Award-winning comedian Ron James has been selling out theatres for 15 years with his marathon, side-splitting, kinetically charged performances.
Marshaling a comedian’s eye for satire and a writer’s ear for language, James takes his audience on a breath-taking, non-stop roller coaster ride, cutting a wide swath through contemporary culture with his razor-sharp ribald wit, uncompromising standards and poetically honed delivery.
With eight critically acclaimed one-hour comedy specials under his belt, and five seasons starring in his own series, The Ron James Show, James is back doing what he does best: delivering laughs face to face and coast to coast and bringing his Pedal To The Metal show to the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre on Tuesday.
As always, James will take on a wide variety of topics, from Donald Trump to yoga classes.
“Given America’s political free fall ‘down the rabbit hole’ into the realm of the absurd, it’s reasonable to assume I’ll be roasting Trump and his party of kleptocratic rubes who are defiantly marching America backwards to the wrong side of history,” said James, in an interview via email. “Now that the ‘rubber’s hit the road’ with the federal Liberals under ‘Mr. Sunny Ways,’ Justin gets some heat, along with the never-ending circus in your supernatural province of polarities called British Columbia where, ‘you’re either chained to a tree or chopping it down’.
“We’re all affected by the nano second pace of change on our rapidly spinning planet, and trying to find a level playing field on terra firm seems like it’s everyone’s battle these days. Whether we’re turning into emaciated husks after a 72-hour straight binge watch of that ‘digital crack house’ called Netflix, blowing a gasket talking to Bell customer service, stifling flatulence in yoga class, digesting doomsday warnings on everything from sugar to the disappearing bees, or looking for a second chance at love on Match.com, during my two-hour show, there’s something for everyone.”
James said Canada is a fertile ground of innovative comedic minds, from K. Trevor Wilson to Ryan Bellville, all of whom he said deserve their due and to experience the good fortune of playing to packed theatres in cities and towns from coast to coast.
“Engaging with the authentic heart-line hum of people and place across the Big Wide Open has changed my life,” said James, who calls his calling more a trade than a profession. “You’ve got to put your Gladwellian 10,000 hours in playing the far points of frontier to earn your stage legs. Nothing happens overnight. Aspiring comedians driven by the bogus pursuit of fame should know the first time a carpenter picks up a hammer he doesn’t build a mansion. Forget about the shiny baubles of fortune and just get good at your craft.
“Once I began to embrace the pure virtue of the work and recognize the greatest reward was the opportunity of doing it, to entertain a paying public, to give them an authentic, communal experience television cannot and never will, my act and I became better. I take more chances now. I push the envelope without losing the room. I have more control over the Furys that fuel my funny. I realize the comedian’s job is to speak truth to power and debunk the corporate spin doctors selling a bill of goods to the Everyman. That being said, the road takes no prisoners and comedy does not suffer fools. This job takes commitment to the craft. “
Ron James — Pedal To The Metal is Tuesday at the Vernon &District Performing Arts Centre. Tickets are $55, including tax, available at the TicketSeller box office or by calling 250-549-SHOW (7469) or at www.ticketseller.ca