Ritch Shydner: Difference between revisions

|caption = Shydner performing on stage in [[Montreal, Canada]] in 1989

|spouse = {{marriage|[[Carol Leifer]] (|1981-|1987)|end=divorced}}

'''Ritchie A. "Ritch" Shydner''' (born December 3, 1952) is an [[American people|American]] [[stand-up comedian]], comic writer, and actor.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ritch Shydner|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/65518/Ritch-Shydner|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105140713/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/65518/Ritch-Shydner|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2015|archivedate=November 5, 2015}}</ref><ref name="LT">{{cite web|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-27/entertainment/-ca-1012_1_ritch1012-shydnerstory.html|title=Ritch Shydner Capitalizes on the Comedy of the Sexes|date=December 27, 1988|author=Duncan Strauss, Duncan}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-11-26/entertainment/-ca-25016_1_ritch25016-shydnerstory.html|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|title=If Name Ritch Shydner Doesn't Ring a Bell, His Comedy Routine Does|date=November 26, 1987|author=Strauss, Duncan}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=Los Angeles Times|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-25/entertainment/-ca-4505_1_ritch4505-shydnerstory.html|title=Shydner Makes His Own Mark on Familiar Comic Terrain|date=October 25, 1990|author=Smith, Mark Chalon}}</ref>

Ritch Shydner was born in the small town of [[Pennsville Township, New Jersey|]] and attended [[Pennsville Memorial High School]].<ref>[https://www.nj.com/south-jersey-towns/2017/03/pennsville_twp_historical_soci.html "Entertaining afternoon planned at PTHS Farm House Museum"], NJ Advance Media for [[New JerseyNJ.com]], March 21, 2017. Accessed February 26, 2023. "On April 1, the Pennsville Township Historical Society will reopen their Farm House Museum for the 2017 season with a special guest speaker, Pennsville native son, Ritch Shydner.... Shydner graduated from Pennsville Memorial High School and Gettysburg College."</ref> He studied [[business]] and [[sociology]] at [[Gettysburg College]]., At Gettysburg Collegewhere he and sidekick, Camillo "Mad-Dog" Melchiorre, wrote, produced and starred in comedy skits for parents' weekends and fraternity events. Carmen "Honest-Abe" Volpecelli and Pluto "Fenderhead" Dombrosky also contributed to their nearly-famous "Used Car Salesman" skit. After graduation, Shydner was a substitute teacher in Pennsville, and managed a band. He began to work for a [[congressman]], which sparked his interest in law school. As a student at [[George Mason University]] in [[Fairfax, Virginia]], he decided to become a stand-up comedian. He began writing, and sent material to ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'' magazine, and ''[[National Lampoon (magazine)|National Lampoon]]'' but found little success. Shortly thereafter, Shydner started performing stand-up comedy.

As a stand-up comedian, Shydner appeared on ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'', ''[[Late Night with David Letterman]]'' and ''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]]'' numerous times. He performed a [[HBO]] half-hour special called ''One Night Stand'', as well as was a guest on ''[[Comics Unleashed]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ritchshydner.com/index2.html|title=Ritch Shydner|website=Ritchshydner.com}}</ref> Aside from performing stand-up, RitchShydner, along with comedian [[Mark Schiff]], compiled stories of comedians on the road in a 2006 book calledentitled ''I Killed''.<ref (name=NYT>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006)/10/08/books/review/Keepnews.t.html|title=Errors of Comedy|author=Keepnews, Peter|date=October 8, 2006}}</ref>

Shydner was featured in the 2010 documentary ''[[I Am Comic]]'', in which he traveled around the country interviewing various comedians, a process that ultimately led to his return to stand-up by going on the stage again after 13 years of retirement.<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|url=httphttps://www.variety.com/review/VE1117943373?refcatid=31|date=August 22, 2010|title=I Am Comic|author=Harvey, Dennis}}</ref>

As an actor, Shydner played [[Al Bundy]]'s co-worker and friend [[Luke Ventura]] on ''[[Married... with Children]]'' and made guest appearances on other TV shows such as ''[[Designing Women]]'', ''[[Roseanne (TV series)|Roseanne]]'' and ''[[Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist]]''. His film roles include ''[[Beverly Hills Cop II]]'' and ''[[Roxanne (film)|Roxanne]]''.<ref name="LT"/>

* {{officialOfficial website|http://www.ritchshydner.com}}

* {{IMDb name|0796121}}

* {{amgAllMovie name|65518}}