Ray Romano On Stand-up, Sitcoms And The Humor Of Real Life (2025)

Scott Bakula (from left), Andre Braugher and Ray Romano costar in Men of a Certain Age. The show won a 2011 Peabody Award and was cited for being "comical, poignant and harrowing, sometimes all at once." Art Streiber/Turner Broadcasting System hide caption

toggle caption

Art Streiber/Turner Broadcasting System

Ray Romano On Stand-up, Sitcoms And The Humor Of Real Life (2)

Scott Bakula (from left), Andre Braugher and Ray Romano costar in Men of a Certain Age. The show won a 2011 Peabody Award and was cited for being "comical, poignant and harrowing, sometimes all at once."

Art Streiber/Turner Broadcasting System

For nine seasons, Ray Romano played Ray Barone on the CBS hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. The show, loosely based on Romano's real life, earned the comedian millions of dollars and numerous accolades, including three Emmys and four People's Choice Awards.

After Raymond ended, Romano took several years off from TV. While "semi-retired," he played golf, spent time with his family and appeared in several movies, including 95 Miles To Go, a documentary film that followed his 2006 standup comedy tour.

In 2008, Romano decided to head back to the writer's room with Mike Royce, a writer and executive producer on Raymond, to create a new show for TNT. Called Men of a Certain Age, the drama-comedy stars Romano, Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher as three former college buddies, now middle-aged men, who are working their way through various sorts of middle-aged crises.

Romano joins Fresh Air's TV critic David Bianculli for a conversation about working on Everybody Loves Raymond, switching from the sitcom format to TNT, his early comedic influences and his standup career, which began in high school.

"In school, I wasn't a very good student — I was very irresponsible and never did the studying but always liked to get the laugh," he tells Bianculli. "And Saturday Night Live was starting in 1975. I was 17 years old and it was like nothing I'd ever seen."

Romano and four friends decided to start their own sketch troupe, where he then got his first laughs in front of an audience. "It was kind of my first taste of what standup was like because I was talking to the audience and getting laughs," he says. "So that was where the bug of performing standup came."

After performing in New York clubs for several years, Romano won a standup comedy competition, which led to appearances on Late Night with David Letterman and a deal with Letterman's production company for Everyone Loves Raymond.

In 2009, Ray Romano returned to television in the TNT drama-comedy Men of a Certain Age. The show, which airs at 10 p.m., ends its second season on Wednesday. Art Streiber/Turner Broadcasting System hide caption

toggle caption

Art Streiber/Turner Broadcasting System

Ray Romano On Stand-up, Sitcoms And The Humor Of Real Life (4)

In 2009, Ray Romano returned to television in the TNT drama-comedy Men of a Certain Age. The show, which airs at 10 p.m., ends its second season on Wednesday.

Art Streiber/Turner Broadcasting System

But Romano says that he was extremely nervous during the first days of filming, particularly because he had to work with actor Peter Boyle, who played his father.

"I remember when we were rehearsing the pilot episode and [I was thinking] this is a show built around me and there's Peter Boyle — and I hadn't really talked to him that much [because] his reputation just scared me — he was this hulking strong presence," he says. "And during Day 1 of rehearsal, in between one of the scenes our paths crossed backstage and he just stopped me ... and he goes 'It's just like water, just let it flow.' ... At the time, I was just blown away by this kind gesture that he would make me feel comfortable."

Boyle and Romano became good friends and would often go out to dinner together during breaks from filming.

"He could have a conversation about anything — politics, government, art — and then with me, this was the great thing about him, he would dumb it down for me," says Romano. "He would talk about sports and Hooters with me. He [was] the opposite of the character he portrayed on TV, as far as that goes."

Interview Highlights

On his introduction to comedy from a Bill Cosby album

"My first big introduction to standup was a comedy album that a buddy of mine got and he gave it to me and it was called To Russell, My Brother Whom I Slept With [by Bill Cosby]. And I was blown away by it. I ran to his house and we listened to it together. And I'm not saying I tried to emulate [Cosby], but this guy just appealed to me — this guy just talking. It wasn't setup and punch line, it wasn't jokes — [and] this seemed more organic to me."

On what he misses about Everyone Loves Raymond

"The only thing I miss from the sitcom format is that immediate gratification ... [of] the live audience. As a standup, I live off of that. It's my energy source. And there is none of that when you're doing a single camera. You get it in the writer's room ... but when we're filming, you just have to trust that what you're doing is funny."

On standup and his sense of humor

"When you go to standup, there seems to be a common denominator of some form of need or want for validation from the audience that maybe you were lacking as a kid. And [my dad] was a guy who just worked hard and had a hard time expressing himself and as I got older, he had a very dry sense of humor. I realize that this is where I got it from — superdry.

"We did it on the show, in the pilot episode of Raymond, he — in real life — would drive my wife crazy in the subtlest way. The one thing he did was, he learned how to play back our messages when we had answering machines that actually recorded. He learned the code. So he would listen to our messages and leave a message after saying, 'Hey Anna [Romano's wife], your friend Linda went to the gynecologist today, you should check up on her.' And hang up. And he thought it was funny and I thought it was funny and my wife would go nuts and say 'It's like reading our mail, what's he doing?' "

Related NPR Stories

Opinion

Michael Scott: So Long, Loser (We'll Really Miss You)

Interviews

'Backstage With' Actress Patricia Heaton

Movie Reviews

'Ice Age' 3-D: Blended-Family Fun, With Dino Bites

Ray Romano On Stand-up, Sitcoms And The Humor Of Real Life (2025)

FAQs

What is the new comedy with Ray Romano? ›

Dead to Me creator Liz Feldman is returning with the new series No Good Deed, starring Emmy Award–winning actors Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano and a long list of other talented actors. Like her Emmy-nominated breakthrough, Feldman's new series also concerns the sunny locations and shadowy secrets of Southern California.

