt. Again, they may very well be true, or based in truth, but my spidey senses were tingling. And when he was talking about being called a hack, he totally reminded me of Carlos Mencia. In fact, I had a better impression of Mencia after his interviews than I did about May after this one.
Oh, and Anabelle, I loved your episode. Hilarious.
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