Ralphie Hardesty: Just Keep Going

Whether you know him as Ralph, or Ral­phie (he does­n’t mind either), Mr. Hard­esty is a name you don’t soon for­get. Valerie Lopez grabbed time with him in Jan­u­ary, before he opened for the very fun­ny Mac Blake, to find out a bit more about what makes this com­ic tick. (And it’s just pos­si­ble Blake makes a sur­prise appearance.)

As a child of the Chica­go sub­urbs, Hard­esty was a self-pro­fessed ​“TV watch­er”, The Simp­sons mani­ac, and loved com­e­dy favorites like Pee-Wee’s Play­house and Roseanne. While he also absorbed some stand-up through his par­ents’ habits, he did­n’t yet have the glim­mer of per­for­mance in his own eyes.

After a stop to nab a Mas­ter’s degree in Alaba­ma, Hard­esty took some hints the world was giv­ing him and soon after land­ed in Austin. Once he dipped a toe in the local com­e­dy scene at the urg­ing of the fan­tas­tic Katie Pen­gra, as so many before him, he was hooked and start­ed per­form­ing regularly.

You may since have seen Hard­esty in a reg­u­lar role at the ongo­ing Austin favorite movie-roast-along Mas­ter Pan­cake, the year­ly local Moon­tow­er Com­e­dy Fes­ti­val, or the renowned Bridgetown Com­e­dy Fes­ti­val. He also co-hosts the sin­cere and pop­u­lar LGBTQ-friend­ly Greet­ings from Queer Moun­tain month­ly at Cheer Up Charlies.

Life keeps throw­ing signs at Hard­esty, and luck­i­ly for us, the ones he choos­es to fol­low have led him to quit his ​“day job” and focus entire­ly on com­e­dy. He’s devel­oped a per­son­al ethos: ​“just keep doing the things that excite you, and run from any­thing else”. Sol­id words to live by, no mat­ter your passion.

Get out and see Ral­phie at his upcom­ing and ongo­ing shows:

• Jan 31^st (and ongo­ing): Greet­ings from Queer Moun­tain @ Cheer Up Charlies
• Feb 2^nd-3^rd: Mas­ter Pan­cake @ Alamo Ritz 7pm & 10pm
• Feb 9^th-10^th, 16^th: Mas­ter Pan­cake @ Alamo Ritz 7pm & 10pm
• Feb 18^th: Spe­cial Greet­ings, from Queer Moun­tain @ OUT­sider Fest 8pm