Is Everybody Loves Raymond based on Ray Romano's real-life? ›

Raymond's character is loosely based on the real-life Romano, as he is the father of twin boys and a girl. Ray is emotionally unable to take any sort of stand on anything, especially if it brings him to any sort of conflict with his mother—the exception is when he protests about sex or some trivial matter.

What sitcom did Ray Romano play on? ›

He is best known for his role as Raymond "Ray" Barone on the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, for which he won three Primetime Emmy Awards (one as an actor and two as producer). He is also known for being the primary voice of Manny in the Ice Age franchise (2002–2016).

What ethnicity is Ray Romano? ›

Romano was born in Queens, NY, and raised in middle class Forest Hills, where his was one of the few Italian families in a mostly Jewish neighborhood. That distinction and other childhood New York memories would prove to be an endless source of material when Romano began doing stand-up comedy.

Does Ray Romano have a new TV show? ›

Emmy winner Ray Romano is set as a lead in No Good Deed, Netflix's eight-episode dark comedy series from Dead To Me creator Liz Feldman. Created by Feldman, No Good Deed follows three very different families vying to buy the very same 1920s Spanish style villa that they think will solve all their problems.

Is Everybody Loves Raymond improv? ›

All of these were improvised by Ray Romano. Sometimes he would have to come up with as many as fifteen names depending on how many takes were required. Peter Boyle claims that he was aided in getting the part of Frank Barone by events prior to his audition in New York City.

Did Ray and Debra get along? ›

There's no denying that Ray and Debra Barone loved each other dearly, no matter how much they may have fought. However, there's also no denying that these two could be pretty terrible to each other when they wanted to be.

Did Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle like each other? ›

“When Peter Boyle and I met for the first time on the show it was as if we had known each other for 45 years,” she said. “We got more laughs just giving each other dirty looks than anything else. I loved him.”

Was Debra pregnant on Raymond? ›

And consider Patricia Heaton who was pregnant twice while playing Debra Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond–one of which was written into the show featuring pregnancy flashbacks before Debra had her daughter Ally. Her second pregnancy was concealed with optical illusions.

Did Ray Romano really play the piano in real life? ›

His mom was a skilled piano teacher, so he grew up with lessons. Ray likely does not practice often enough to stay in peak performance mode but the man is a good pianist. He's g...

Was Ray Romano's daughter ever on Everybody Loves Raymond? ›

Alexandra "Ally" Barone (154 episodes; played by Madylin Sweeten) – Ray and Debra Barone's only daughter. She is six years old at the beginning of the series, and is fourteen by the series finale. She was named after Ray Romano's real-life daughter who made a cameo appearance in the series.

How much did Brad Garrett make in Everyone Loves Raymond? ›

He was making $160,000 per episode until he found out co-star Ray Romano's salary was increased to $1.8 million per episode ahead of Season 8. Garrett protested, calling in "sick" which led to him being written out of one episode.

Does Ray Romano have twin boys in real life? ›

Romano and his wife, Anna Romano, share a daughter Alexandra, 33, twins Matt and Gregory, 30, and son Joseph, 25.

How rich is Ray Romano? ›

Ray Romano is an American stand-up comedian turned actor and writer who has a net worth of $200 million. Ray Romano is best known for his role on the hit television sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond.

What's Ray Romano doing now? ›

After his pivotal role on Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray Romano has continued to have success in Hollywood, acting in both television and film. His most notable TV work has been on series such as Men of a Certain Age, Parenthood, Vinyl, Get Shorty, Made for Love and Pete Davidson's Bupkis.

What is the new Apple TV comedy show? ›

Bad Monkey,” the upcoming Apple Original comedy from award-winning executive producer Bill Lawrence and starring and executive produced by Vince Vaughn, will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on August 14, 2024.

What is the new comedy with Matthew McConaughey? ›

Apple TV+ announces new comedy series starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, and hailing from Emmy Award-winning creator David West Read. Apple TV+ today announced a series order for a new, 10-episode half-hour comedy that reunites stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey.

What is the new comedy with Ted Danson? ›

We're getting the first look at Ted Danson in A Man on the Inside (fka A Classic Spy), the new Netflix comedy series from Mike Schur, set for premiere this November. Created by Schur, the eight-episode half-hour series is based on the 2021 Oscar-nominated documentary The Mole Agent.

What is the new comedy Chuck Lorre? ›

Chuck Lorre the writer and producer behind hit shows, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and Young Sheldon has a new show out. The show is called Bookie and premiered on HBO Max on November 30, 2023.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Greg Kuvalis

Last Updated:

Views: 5615

Rating: 4.4 / 5 (75 voted)

Reviews: 82% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Greg Kuvalis

Birthday: 1996-12-20

Address: 53157 Trantow Inlet, Townemouth, FL 92564-0267

Phone: +68218650356656

Job: IT Representative

Hobby: Knitting, Amateur radio, Skiing, Running, Mountain biking, Slacklining, Electronics

Introduction: My name is Greg Kuvalis, I am a witty, spotless, beautiful, charming, delightful, thankful, beautiful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.