By Jason Pomietlasz

Ron Funches will start his run of five shows, two are sold out, at Helium Comedy Club tonight, Thursday, at 7:30 p.m. Non-comedy fans may recognize Funches from the current season of the reality T.V. show “Traitors,” where he was the fifth contestant voted off. And while it looked like he had a somewhat turbulent time on the show, he turned that into material for his act. 

So if you want to hear why Michael Rapport eats that way or if Rob Rausch is as charming as he seems, buy a ticket to one of his shows. Appearing on “Traitors” did lead to Funches being diagnosed with autism, which his son Malcolm has as well.

And like a true faithful, Funches was nice enough to take time out of his schedule to answer my six questions. Visit www.Ronfunches.com to keep up with his tour or to buy some merch. 

If there was one thing you could change about the current state of stand-up comedy, what would it be ?

      I would take the people who are grifting as free speech warriors but are actually corporate shills and shoot them to outer space like Katy Perry. 

Best advice you received early on in your career? And what advice would you give to someone starting comedy right now?

      Do what you love, the job is hard no matter what. Put your material out there, don’t be precious with it even if you don’t like it, someone else might. 

How long did it take for you to try your first open-mic from the time that you actually decided you wanted to do comedy ?

     This question is old and boring to me. I love comedy.

What’s your best memory in comedy so far (show wise or hang wise), also how important is the “hang” in comedy to you ?

        Buying a house with money I made from coming up with ideas and not being afraid to try.   I don’t hang with anyone I don’t truly enjoy. That is just a waste of time. 

What are three traits you think you should have to be a successful comic?

 Timing, strength in the face of rejection, a sense of play, a strong social media presence can’t hurt. Maybe some abs.  

What made you want to do reality TV and are some of the contestants as horrible as they seem?

   I wanted to go to Scotland and be in a castle and meet Alan Cumming. Some of them are worse than they seem, true narcissists, but a couple cool people too. 

You have said Lucille Ball is a comedy influence. Have you visited her museum in Jamestown, N.Y., and did you see the original bronze sculpture dubbed “scary Lucy”?

I’ve never been. I’d love to do the comedy festival. The sculpture is nightmare fuel but I would still kiss it on the lips.