Stand-up comedian Ryan Hamilton is bringing his act to The Paramount in Huntington on Sept. 14. Hamilton — who put out the Netflix special, “Happy Face,” in 2017 — has never performed at The Paramount before.
“I’ve been coming to Long Island for a long time though,” Hamilton said. “Back when I first came to New York it was hard to get shows in the city and getting them on Long Island was easier.”
Hamilton’s return to Long Island comes with a new hour of material entirely different from the content in his special. He hopes people will take the time to watch the show before coming to see him live.
“I’m really happy for people who haven’t seen the special to watch the special and then come to see an all-new show,” Hamilton said.
Over the course of his career, Hamilton has earned a reputation for being a “clean” comic, but that wasn’t a deliberate choice. Instead, he just tailored his act to the type of comedy he liked and that worked for him.
“It kind of just happened that I got that reputation,” he said. “It was kind of just, this is who I am, this is what works for me.”
Hamilton’s comedy is mostly observational, he works to find the humor in everyday situations and make the mundane funny. He draws on his own life for inspiration and uses relatable situations in his bits.
“I was always kind of drawn to those comics and that kind of broad observational comedy,” Hamilton said. “I like the restrictions that are put on that.”
Hamilton’s career has taken him to a variety of places and he’s worked with all sorts of different people. He’s been on several different late-night shows such as “Conan,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”
Late-night talk show appearances are very different than doing an hour-long stand-up, and Hamilton says he has to take a different approach with his comedy because of that.
“They’re different because they’re very short and you don’t have a lot of opportunity for error. You have to get the audience right away,” he said. “If you lose them, you don’t have the opportunity to get them back.”
He describes the late shows as having their own unique style and says that because most of his jokes are a few minutes long, he sometimes has to alter them to fit the routine. “Late night shows are an art in itself,” Hamiton said.
Hamilton has also toured and worked with the legendary New York comedian Jerry Seinfeld multiple times over the course of his career. Seinfeld impressed Hamilton with his work ethic and ability to still have a balanced life.
“The level of importance he puts on each show, he’s very passionate about it and it makes me want to be a better comedian too,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton will be putting all of this experience to work on stage on Sept. 14 at 8 p.m., and tickets for the show are now available online.
