`I’ve never had `Ray Romano Appearing . . .’ at a theater,” says the standup comedian and television star about headlining a venue larger than a comedy club. That’s what having a popular TV show will do for you.
In fact, Romano says having your own show is one of the few ways a comedian can draw a theater-size audience these days. It’s a far cry from five or 10 years ago, where some talk-show spots would have been enough to pull people in.
“You could do a couple of late-night (Jay) Lenos and (Johnny) Carsons and (David) Lettermans, and you would be well-known in standup,” says Romano. “But nowadays, for a comedian to move up and have the notoriety to sell a theater, you almost need your own TV show. I can’t think of any comics who are drawing people in a theater now who don’t have a TV show.”
Romano’s TV show, the CBS comedy “Everybody Loves Raymond” (at 8 p.m. Mondays on WBBM-Ch. 2), has enabled the standup to pull some good numbers on a tour of 20 dates that he’s been doing since May. He’s bringing his road show to the Paramount Arts Center in Aurora on Saturday.
But before he had the sitcom, “I’ve never had the notoriety to sell the tickets,” Romano says. He’s been part of a performance that took place in a large venue, but never as the top act. “Now that we have fans from the show, we’re kind of filling these theaters, 1,000-seat, 2,000-seat theaters, which is pretty neat,” says Romano, 40. “I guess publicity-wise it helps. And it gets me out of the house.”
Romano is digging the success that “Everybody Loves Raymond” has generated as far as people coming to see him perform. It’s different from when he was a club comedian, because now he’s the object of their attention.
“Here’s actually people spending their hard-earned money to come hear me talk,” says the comic. “Yeah, in the comedy clubs they were paying to get in, too. But they weren’t paying to come see me, they were coming to see a comedy show.”
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Ray Romano performs an 8 p.m. show Saturday at the Paramount Arts Center, Aurora. To charge tickets by phone, call 312-559-1212; for other details, call the Paramount at 630-896-6666.