He was named one of Rolling Stone's five comics to watch, later starred in his own hit Netflix special “Happy Face,” and now he is returning to his roots in East Idaho to take the stage at the Mountain America Center.
Photo Credit: Brad Barlow B2X Photography
Comedian Ryan Hamilton was born in Rexburg and raised in Ashton, where he discovered his passion for entertainment. Looking back at the small town he grew up in, he reflects on his journey to the big stage.
Growing up, Ryan describes himself as a quiet kid. “I think a lot of people I grew up with are surprised when they find out I’m a comedian,” Ryan said. “I liked to think about jokes and entertaining, and sometimes I feel like I would make people laugh, but I wouldn’t describe myself as a class clown.”
The rural community of Ashton, where Ryan’s mother is from, is home to about 1,000 people. His father was originally from Southern California, but Ashton became their family’s home. Alongside his younger brother and sister, he remembers the many adventures they shared in this charming town.
“I grew up in a town where we had a lot of freedom to do stuff as children, which was great. Our bikes were like our passport to the world of Ashton, Idaho,” Ryan said. “We would drive around, go to the city drug store and get a fresh lime, we called it, or a malt.”
During his school years, Ryan spent time in the theater program and participating in musicals, but deep down knew he had an inkling for comedy.
“I was really drawn to stand-up comedy from the time I was 14 or 15,” Ryan said. “Before that, I wanted to be a newspaper columnist. I wanted to have a humor column in the newspaper, and I thought that would be the coolest career.”
While attending North Fremont High School, he joined the yearbook staff but soon after called the county newspaper in Fremont County to ask for his own column. “They gave me a column in the newspaper and so I started writing about what was going on in my high school,” he said. “I got a second column for a tiny city newspaper, so then I was writing two columns a week all through high school, you know, trying to find my way to my career in Ashton, Idaho.”
Ryan’s career in journalism was about to take another major turn that evolved into stand-up comedy. An NBC affiliate in Idaho Falls Reached out to Ryan after discovering his interest in journalism and offered him a position to learn how to shoot high school sports.
“I would cruise around, you know, on Friday nights and shoot things all over the place, little sporting events, and then go back to the station in Idaho Falls and we would edit and try to make it funny. The sports reporter at that time liked trying to make it funny,” Ryan said. “So every once in a while, I would get a joke on the air. It was thrilling to me as a kid. There was nothing else that I knew like that. But that's kind of how I found my way.”
After graduating from high school, Ryan attended Rick’s College in Rexburg and later moved to Provo, Utah to attend Brigham Young University. Here he began producing comedy shows in small venues around town and gave some of his first performances.
Ryan went on to pursue a career in public relations but kept coming back to his desire to perform. After years of performing on small stages, he caught his big break when he landed his first television spot on Comedy Central in New York City. “I performed and when I got off stage, Amy Schumer came up to me and said, ‘Hey, my name’s Amy. You’re going to move here and we’re going to be roommates.’” While Ryan and Amy never ended up being roommates, her comment is something he remembers as it directed his life to living in New York City.
“Those are some things I never could have predicted that are very surreal and memorable to me,” he said.
From performing musicals in the small town of Ashton to performing at large venues like Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House and to touring internationally with Jerry Seinfeld, Ryan Hamilton has made quite the name for himself.
“I never could have predicted that this would be my life,” he said. “It's so fulfilling to be so independent. I get to make the decisions about what happens on stage. I can kind of, you know, call the shots about what I want to try and do in my career. So I love that about standup comedy. Total creative freedom.”
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Photo Credit: Brandon Flint
On Nov. 30, Ryan is returning to East Idaho to fulfill a Thanksgiving tradition of performing near his hometown. This will be his second only arena show ever, after performing last Thanksgiving at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City to a great success. To purchase tickets, head to www.mountainamericacenter.com.