Ryan Cownie Gets Raw

Ryan Cown­ie, once part of the great Nebraskan com­e­dy dias­po­ra of the ear­ly 21^st cen­tu­ry, moved to Austin with friend and fel­low come­di­an, Cody Hus­tak. They gave them­selves a five year time frame. By the time their dead­line hit, each had con­quered the city in their own ways. Then they packed their things, except Cown­ie’s spe­cial jour­nal, and head­ed to L.A.

When asked by Valerie Lopez why he chose L.A. over New York, Cown­ie explained that if a come­di­an wants to grow their career with the sole focus on stand up, then New York is a good place to go, but, if it’s com­e­dy in gen­er­al (act­ing, writ­ing, rap­ping, etc.) L.A. is the bet­ter of the two.

As fan of Ryan Cown­ie, I know he’s not just about stand up. Like many oth­er of our inter­vie­wees on Com­e­dy Wham, Cown­ie sees com­e­dy in a broad­er scope. Yes, his stand up is sol­id, his writ­ing skills sol­id, and he’s com­fort­able in front of a cam­era. Just ask Dustin Svehlak of Volta­ic Video.

As Cown­ie chats with Valerie and Lara, he breaks down his com­e­dy career, talks about a note­book, his friend­ship with Cody Hus­tak, Mt. Dew, and break­ing in to the L.A. com­e­dy scene.

You’re prob­a­bly ask­ing your­self, if Ryan Cown­ie moved to L.A. why is Com­e­dy Wham writ­ing about him? It’s because he’s back in Austin for a few days, and he’s record­ing his first album at The Velv Com­e­dy Lounge. And you’ll nev­er guess who’s run­ning audio (Who oth­er than Svehlak, would any­one trust with their audio, hon­est­ly). It’s this week­end and you need to go see this dude. It’s not often Cown­ie graces the lit­tle blue island in a sea of red with his pres­ence. Seri­ous­ly, there’s no telling when he’ll return. Get your keis­ters to the Velv or you’ll be wak­ing up in a cold sweat after a bout of night ter­rors because you didn’t.

Tick­et infor­ma­tion can be found at the Velv Com­e­dy Lounge.

Remem­ber, NO HECKLING!!