He’s not psychic, but University graduate Ray DeVito was able to predict what his first open-mike spot would be like.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be spectacular and it wasn’t, but I did get a couple of laughs.”
He also has the event documented to prove it.
“I actually have a tape of it and I never plan on watching it until I do an HBO special or something because it is just painful.”
His first performance in front of an audience may have been painful, but not as painful as working in Corporate America. After graduating from the University in 1997, DeVito became a financial analyst and six months later decided it was not the job for him.
“I didn’t like the corporate world. You can see people using each other as stepping stones,” DeVito said. “People would appear to be great friends and then gossip about each other. Maybe I just wasn’t in a good environment.”
While the environment post-BGSU was not something DeVito would like to recall, his time at his alma mater was a positive experience.
“BGSU was great socially and academically,” DeVito said. “Everyone always seemed to get along with each other. The campus was always filled with good vibes.”
After graduation, when the vibes of college began to disappear, DeVito began frequenting comedy clubs. He discovered comedy was more to his liking than analyzing finances.
“I started hanging out at comedy clubs like Hilarities in Cuyahoga Falls, OH and Connixtions in Toledo, performing at open-mikes and every smoke-filled bar that would allow me to.”
Finding that club owners were more supportive than most of his co-workers and realizing comedy was the only job he had ever committed himself to, DeVito decided to become a comedian full time. According to DeVito, it is a move that some people unhappy with their job, might want to delay before quitting their full-time, consistent paying job.
“Don’t quit your job immediately. Wait until you’ve been doing it at least a year and eventually you’ll start making enough money where you can make a small living,” DeVito said.
After quitting his job and moving on to a career in comedy, DeVito moved from his parents’ house in Cleveland to Queens, New York and it has been a good transition for him.
“The cultural diversity in Queens is amazing. There is no city like it.”
The move to Queens and the decision to be a full- time comedian is now DeVito’s life — a life that seemingly does not have a typical day or a moment to spare.
“I write 24/7 and have my tape recorder and notebook with me all the time,” he said. “It’s a full day’s work of being on the phone, e-mailing bookers, writing jokes, and driving to gig to gig. There is no basic routine.”
DeVito has performed on stage with comics like Pauly Shore and Bobcat Goldthwait, and says it is usual practice to perform with well-known comedians on a regular basis.
“Living in New York, it’s not uncommon to perform on the same show as Dave Chapelle, Jim Breuer, Tracey Morgan, etc.,” DeVito said.
Residing in New York has not only left DeVito in the midst of some famous company, but has also raised his awareness of the difference between Italians in Ohio and Italians in New York.
“Italian people in New York City actually speak Italian while Midwest Italians watch Al Pacino movies,” DeVito said. “So now I’ve adapted where I can talk about my grandparents from Naples and how their upbringings differed from mine.”
This realization has also prompted DeVito to eventually change his Web site from www.italianfreak.com to www.raydevito.net.
DeVito previously featured his Italian upbringing and childhood memories in his act to get laughs. But as time went on, he found being a comedian was more than about just getting a laugh.
“Starting out, you just want people to laugh, after awhile anyone can do that,” DeVito said. “The art of the craft is to get the crowd to laugh on your terms and getting them to relate to you personally. That’s what separate comedians from comics”
DeVito, who is tentatively scheduled to record a CD in Little Rock, Ark this year, has been fortunate enough to have some television exposure. He has appeared on the PAX network’s “David Lynch Show” and has done some extra work. A career in television or movies is enticing to DeVito but says he is content with being a comedian.
“I started going on auditions in New York, but I always want to be a stand-up comedian,” he said. I would love to get involved in television or movies, but my main focus will always be stand-up comedy.”
A focus that DeVito hopes will hold a bright future for himself. “I want to keep evolving as a comedian. I’m 27 and hopefully in the next 10 years be considered on of the best of my generation,” he said. ” When you look at the status of Chris Rock, Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce and George Carlin and how respected they are among their generation of fans, that’s what I’d like to evolve to eventually.”
Maybe then DeVito can finally watch that first open mike spot video.
