Page 6 - MEDIA MONITORING JULY 09, 2018

Monday 9 July 2018
A14 LOCAL
Ray Ellin, comedian, host and producer:
‘It Feels Good’
By Linda Reijnders
“It feels good to make oth- ers feel good.” Ray Ellin is a kind of half Aruban so to speak. Well, he lives here almost half the year and his nickname is Aruba Ray. The American comedian, host and producer lives the other half of the year in New York. He just finished producing a new tv show for Comedy Central, which will air in the fall. Here at One Happy Island he cre- ated, produced, and hosts a very successful nightly live stand-up comedy show through his company Aruba Ray, called Aruba Ray’s Comedy, which is at the Marriott Resort & Stel- laris Casino. Aruba Today was curious about the man behind the laughs.
“I really think I became the number 1 ambassa- dor for Aruba in the States. When I am on different TV shows like on NBC and Fox I always talk about Aruba. I love it, it’s a part of my soul.”
He wants people to know how much he loves the is- land and does the best he can to promote it. He also brings big name com- ics here that are followed by many, many people. He takes the comedians around to show them the Aruba outside the resort. Ray is happy here, during the day enjoying his Aruba and during his shows in the evenings making people laugh. “It is a great feeling, a positive affirmation. You know that you make other people feel good and that makes you feel good. There is just one big positive vibe in the room. Of course that feeds your ego. It’s great energy.”
Big Names
The comedians he brings here are not just any names. They are very experienced, very talented performers, who have been on dozens of tv shows and movies. This run of shows will include Chuck Nice, Christine Hur-
ley, Lenny Marcus, Tony V, Pete Lee, Tony Woods, Joe Vega, Mike Vecchione, Ricky Velez, Yamaneika Saunders, Gregg Rogell, Jessica Kirson, Jimmy Dunn,
Brian Scott McFadden, and Dan Naturman will climb the stage. And of course, the shows are hosted by Ray himself. These shows have become the most popular thing to do at night in Aruba. An almost guar- antee to laugh your heart out.
Little Ray
“When I was 11 years old, I used to watch Saturday Night Live and also the To- night Show. When I was nine I vividly remember watching SNL and thought: what is this, this is great.” Little Ray made kids laugh in school, as well as rela- tives when he was only 3 or 4 years old. “I got that from my mother, I would see her entertaining people in our house when I was a kid. She is very outgoing and funny, and a classical pianist, so I kind of picked stuff up from her. It was positive and fun, I loved it.” He told his dad
that he wanted to be a co- median, and of course he was not too wild about the idea. “But I told him: this is what I want to do. It was very clear to me. My first performance was when I was 11 years old, during 6th grade graduation, and it went well. After that I did standup at summer camp and school talent shows.” When he was 15 years old, Ray performed at night- clubs in Boston. He would take the train by himself to downtown Boston to comedy clubs in pretty ter- rible neighborhoods. “One was in a neighborhood called ‘The Combat Zone.’ A fifteen year old had no business being there,” he laughs. He kept performing, and got better and better, determined in following his passion.
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