Ricky Velez on his first stand-up special, “Here’s Everything”

For any comedian, getting your first special is a pretty big deal. It’s the sort of thing every comic aspires from rookie to amateur. It’s not an end goal to be taken lately. And so it shouldn’t come as any sort of surprise that a born and raised New Yorker like Ricky Velez always knew he had to tape his first special in New York.

Over the past decade, he’s been working up the ranks in the comedy scene. But last year, he got introduced to a more general audience when he co-started alongside real life best friend Pete Davidson in The King of Staten Island. He’s also got projects in the works with Davidson, Judd Apatow, and Judah Miller.

And last month, audiences got to see just what it is that makes Velez great as a comic. His new HBO special – which can be found on demand and on HBO Max – is Here’s Everything. And it’s all right there in the title. It is a more formal introduction of this is who Ricky Velez is, this is what he does, and come along for the ride if you’d like. The special opens with a pre-show Velez mid-meltdown before transitioning into the show. There’s perhaps no greater introduction for Velez’s raw and brutally honest approach to what he does than that. He’s not going to censor anything.

We recently spoke with Velez about filming the special in New York, having it be pushed back due to the pandemic, running a certain story by his family, the opening of his special, working on The King of Staten Island, and his hopes for the future.

You were originally supposed to tape the special last year. Was there ever a moment where you thought it might not happen?
Um yes. But at the same time, my managers and Judd Apatow made me feel very secure in what we were doing. And HBO was really incredible in the process. Even listening to new ideas and different ways to go about it. But we just knew that this special had to be done in New York.

Of course, being a New Yorker yourself. I’m sure you always knew your first special would have to be done there.
I felt like that for a long time. But there were times during the pandemic when I was like “Should we just go film in Miami??” They we’re just doing everything down there. But I definitely am glad that we waited.

And you’re living in Miami now, right? Or were last year?
No. No, no. I live in New York.

I thought I read in an interview last year that you were living out there.
Well I jumped down to Florida real quick during the pandemic. But other than that, no. I’ll never leave New York.

Must have been worded weird where it seemed like it was more permanent.
I wasn’t being specific, but last year when the looting happened in New York City, my building was hit because it has a liquor store at the bottom. So me and my wife took off. We have a 3 year-old now, he was even younger then. So we needed some space to feel safe.

I totally get that. Now tell me about how the special managed to come together the second time. Was it able to come together a bit faster at all, seeing as you already had initial plans?
Fast in ways. In other ways, no. I mean, I had to get on the road and figure it out in four or five months once I was vaccinated. So that was a challenge. And making sure when I was going on the road that the shows were set up to be worth my time. Because there was really no time to waste. So we spent a bunch of time getting that done and getting a great schedule going.

And also, on top of it, I had people like Judd helping me. I had people like Michael Bonfiglio, my director, helping me. And it was just overall a really cool experience. And we only filmed August 28th. So the turnaround on this was really fast.

And how did the fast turnaround play into it? Was that because of things being pushed back?
Uh HBO gave us a date and then we basically figured out how the touring would work, and also just talking to my director and editor and figuring out how much time everybody needed to flip everything.

I’m glad it came together so smoothly. And also, it’s an interesting time stamp because it was done in that 2 to 3 month window where people who were vaccinated didn’t have to wear masks. So there’s no masks naturally in the special, which makes it easy to tune in and not know when it was film aside from the occasional reference here or there.
Yeah. It’s timeless! And that’s what I was hoping for. I was really hoping for that. Also people being remind of the pandemic I think is such a bummer. Especially if you’re looking at it and seeing crowds with a mask on. I just feel very fortunate that we were able to do it when we did it. And we were prepared for any situation, honestly. So it worked out for the best, in my luck.

Let’s jump around a bit. I gotta ask this. There is a joke in the special about not knowing how to comment on your friend’s ugly baby. Have any of your friends reached out and asked if that was them?
Oh, they know who it is! He knows exactly who it is. It’s funny. There’s so many jokes that are so close to home in that special, and so many people have reached out over certain things. And I’m like “Yeah. That’s you. You were the problem.” (Laughs). But for the most part, everybody I’m talking about, they’re all loved ones and family. I have a small circle of friends and we all know how to poke and laugh at each other.

