Meet Ron Placone | Comedian, Writer & Podcaster

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ron Placone and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ron, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
There’s nothing quite like being on stage and performing live. It’s one of the absolute greatest feelings in the world. From the first time I got my first laugh on stage I thought, “yes, this is what I want to do.” For a long time I needed a day job to make ends meet. And it killed me. I remember this one time I had a gig on a Thursday night, and I had to be back in the office Friday morning. I was lamenting to the headliner, who was a full-time comic, and he said, “hey man, it’s all good. Right now, you’re Superman. Tomorrow, you just gotta go be Clark Kent for a bit, but it’s not forever, and don’t forget, you’re Superman.” That was solid advice. I mean, I’m definitely not Superman, I’m just a comic, but I dig the metaphor. When I have the inevitable bad day (which happens, especially in these times), I remind myself there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I guess I’m lucky enough that I get to talk about exactly what I want to talk about and don’t need to compromise at all. That’s why the show’s called “Get Your News On With Ron.” It’s about what’s going on in the world that I find important and worth sharing. Politics, Workers’ Rights, Strikes, Labor, Digital Rights, Net Neutrality, Punk Rock, Cats, Comedy, Literature, Philosophy, these are some of the things I care about and they’re what I talk about. It’s niche. It’s not for everyone and it never will be, and that’s cool with me. If the people who want to find it, find it. I’m happy. I approach stand-up the same way, not in an exclusive way or anything like that, more just this is who I am and what I do and if ya bought a ticket ya know what you’re gettin’ into, hah.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in Los Angeles, but more specifically, I live in San Pedro. I love it here. I’d show them around my neighborhood and of course this would include a good amount of beach time, hikes in Sunken City and paying a visit to Pt. Fermin and the Friendship Bell. We’d definitely hit some of my favorite bars in the area: The Sardine, Godmother’s, Brouwerij West, San Pedro Brewing, Whale & Ale and maybe even take an adventure or two somewhere I haven’t been.

On Friday, we’d get to have a lovely afternoon at the Farmer’s Market where I pretty much never miss a week unless I’m out of town. We’d have to treat ourselves to Rafaello, Compagnon, sandwiches at Busy Bee and A1. We’d get some fresh seafood at Ports O’ Call.

Geesh, at this point we still haven’t left Pedro…We’d have to cross the bridge and spend some time in Long Beach and then of course all of the essential LA neighborhoods: Santa Monica, Venice, Downtown, Los Feliz, Silverlake/Echo Park and if we made it further east I wouldn’t mind stopping in my old spot, Pasadena.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The cool thing about being a comedian is you get to collaborate with awesome people all the time but still fly solo a bunch too. For space sake I’ll try to keep it brief:

Jimmy Dore, Graham Elwood, Lee Camp, Lauren Ashcraft, Rick Overton, Joseph Sakata, Cam Chin, Dana Eagle, Gareth Reynolds, Kevin Ronca, Krish Mohan, Savage Joy Marie, Jeff Epstein, Brian and KP Productions, John Davis, Dante Rusciolelli and everyone at Golden Artists Entertainment, Aqua Talent, Drew Thomas, Tina Desiree-Berg, Everyone involved with Left At Wall and probably a bunch more I’m forgetting and will feel guilty about later.

Inspiration-wise: Joe Strummer, Bill Hicks, Dick Gregory, George Carlin, Boccaccio, Ricky Gervais, Boots Riley, Maria Bamford.

Finally, my friends, family, wife and cat for tolerating me.

Website: www.ronplacone.com

Instagram: ronplacone

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ron-placone

Twitter: @RonPlacone

Facebook: facebook.com/RonPlaconeComedy

Youtube: www.youtube.com/RonPlacone

Other: www.gofundme.com/f/left-at-wall. This is the trailer for a movie I’m making. If you’d like to make a contribution that is awesome, there’s a bunch of cool perks, but either way, check out the trailer!

Image Credits
Photos by Troy Conrad Artwork by Chris Liatsis