Ron Placone has been seen on CrossTalk, The Discovery Channel, The Jimmy Dore Show, RT International, TMZ, FreeSpeechTV and Redacted Tonight. His debut album, “Agnostic Holiday,” is in rotation on SiriusXM. He writes the comic, “Lucy & Ron,” and he hosts the podcast, “Get Your News on With Ron.”
He last visited Tucson on the brink of what he hoped would launch a national, live standup career. “The last time I came through Tucson,” he said, “I was going to tour very extensively and had an entire year of shows booked.”
With what he’d dubbed “The Progressive Comedy Tour Show,” emphasis on the “progressive,” he played The O on Feb. 8, 2020.
He told us at the time, “I’d been talking about politics since I started comedy, because what interested me was people like George Carlin and Bill Hicks.”
“I was one of the last shows that happened before the shutdown,” he said. “Now you’re going to hear more about the world around me and why I feel the way I do.” Placone will perform an hour-long set and premiere a short video at Screening Room Saturday, Jan. 28.
“The difference with this show is, I always talk about myself, but a lot has happened in my life since then,” Placone said. “I got married, we had a global pandemic that shut down the world for a little while. We had a couple elections, we had a World Cup, we had a couple holiday seasons. There’s certainly not a lack of things to talk about.”
At the Screening Room, Placone will introduce his standup fans to another dimension of his creativity: writing, directing and producing film projects. He’ll premiere a 12-minute promo for what he hopes might develop into a series. The work is called “Loner.”
“It’s a comedy about a guy who is working through the lockdown,” Placone said. Its centerpiece is his character’s complete isolation. The show has a full cast, and the story line revolves around their relationships, but Placone is the only one we see onscreen. He said of his character, “He’s going through this personal reckoning of finding himself and coming of age, but he’s doing it in incomplete solitude.”
What inspired the show, and informs his character, Placone said, was an epiphany: “Life is too short. Do it now.”
“I think the past couple years, one of the things that happened to all of us is we realized how short and precious life is,” Placone said.
“What are some things that I really value in my life? I want to do more international stuff. I want to do more film-related stuff. And I really want to connect more with my family and my roots in Italy.”
Placone grew up in an Italian American family. He’s cultivated relationships with far-flung family members via the internet. Now, he noted, there are so many (web-based tools) for people to connect with,
“We really do live in a digital village. So, I just decided that I really wanted to have a better connection with my Italian family.” He sees filmmaking as one path to work in Italy that will allow time with them.
“I’ve been over there about four times but recently I went over because a cousin of mine got married near Naples. I talk a lot about that in my act.”
Placone acknowledged what we all know — the COVID-19 pandemic was irretrievably devastating. “But I think one thing it did do for people, or certainly for me, was it sort of made us refocus on what’s really important in life.
“I used to say, ‘Someday I’m going to do more filmmaking.’ And now I’m like, ‘You know what? I can do that now.’”
New mics this week
Starting this week, Tucson comics and comedy fans have two new, free open mics to support on Wednesdays. Both promise a safe-space mic with no hate speech.
Corbin Barker opens his “For the Love of Comedy” mic for 7:30 p.m. signups and an 8 p.m. show on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at The Rock, 136 N. Park Avenue. Karaoke follows the mic.
Happy 9th anniversary to Unscrewed Theatre
Unscrewed Theatre’s birthday parties are always a treat. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, a ninth anniversary special features all of the Unscrewed house teams with special guest cartoonist, columnist and comedian David Fitzsimmons and KGUN9 correspondent Tina Giuliano. The show will have a “Whose Line Is It Anyway” flavor with a little musical improv thrown in.
At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, KDRI 107.1 FM midday host Ken Carr teams up with Unscrewed’s founding ensemble, NBOJU (Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed). Carr also performs in the 9 p.m. Uncensored Improv show with NBOJU and The Big Daddies,
More comedy this week
Chuckleheads, 41 Brewery Avenue, Bisbee, chuckleheadsaz.com, 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, $20. Multi-award-winner, Comedy Store regular and award-winning comedy documentary director Josh Edelman, featuring Austen Silver.
Hotel Congress, 311 E Congress Street, hotelcongress.com, 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, $17.51, The most flamboyant fun in town, “Retro Game Show,” now in its 11th year, presents “Wheel of Misfortune.” You could be a winner!
Laff’s Comedy Caffe, 2900 E. Broadway Boulevard, laffstucson.com, 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, and 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, $15, $20 preferred seating, Alvin Williams, there are things he doesn’t hate, but you might not hear about them. At least he’s likeable.
The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress Street, screeningroomdowntown.com, 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, $10, The Downtown Comedy Show with Whittles, Rebecca Fox, Austen Silver and Josh Edelman, Chris Quinn hosts; 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, $15. standup Ron Placone debuts of his short film “Loner.”
Tucson Improv Movement/TIM Comedy Theatre, 414 E. Ninth Street, tucsonimprov.com, $7 each show, $10 for both shows, same night, free jam and open mic. Thursday, Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m. The Dirty Tees;” 8:30 p.m. Open Mic Friday, Jan. 27, 6:30 p.m. Improv Jam; 7:30 p.m., “The Soapbox;” 9 p.m. Stand Up Showcase. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, “The Game Show Show,” 9 p.m. “Improv Throwdown”
Unscrewed Theater, 4500 E. Speedway Boulevard, unscrewedtheatre.org, $8, live or remote, $5 kids. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, NBOJU Anniversary show with special guests; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, NBOJU with special guest; 9 p.m. Uncensored Improv with NBOJU, The Big Daddies and special guest; Monday, Jan. 30, 6:30 p.m. Improv Drop-ins, in person and online, free.
