Ralphie May
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ralphie May, (born 1972 in Chattanooga, Tennessee) is an American stand-up comedian who usually performs in Los Angeles, California. May entered the public eye when he appeared in the first season of the reality television series, Last Comic Standing, in which stand-up comedians compete for a television contract. May finished as first runner-up. His career has taken off since then, and he performs at some of the most well-known comedy clubs across the country. May's first CD and DVD, titled Just Correct, was released on February 10, 2004 and has since gone platinum.
May first got into comedy after he entered and won a talent show while still in high school. The prize of the talent show was the right to open for Sam Kinison. After graduating from Clarksville High school in Clarksville Arkansas, he then moved to Houston, Texas to perfect his comedy, and then to Los Angeles, where he has worked as an actor, writer, and producer.
May is a morbidly obese comedian, at one point weighing over 800 pounds. He began gaining weight following a car accident at 16, in which he broke 42 bones. After gastric bypass surgery, he has lost a great deal of weight in recent years. In 2005, he appeared on the television show Celebrity Fit Club, where he lost 27 pounds. Even though May only lost 5.6% of his body weight (one of the lowest in the history of the show) he has managed to lose almost another 100 pounds since the show. May currently weighs about 365 lbs.
He also did a special on Comedy Central called "Ralphie May: Girth of a Nation".
[edit] Trivia
- He was once not cast because he was too fat to play a "fat guy".
- He often appears as a guest comedian on the Opie and Anthony show on XM Satellite Radio. He also was a member of Opie and Anthonys "Travelling Virus" live stand-up tour with other comedians such as Bill Burr and Patrice Oneal.
