Photo courtesy of Shereen Younes
Laughs from Life
Personal stories are Pickerington-born stand-up comedian’s bread and butter
This past December, comedian Rye Silverman performed here in central Ohio alongside fellow comedians Maria Shehata and Laura Sanders in an all-female comedy show titled “Busted.”
But this wasn’t Silverman’s first time in central Ohio. She’s actually from Pickerington, having graduated from Pickerington High School in 2000, though she moved to Los Angeles in 2010.
“I was born in Pickerington and went to school there,” says Silverman. “Aside from a few short times here and there, I lived there through college and while I began my comedy career, all the way up until I left town.”
Silverman began her career in comedy at a young age.
“I started going to open mics when I was 19, and was doing professional shows within a year,” she says. “I was always fascinated by comedy as a kid; I pretty much knew from my mid-teens and onward that it was where I was heading. I think it’s a fairly natural career path for someone who always saw herself as a little bit outside of everything.”
Silverman describes her comedy style as “conversational” and “personal.”
“I’ve evolved over time from more observational stuff to talking more about things that have happened in my life or just telling stories,” she says. “I feel like the more personal the stuff I do is, the more I own it and the more it’s not going to be replicated by anyone else.”
Photo courtesy of Kristen Cofer
Laughs from Life
In fact, her very personal style of comedy was one of the things that helped Silverman come out publicly as a transgender woman.
“I was already starting to move into much more personal stuff even before I came out, and years before I started transitioning,” says Silverman. “That honesty onstage is a huge part of what made me come out, this feeling like I was still lying to the world by keeping it all hidden and needing to be free of that.”
Now, Silverman has fun talking about her identity with audiences.
“I really like to just leap into it out of the gate,” she says, “and find ways to take these somewhat esoteric concepts that are everyday things for me, and make them something audiences can relate to.”
Silverman released her album Intimate Apparel earlier this year. She will also be performing at the All Jane Comedy Festival in Portland in October, and runs a Doctor Who podcast called “Laughing at Archaeologists.”
Learn more about Silverman on her website, www.ryesilverman.com.
Athnie McMillan-Comeaux is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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