Jim Ruel

Genre: Comedy
Secondary Genre: World Los Angeles, California USA Contact

Jim Ruel is a mixed race Native American nerd comedian. His act embodies this odd mixture of being one with mother earth and socially awkward around the opposite sex. He has a strong need to make it all work as he tries to figure out how to pass it all down to his nerdling daughter.

Print Version

Artist Information

Biography

Jim Ruel is a half Native American nerd who grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He performs standup comedy.

Childhood
He partook in the usual young nerdling activities: Dungeons & Dragons, reading Lord of the Rings, computer games, Renaissance Faires, piano recitals, juggling, and reading science books for fun. He also developed a compulsive enthusiasm for comedy, collecting standup albums and watching Mel Brooks films until his eyes bled. In an effort to maintain his high standing with his academic instructors (pet), he limited his comedic mutterings to his closest friends. His teachers were oblivious to his subdued class clown undertakings.

The high school years
In high school, he overindulged his nerdly passions, joining both the Latin and Math clubs. Seeking balance in his life, he founded his school's improvisational comedy troupe and memorized a boatload of jokes that he would unleash on unsuspecting strangers in the guise of small talk. And yet he found that invitations to parties were decidely lacking.

College
Undeterred, Jim continued his academic pursuits at Stanford University, majoring in electrical engineering and minoring in free love. Encouraged by one of his professors and spurred on by a chance meeting with a comedian on a plane ride back from a science fair, Jim decided to give standup a try at a local open mic. His career ambitions took a turn.

Standup career
And the rest is, well, academic. He returned to Milwaukee to be closer to his family. Within a year he was hosting shows at over a dozen comedy clubs in the Midwest. In 2004, he was flown out to Los Angeles for the NBC Diversity Talent Showcase. He moved out to Los Angeles a few months later in hopes of expanding his career into acting and writing for film and television. Since then, he has had several television appearances on Showtime, the BBC, Comedy Central, and PBS.

Today
Jim currently lives in Los Angeles with his girlfriend and daughter. In addition to entertaining, Jim works for SCIC Intertribal Entertainment, a non-profit organization dedicated to training Native Americans for jobs in entertainment. He will be starring in a science fiction-sitcom pilot in the spring of 2012. You can catch his weekly nerdly musings on his Youtube show, "Jim Ruel's Nerdtastic Vlog." He tours with the Another Indian Uprising, an indigenous comedy tour.

Instrumentation

Jim Ruel

Discography

Previous appearances:
Jet Propulsion Labs holiday party
American Indian Science & Engineering Society National Convention
Native American Financial Officers Association
Dartmouth College
Stanford University
Cal State Long Beach
University of Wisconsin
Albuquerque Hard Rock
Flappers Comedy Club
Hollywood Improv
Las Vegas Hilton
Rock the 9 Music Festival - Emcee
Another Indian Uprising - touring Native American festivals/events

Official Website

http://www.nativecomedian.com

Links

Audio

Video

Jim Ruel deals with heckler.mp4

Photo Gallery

Press

  • Jim rocks Jet Propulsion Lab's holiday party! [+ Show ]

    "On behalf of our Section staff and co-workers, I wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed your perfor...

  • Jim Was Awesome at Our School! [+ Show ]

    “Jim Ruel was a pleasure. He did exceed our expectations. His Sarcasm and subtle humor killed. ...

Setlist

Jim Ruel - 45-60 Min Minute Comedy Show

Basic Requirements

PDF Rider

Stand Up Rider

Calendar

There are no upcoming dates at this time.