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Rising comedian shares success

After touring the world, a comedian has come home to teach at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

By BABITA PERSAUD
Published February 18, 2005

SULPHUR SPRINGS - He's not the class clown.

The class clown was the kid who acted goofy.

Ranney Lawrence was the kid who sat next to the class clown and mumbled, "That's not funny."

If you see his name on a marquee, you might notice he spells his first name with a lowercase "r." But there is nothing small about Lawrence.

He's a comedian who has been around the world: London's the Comedy Store, Dublin's Projects Arts Centre.

He has performed one-man shows: Whatever, Pardon Me I Promise To Do My Best (performed during this past election year) and A Freakin' American "which sounds like African-American if said real fast," he said.

He's a poet, comic, director, actor and writer.

Now add teacher.

Lawrence teaches at the new Patel Conservatory at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center downtown.

If you haven't heard about Lawrence yet, you will.

He was scheduled to begin performances Thursday as a young man with a mental capacity of a 4-year-old in The Boys Next Door at Shimberg Playhouse.

And this one he's particularly proud of: This April 8, a revival of the Bomb-itty of Errors, a hip-hop version of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors that sold out shows when American Stage performed it several years ago in St. Petersburg.

His roots are small. Lawrence grew up in Winter Haven, the youngest of nine children, "so I have endless material," he said.

"Come over here, uh, uh, uh . . . boy."

He describes himself as shy.

Growing up, he was his sister's sidekick in Mulberry Middle's School talent shows.

There she was imitating Sister Sledge, singing "He's the greatest dancer," while the young Lawrence popped out in between choruses in a fur London Fog coat.

The twosome performed in sixth and seventh grade.

Then, his sister went onto high school, and Lawrence was left alone on stage in eighth grade.

He walked out, pretending to dribble an imaginary basketball and did a Michael Jackson-ish dance to Cool by the Times.

Later, after a year at junior college, Lawrence did a brave thing: He headed to New York.

It was 1989. He went where comedians go: The Apollo Theatre. Walked in and performed on stage during Laff Tuesdays. He went on to do the Comic Strip and other New York clubs. As part of Last One Out, he toured around the nation doing stand up.

And then he came back to Florida, eventually to Tampa in 1998, for a performance in Gorilla Theatre.

He took a hiatus for a few years and did "the bird show" at Busch Gardens, where comedians had to stick to a script.

It didn't last long.

He was back on the circuit, doing Side Splitters and the Improv in Ybor City. He directed Joe Popp's original rock musical Maxwell.

In 2003, Lawrence was voted Best of the Bay actor by the Weekly Planet.

Then came the bomb.

He played Adriana and Antipholus of Ephesus in the quintet The Bomb-itty of Errors, a play written by New York University students.

Audiences raved.

So did critics.

The show toured, landing Lawrence at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.

"It was crazy," he said.

People would race up to him. "Are you with the Bomb-itty?"

"We were just hoping people like it," he said.

They did a month of performances and won best ensemble.

Now, Lawrence is back home.

He lives in Sulphur Springs, on a street dominated by artists and actors - called artist's row. He's been married 11 years to Susan Stone-Lawrence, a theater production researcher who also works for Time Customer Service (her day job).

Marriage gives him more fodder:

"My wife and I don't have any kids because we hate babies."

His method of teaching is frank and real-world.

Never end your set with "That's my time."

Don't fumble with your microphone.

Outlines are good.

Write for yourself.

"Is it funny to you?" he asks his class of about 10 people.

"It's a stress reliever," said Mayra Calo, an immigration lawyer who is taking the class with her 16-year-old son, Ariel. "I start working on my bit, and then make myself laugh."

And the best advice he gives his class?

"Give them you."

AGE: 36

WEB SITE: www.itsranney.com

INFLUENCE: What he calls the Mount Rushmore of Comedy - George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy and Bill Hicks, underground comedian who died in 1994.

WHAT DUBLIN CRITIC SAID: "Best Aretha Franklin impersonation."

ON GAY WEDDINGS: "All weddings are gay."

ON TV VIOLENCE: "Television causes violence. Yeah, right. Like Hitler had Pay Per View."

ON BABIES: "Kids can express their emotions. "Wha, wha.' I'd like to put that out in a meeting."

ON HIS PROFESSION: "People say all the time, "You're a comedian; make me laugh.' They don't say, "You're a baker; make me a cake.' "You're a fireman; blow that out.' "

[Last modified February 17, 2005, 10:49:04]