Rahn Ramey went from practicing law to practicing jokes. The former attorney decided a career in law wasn’t for him when he was fired from a volunteer job. “I was a legal aid and apparently wasn’t very good at it,” Ramey said. “Aside from that, it took seven times to pass the bar.”
When he did finally pass, Ramey said he hated being a lawyer. “It sucked. I sucked at it. The problem was, my parents are doctors, my siblings have PhD’s, and then there’s me,” Ramey said. “It was a lot to live up to.”
Ramey didn’t realize he wanted to be a comedian until he saw a horrendously bad comic in St. Louis, his hometown. “There was this guy named Jerry West. Heard of him? Of course you haven’t. He’s terrible,” Ramey said. “When I saw him, I said, ‘I could be drunk and be funnier than him.’”
After making that comment, Ramey tried his hand at stand-up comedy. His act, “Bill Cosby on crack,” or “Adulterated garbage,” takes a look at marriage, weddings, relationships, among other subjects. “Whatever’s being talked about in the media, I’m doing jokes about it,” Ramey said. “I write for seven different comics. I’m always getting subjects thrown at me so I write jokes about them. I have nothing to do all day.”
Ramey has opened up for the late Luther Vandross, Earth, Wind and Fire, and Randy Travis. “I was opening up for Randy Travis and someone yelled, ‘Hey, get that (n-word) off the stage.’ I don’t do a lot of musical acts anymore,” said Ramey.
Now, Ramey plays clubs across the world and also dabbles in film and television in his spare time. “I’ve been in movies with Jude Law and Martin Lawrence and had my own television show in ‘99. I was in a show called “Willie the Mailman.” It was so bad UPN didn’t even want it,” said Ramey. “I had the development deal, I went all through that.”
Ramey says being a television or movie star isn’t what he dreams about. “I love what I do. I get paid for it. I used to hate the traveling but that was because I had a bad attitude,” Ramey said. “You eventually get used to the traveling and the bad shows that go along with it. You’re only as good as your last show.”
He added, “I can do this for a long time. The only thing I want when I’m done is for my kids to think I was a cool guy and dad. I just don’t want them to be on Maury Povich talking about how bad a father I was.”
Thinking their father is a cool guy shouldn’t be that hard. Ramey, wanting to spend some time with his son, took him on the road with him when he opened up for Hall & Oates. “Instead of riding on the bus with the band, my son and I decided to get an RV to spend some father/son time together,” Ramey said. “After our first leg, I was ready to get on that bus.”
BYLINE:
Jason Tanamor is the Editor of Zoiks! Online. He is also the author of the novels, "Hello Lesbian!" and "Anonymous." Email Jason at jason@zoiksonline.com.
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