When Canadian comedian Ron James started performing stand-up shows, he closed the night with a couple of beers and a scotch. Now, at the end of a performance, he has a couple Tylenol and washes them down with a Gatorade.
He has, after all, been in the game for 39 years: a paradox among peers.
“I feel very lucky,” he said. “In terms of success I’ve been able to actualize my life by following my bliss. You take torpedoes to the bow in a long road. Everyone suffers from the ups and downs of life.”
In fact, those ups and downs are what continue to inspire new content for James’ comedy work, whether that’s on television or a stage.
James worked for ten years on Second City. He has acted in feature films, sitcoms, national commercials and was a regular in every major comedy festival in Canada. He is an award winning writer with credits on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and he created and starred in two television series including Blackfly (Global) and The Ron James Show (CBC). He is also known for his New Year’s Eve specials on CBC.
For all the experiences he’s had, James is most fond of time spent in front of an audience on a stage.
“I’ve been in TV my whole life,” he said. “It’s fun, It’s hard, it’s demanding, but the satisfaction depends on so many other elements than just the world itself … There’s something pure and fundamentally elemental about hitting the road and doing your work in front of an audience that’s just come to laugh their worries away. It’s you, a mic, and a glass of water. And that hasn’t changed since time immemorial.”
James recently had an experience that reminded him of exactly why he knows comedy is his calling and why he spent his life pushing forward on that road of highs and lows.
He was asked to visit a class at University of Toronto called Seniors doing Standup. The class required each participant to write material based on their own experiences. James listened to nine seniors talk about their lives and for many it was the first time they had done it.
“The three greatest fears in the world are getting cancer, going blind and speaking in public,” said James. “To watch these people deliver the substance of their lives was an epiphany because it was just so pure. It reminded me of the early days. I walked away from that experience thinking what comedians are trying to do is embrace the perfection of their imperfections.”
James draws inspiration for his comedy from the world around him and his experiences.
On the stage, he does what he can to make a connection with the audience by giving them something they can relate to.
“The material that resonates is the material that comes from the life experience,” said James. “When I’m on stage, I talk about frustrations with Bell customer service, the body breaking down, bad diets, nanosecond rates of change in the world, guilt, fear, hope, love, hate, dating, marriage, children, death. Everything. You name it, I’m covering it. I want to land on a lot of different bases, because I know all of those people in the audience are feeling the same.”
But it isn’t just the high points that inspire comedy for James. Often, it’s how he works through the sad, darker times of his life.
“Comedy comes from pain – a certain amount of it,” he said. “Comedians wouldn’t be getting in front of that microphone if everything worked out in their life. They are getting in front of that microphone because they can work it out there.”
James lost his father recently. But he was inspired by his father’s final days in hospital, as his father joked about a “pretty nurse” buying him a catheter from Canadian Tire.
“I want to still be delivering the goods in the face and breath of the reaper,” he said. “That’s the lifeforce. It’s where the soul note sings the loudest.”
James is coming to Collingwood for a sold out show (April 27) and an encore performance at the Gayety Theatre. There are still tickets available for the encore performance, which takes place May 4 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $55 to $60. Buy tickets online here.
