Ricky Velez Shows How He Handles Being in the Chris Rock/Will Smith Situation

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Ricky Velez was performing for a sold out crowd at the Denver Comedy Works Thursday night, where he found himself dealing with a potential Will Smith situation as someone approaches him at the club. The someone was just a smiling fan taking their seat, right up at the stage. But Velez uses the moment to addresses the weirdness of the Oscars right up front.

In the video you can hear Velez say to huge laughs, “not in this temperature you can’t walk to the stage like that.”  He asks if everybody is seated before adding, “I’m ready. You gonna have to fight me for a minute too. I bite, I’m a dirty fighters, I got a fork in my pocket. I’m ready for it. So if anybody feels Wild Wild West-ing this….”

Sunday night at the Oscars, Chris Rock told a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, that got a big laugh from everyone in the crowd except Jada. “Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you.”  And when Jada’s husband Will Smith saw how unhappy she was, he shocked everyone by walking on to the stage, slapping Chris Rock, calmly walking back to his front row seat, and berating Rock down to “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.”   Chris Rock was stunned, all of it was so unexpected, and his reaction, saying “I’m going to,” and then going on with the show, was praised by many for his restraint.  But comedians at clubs almost instantly saw this as a red flag, particularly after seeing that Hollywood, and America was not immediately horrified by Smith’s actions. On the contrary, they gave him a standing ovation a short while later as he accepted his Oscar for Best Lead Actor.

Comedians all over social media were tweeting within minutes about their fears that audiences are going to want to look like they too protect their wives, friends and family members while at clubs. So it’s now top of mind for performers to be on guard if someone starts coming toward the stage. Almost every performing comedian has either dealt with or witnessed an incident at a club over the course of their career, where an audience member was too drunk or too angry, and tried to jump on stage, or throw something at the comedian. And now, after last week’s “slap heard round the world” anyone who has to perform on a comedy stage is thinking about fallout.

Velez is being funny in the clip, but there’s also a thought there-  not every comedian will be as restrained as Chris Rock was if someone tries to start trouble.

Ricky is currently on tour working on his new hour; you can get tickets here. You can see his amazing new special, “Here’s Everything” currently streaming on demand on HBO MAX. The special was produced by Judd Apatow and Pete Davidson. It is a powerhouse of an hour, and just the beginning of what is already shaping to be a killer career. Velez was our favorite part of The Larry Willmore Show where he was a regular contributor/correspondent, and had a strong role in the movie The King of Staten Island, (which he also co-produced).

Velez- an Irish/Puerto Rican from Queens is a great dad and a sweetheart- who knows how to handle himself in tough situations, and more than anything else, he’s one of our favorite comics, crushing on stage and working his way up to be one of the best in the business.

Ricky Velez shows how the Will Smith Chris Rock slap has reverberated across the country and across comedy.

 

Read more comedy news.

Interrobang Staff

Interrobang Staff