Millerton native to lead 175th comedy night

MILLERTON — A village native who has long been known as the local funny man is putting his comedic skills to work this summer at Millerton 175’s comedy night.

Ronnie Reed, 39, the headliner of Millerton 175’s comedy night on July 16, said he’s been telling jokes and making people laugh for as long as he can remember.

“I was always known as the funny guy, even if I wasn’t always a comedian,” Reed said, while reflecting on his childhood in Millerton. “But comedy’s everywhere. Comedy can be wherever there’s a microphone and people willing to listen to you. Or yell at you.”

Reed moved to Millerton as an infant, when his mother Roberta left New York City to raise her family. Reed’s grandma came too: his earliest memories are sprinting down Main Street, grandma in hot pursuit.

As he got older, however, Reed wasn’t thinking about stand-up. He played safety on the football team, taking after his uncle Donnie Shell, a former Pittsburgh Steeler. He excelled in history and forensics class. But when it came time for him to graduate from Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Reed began to think seriously about acting.

“I wanted to be an actor, and I only started doing comedy to get stage time,” he said. “I can’t remember lines like that. So I thought I could find a loophole by adding stand-up on my resume, instead of theater.”

His first attempt at comedy was the Housy Gong Show, the high school’s talent showcase. Reed was watching a lot of Chappelle’s Show at the time, and much of his first set paid homage to him. “The teachers were really worried, but I got a ton of laughs,” he said. “But I still wanted to be an actor.”

That started to change in 2014, after a friend was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. Reed attended a benefit at the Interlaken Inn in support, and met a mutual friend who worked as a comedy promoter. He encouraged Reed to join him at an open mic in New Haven. After intense pressure from his friends, Reed eventually relented.

It’s a 90 minute drive from Millerton to Joker’s Wild Comedy Club in New Haven, but when Reed arrived for his first open mic, about 50 of his friends came too. “I’m the luckiest human being in the world,” he said. “The support I have is astronomical.”

About two months after that night at Joker’s, he got his first paid gig at Bogey’s, the pub formerly located in the Yankee Pedlar in Torrington. That’s where he met Daniel McRitchie, his first comedy mentor and one of the comedians performing at Millerton’s 175th. McRitchie had been a comedian in the area for decades, and liked what he heard about Reed through Chris Miller, another Millerton-based comedian.

McRitchie had just opened the Laugh It Up Comedy Club in Poughkeepsie. The city has a long history in the industry — Jimmy Fallon was discovered there, and big names like John Mulaney and Tig Notaro have performed in recent years.

When McRitchie and Reed first crossed paths, the iconic venue Bananas had just closed, and Laugh It Up was looking for new talent to fill the void. “The jokes weren’t incredible at the time,” said McRitchie, “but he already had the stage presence.”

As his jokes became more personal, Reed realized the wealth of material provided by his daily life. His younger brother, Vemilo Evergreen, is a performance artist and musician. Reed calls him “one of the most confident human beings on this planet. He’s taken an amazing path.” Their mother, Roberta, is a legend in her own right. “If my mother ever met the leader of the Ku Klux Klan,” Reed said, “he’d be Crip-walking in no time.”

Bigger gigs soon followed — soon Reed was performing regularly in New York City, and placing in Last Comic Standing competitions. His style evolved.

“He can tell a story now,” said his mentor McRitchie, “with a punchline at the end of it. Ronnie’s getting good at that.”

Recently, Reed started producing his own shows. His “Friends From Work” showcase has become a monthly staple at the Colonial Theatre in North Canaan. All four shows have sold out, and it’s given Reed an opportunity to bring some of his comedy friends to the area.

That goes for the 175th, too. Besides McRitchie, Reed will be joined onstage by Corey Chapman, a Webutuck High School graduate, and Darion Edwards. It’s the latest step in his comedy journey, and a homecoming for the toddler who used to get chased down Main Street.

“Millerton has changed completely since my childhood,” Reed says. “I have so many stories about so many families in Millerton. I’m still very close with a lot of the people I grew up with. I love my roots.”