Brightest Young Things

Interview by Eli Sairs, host of 3 Chord Comedy, and a very funny dude also.

Ryan Conner is from Virginia (Northern and Southern). He lives in Hoboken, NJ, just across the Hudson from New York City. He performs comedy at colleges all over the country, clubs all over the East Coast, and did several shows in China. Ryan did a post-election thing last year on the BBC Network, and now contributes to SNL's Weekend Update. He also has a sick jump-shot. That's the only information you need right now. Stay tuned for additional informations.

BYT: You got your start in DC.  In what ways, if any, did living in the area shape or influence your material?  How did your time here equip you for the giant jungle of the NY comedy scene?
Ryan Conner: I guess the "area" shaped and influenced my material in the sense that I was able to get on stage a lot in front of good crowds. Sometimes the crowds can be a little too PC in DC, but they're otherwise great. New York crowds are a little different. For example, in New York, a lot of people don't seem to have an attention span that can expand beyond 20 seconds. So, quick jokes and one-liners can take you a long way there, whereas it's tougher if you're a more subtle comic.

The most influential thing about DC was the DC Improv. I worked there for almost three years.  There, I had a chance to watch a lot of the best comics in the country regularly. I was able to learn something from everyone I saw.

In some ways, DC is great preparation for New York, but not across the board. In DC, all I cared about was doing longer sets, and building enough A-material for a solid hour. Then I got to New York and had all these TV auditions where I had to do 5-6 minute sets. It was kind of a shock to do industry sets. It was like I had been studying Spanish for three years, and all of a sudden I was told that no one speaks Spanish anymore. Only Chinese. Honestly, I'm still not very good at industry sets. People who are good at them usually have very short jokes, with little to no set-up. This allows them to do 10-15 jokes in five minutes. My favorite stuff to do is 4-6 minute stories. So, industry sets are not my forte, and probably never will be. I could blame my time in DC for not prepping me for New York's shorter sets. But I think focusing on longer sets will help me more in the long run.

BYT: NY and LA are known as the “Comedy Capitals.”  Is the entire scene leaps and bounds ahead of other cities, or are there advantages to a smaller, more tight-knit comedy community like the one here in D.C., for both performers and audiences?

Ryan Conner: It depends on what you mean by it being "leaps and bounds ahead." It is leaps and bounds ahead in the sense that there are far more shows, more comics and more industry in New York. At the same time, the DC shows are (at least they were when I lived in DC) much better attended, and the crowds tended to be a better sample of the general public. In New York, the crowds are a little more homogenous. Depending on what neighborhood the show is in, you could get a crowd that's 100% foreign, 100% hipsters, or 100% bankers, etc. So, although shows in New York are fun, they're somewhat irrelevant in that outside those shows you'll never perform for a similar room of people, unless you're doing a shitty corporate gig.

BYT: So you're saying you prefer like an equal 1/3 share of hipsters, bankers and foreigners?  That sounds like a tough crowd.  And where are all these 100% foreign crowds?

BYT: You’re able to do this as your living.  To make this possible, do you have to spend most of your time hitting the circuit in NYC, or on the road?  Do you prefer one to the other?

Ryan Conner: In order to make money, I need to be outside New York. So, I definitely prefer being on the road to being in the city. I like the diversity of the crowds in other places, as well as seeing the country.

BYT: What about contemporary comedy do you love, and what about it do you hate?

Ryan Conner: I like that there are a lot of really funny, original comics. I don't like that it's much easier to catch a break, or whatever you want to call it, if you have a gimmick or if you're basically a variation of someone else who is already big.

BYT: Yeah, that fucking Lewis Black dude is totally biting off Bernie Mac's style.  R.I.P.

BYT: Could you name a couple comedians the readers probably don’t know about, but should (via YouTube, after reading this interview)?

Ryan Conner: I'm going to pretend you didn't say "a couple." I'd recommend checking out (in no particular order): John Mulaney, Vince Averill, Jesse Popp, Rory Scovel, Jason Weems, Andy Kline, Jon Mumma, Justin Schlegel, Chris Fleming, Ellen Degeneres (Not that Ellen Degeneres) and other people.

BYT: Go ahead and plug some projects your working on.

Ryan Conner: We (Quincy Ledbetter and I) are putting the final touches on a series for Crucial Element. 

It's seven episodes, totaling about 95 minutes. Watch them in order and you have a movie. Bam. The goal is to have everything ready to go by February 1st. After that, we want to screen it a few times and pitch it to anyone who will listen. I also just finished writing a feature, which I think is good. The plan is to try to sell it. If I can't sell it, I'm  going to shoot it myself this summer.

BYT: And what about the skateboarding?

Ryan Conner: That's not me.  That kid's name is Ryan Connor.  With an 'O'.

The show will be much more funny, and much less informative than this interview. It will be equally as sexy.  We'd show you some clips of Ryan's comedy, but we don't want to spoil the surprise.  We promise you'll laugh.  Hard.  Now watch Jamie Kennedy ruin some chick.

Ryan Conner will be at The Velvet Lounge this Friday at 7 pm.  $4 cover.

That's FOUR DOLLARS.  Seriously, readers, come out and support comedy.

Previously in comedy:

• 2/10: Behind The Desk 35: Spotting THE Crazy In the Arts (Vol. 2)
• 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre
• 1/24: LiveDC: Adam Carolla @ Fillmore
• 1/20: Behind The Desk 32: Eddie Brill Is Common
• 1/17: LiveDC: JB Smoove @ 930 Club
• 12/8: Tom Arnold - Up Close & Very Nice
• 12/5: LiveDC: Michael Ian Black @ Sixth and I Synagogue
• 12/5: Lauren Weedman-BUSTED
• 12/1: R.I.P. Patrice O'Neal - brilliant 1969 to 2011
• 11/30: BYT Interview: Michael Ian Black