Review of Ray Romano: Right Here, Around the Corner

I like Ray. I was a causal watcher of his show and always appreciated the writing, characters and relatable humor. It was fun to watch these two sets filmed in NYC with no frills in a small room. This is where most comedy happens in the world, in small rooms with hardworking comics doing their thing working jokes, making choices, responding and being in the moment with a new crowd each set. The first set is solid and relatable, he goes a little too TMI for office/family viewing and drives home some big laughs on aging. The second set starts a little bumpy and finds its way into another skillful well-honed set but this feels more performance and spun than the first set, this time focusing more on family and marriage. It ends showing his family at nearby Joe's (Best Slice in NYC), which is a nice touch anchoring that he is just a man and relatable. However, it does contradict the vibe of authenticity when stories he told made the kids seem much younger and it is revealed the that they are much older. It gave me a weird vibe that the material wasn't current or that he was angling to make himself relevant to a younger audience and wanted to be their friend/peer rather than the looking great 60 year old he is today. The most authentic honest moments came during talk of aging because it is where he is now and the vulnerability of sharing the awkwardness of his HBO sex scene in Vinyl, a great drama that never found its audience where he stepped into a great character challenge. It was less interesting to hear him carry on about how horny he remains as if his virility was in question and he was trying to prove he is a 16 year old at heart tryin to win over the young bucks in the crowd. I recommend watching it because he is a master craftsman and a great performer and writer.