This Might Get a Little Heavy

There was a time when Ralphie May was one of the biggest standup comedians in the country, both by ticket sales and by tonnage. While some things have changed—Ralphie lost half his body weight—others have not: he's still one of the most successful comics working today. In This Might Get a Little Heavy, Ralphie takes readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of his life and career that winds both across the country and through the golden age of stand-up.Raised in poor, rural, Arkansas by a single mom who struggled to make ends meet, Ralphie's early years were the perfect breeding ground for the kind of pain and stress and adversity that only comedy can cure. Bitten by the comedy bug at a Methodist sleep-away camp when he was 12 years old, Ralphie seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity six years later at an open-mic in a pizza parlor. Mentored and inspired by legendary comedian Sam Kinison to move to Houston, where he got his start, Ralphie packed his bags...