Oh good. So there was no having to change anybody’s name then.
Oh yes there was!! Absolutely. Come on. I mean, the lawyers make you do that.

I was thinking specifically of the Cheesecake Factory story.
Oh yeah. That one was questionable, huh? I’m just hoping my kid doesn’t get kicked out of his school. (Laughs). HBO had a fun time going through the legal with me.

And speaking of hearing back about certain jokes, what about your family? Have they commented on anything? Because there is some pretty personal stuff in there.
Yeah. Me and my brothers are very close. They’re my best friends. And they’re basically who I talked to about [telling a story about his upbringing onstage] before doing it. I had to sit down with them and be like “Hey, I’m going to talk about this publicly and this is how I feel about it.” And I’m not lying. It’s stuff we lived through. So my brothers are right here with me when we talk about it.

I figured that was the one thing you would have to clear with someone. Because otherwise, all of a sudden, their friends would start asking about it.
I guess so. Also, I didn’t want them to be surprised. Also, this was such a great day. Like we had so much fun the day of the special that I didn’t want anything to take away from it. So I’m very open and honest with my brothers and we had the conversation.

Are you usually the kind of comic who gets permission before telling a story onstage? Or not really?
No, not really. But I really don’t talk about people in a way where I feel like I would have to.

I gotta ask about the intro to the special. So many specials go for this big opening these days. But here, there’s a more ominous and eerie opening, starting in black-and-white, before cutting to you going right into the first joke. Was that something that you had wanted to do or did Mike or Judd suggest it?
We had an idea, when we first started, that I was going to basically have conversations with five different people. My family, my wife, my therapist. And then we’d basically just do the conversations onstage in black-and-white with nobody there. And then it’d be answered within the stand-up. And then when I got on the road, I realized that the momentum to the set was everything. So the idea of doing that would slow down the momentum of what we were doing.

And me and Michael shot something earlier in the day before, and it was just a conversation between me and my wife. And it’s just basically about my depression and how it’s harder to enjoy things and I have a really hard time, even in the best moments, of being in the moment. And it was a bit heartbreaking. I kind of broke down. And what you’re staring at when that opens is me moments after a breakdown.

And was that your idea to keep that in there?
I was willing to put the conversation. But when Michael looked it over, he decided to go with what’s there. And when I saw it, I was like “That’s raw.” It’s fast. I don’t say anything, but there’s a feeling to it. It’s perfect. I was really happy with what Michael does. He’s genius. He’s really genius and so awesome to work with.

I love that it’s zero-to-sixty in that way where it goes right from there into your act.
Thank you. Yeah, and I feel like that’s what we really wanted and it’s a smart way to move throughout. Everybody can come out and get a standing ovation when you walk out. You’ve seen that a thousand times. It’s just like “Let’s do something different. Let’s do something cool. Let’s do something that gets people’s attention right away. And that’s exactly what we did.

Let’s jump around a bit more. Growing up, were you a big fan of the comedy specials coming out?
Huge. Huge fan of comedy always. My older brother really introduced me to comedy. I remember the first comic I ever saw that I was just dying laughing was Nick Swardson. When he was doing the diarrhea cat bit. He was just so funny and brilliant. His energy was just something that I didn’t see in a lot of comics.

And with HBO, I grew up in the time of The Sopranos and all that. To just see those letters pop up and the special start… And all that handwriting is my handwriting that’s in the special. They let me really dig in and do what I wanted to do with this special. I’m really proud of it. From front to back, I was involved from the shape of the stage to how we were doing things to the edit. Judd just let me really own it, which was nice.

And I love that you ended it with having your son onstage.
That wasn’t even planned. My kid came during the day. He goes to bed by 7, so by the middle of the first show, he was gone. He came by during the day, and he loves playing guitar. Loves it. Since he’s been 9 months old, he’s been obsessed with the guitar. He likes to jam out. I told him there was going to be a stage and we brought him to the stage. And he just started playing music off a speaker. And Bonfiglio at the time was doing test shots with stand-ins. And I just happened to walk in as he was doing it and I was like “Hey, can he hang out on there?” And they just started running tape and they got all that footage. There was just something really special. For a 3 year-old, it really captures who he is and the things he says in it are really cool. It was just special to have my whole family there and friends and get to do what I get to do.

He’s been just a good luck charm since he’s been born. So it’s just been cool to have him involved with this stuff. And he doesn’t really know what I do. He thinks I’m a singer. He has no clue. He goes “Daddy tells jokes.” But every time I’m holding a microphone, he’s like “Daddy’s singing?”

You recently did Late Night w/Seth Meyers. Was that your first time doing panel?
That was my first time on late night ever.

Really?? What was that like?
Yeah. Seth makes it really cool. Seth comes into your green room, makes you comfortable, talks to you about your kid, he’s talking about his kid. And you do the pre-interview, but what Seth and I did was like two comics going back and forth. It was a lot of fun. I felt very comfortable in the spot, which is nice.

I’m so glad you got to experience it that way. And one of the things you talked about was doing the drive-in shows, and I almost had forgotten what a strange and awkward time that was. The whole drive-in show movement of last year. Thankfully that trend is over.
Thank God! Imagine if that stayed. Like if that was still going on. I always want to clap my hands for everybody who tried to do things during that time because I know as a comic, you don’t get the same liberties as other artists. Like people who draw or people who play piano. We can’t do what we do without an audience. Even if you’re practicing. It was just a really tough time. And mentally I watched it beat up on a lot of comics. I hated it so much. Those shows and the Zoom shows and going out and doing it on farms, those little things were just keeping me going at that point.

And now, only in hindsight can you look back and go “What the hell was that??”.
Yeah. Just as long as everybody goes and gets their goddamn shot. I’d hate to go back inside, but I’m willing to do it just to stay safe. Ive been lucky enough not to have COVID. Nobody in my family got COVID. And I just want to do it the right way. I even waited until I was double dosed to get back on the road. It’s just an interesting time to try to be a comic because everybody has their own feelings on this thing and how to move about it. And I think there’s only so many smart ways to do it. (Laughs).

I couldn’t agree more. Last couple of things. Was there any sort of adjustment going from stand-up to co-starring in The King of Staten Island?
Yes, acting on screen. It’s very different. But at the same time, I had gone to performing arts school. I had wanted to do theater and television and film for a long time. I got to do a lot of television being on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. And you know you learn to adjust in those moments. But the other thing is Judd makes the environment so easy to be creative in that it’s hard not to be great.

And did it help having Pete [Davidson] there, someone you’ve known for so long, to help make it more natural?
Nah. I think it just made it more fun. It’s like you get to work with your best friend. What’s better than that? But at the same time, that’s where I go back with comedy. That’s where I go back with my acting. If I can make people that I respect laugh, I’m doing it correctly. And also making someone like Pete laugh works for me a lot more because that’s closer to my friends that I hung out with growing up.

Did you bring any of yourself to the character, as you had that room to be creative?
And he’s just great at letting you know “Hey you’re going to do three more takes. So if you’re going to take chances, time to take them.” He doesn’t say that, but that’s what I’m thinking when he says things like that. You know, me and Pete have been around each other for a long time now. A very long time. And we have mutual friends. And there’s a lot of them that I meshed together to make that character. And there were times when I was younger when I was a bit reckless. So I was just taking that stuff and making it an extreme. It was just a lot of fun to get the opportunity. And we were hanging out with kids during the making of the movie that were very similar to the characters. When you’re staying on Staten Island for a whole summer, you start acting like Staten Island. (Laughs).

And the last thing I want to know is, now that this special is done and that hour is locked, are you already working on the next hour?
I’ve already gotten into it really heavy and really fast. I dropped the material right after I did the special. I did it one more time and it felt dirty. It felt like I was cheating on stand-up. It was so weird. So right away I decided to throw everything away and go from scratch. And putting yourself in that situation on a Friday night at the Cellar, like you kind of have to make certain moves. But at the same time, me and Judd are working on another project, me and Pete are working on another project, and I’m working on another project as well with Judah Miller who helped us with King of Staten Island. So we’re just staying busy.

I don’t have any thoughts right now on a second hour. I just want to really develop things that I think are really fun. And that’s what I’m doing with my stand-up right now. Talking about things that I find very funny. This special is just to introduce me. I’ve never put any stand-up on television before this. So this “Hi, I’m Ricky.” And the next one will be like “This is how I look at the world.” Maybe more towards the current events or something along that.

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