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Ron Smith edited RAVE magazine, the "Playbill of Comedy Clubs," during the heyday of the stand-up boom. It was an
exciting time. A new wave of comedy stars were coming up, including Sam Kinison, Jerry Seinfeld, Roseanne, Brett Butler and
Ellen Degeneres.
Ron interviews all the top stars, and when the rapport or the insanity was just right, even did the photo sessions. These
could be semi-normal (the Penn & Teller cover and the Carol Leifer cover) or not (the Emo Phillips cover).
Ron's
edited three national 6-figure circulation magazines. In additio to RAVE, he also edited the rock mag ROCKET interviewing
the top stars including KISS, Hall & Oates, Elton John and Billy Joel. He also edited YARNCRAFT (his significant other
as co-editor, she having the actual craft expertise!) He also provided some cover photography.
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Contributing editor and columnist:
Ron's versatility has enabled him to cover a wide variety of subjects. At the
same time, he was both the sports and food/gourmet reviewer for VIDEO magazine.
That meant he could journey to Yankee
Stadium one week to have talk with Phil Rizzuto about sportscasting, and the next do a cover story on the N.Y. Times food
critic Craig Claiborne.
His credits range from Teacher and Reader's Digest to Dogs, American Horseman, Videoscope
and Writer's Digest.
A skilled critic on many topics, he was the music editor and record reviewer at OUI for several
years and a book reviewer for the Chicago Tribune.
Ron's insightful interviewing can be read on the Internet, notably
at ProcolHarum.com where he not only coined the phrase "procoholic" to explain the cult fan interest the band enjoys,
but conducted the most in-depth interviews on the band's keyboard players Matthew Fisher and Pete Solley.
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Above: a collage of familiar funny faces...but Ron Smith has also been on assignment for major photo agencies covering "non
comedy" events.
His celebrity photographs range from Donald Trump to Dustin Hoffman, and from Ray Charles to
Henry Kissinger.
His photos have appeared in Penthouse, TV Guide, US, People, and have been flashed on TV news screens
as well. Some of his work is represented by Corbis and London Features.
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Not the typical shy, inarticulate author, Ron Smith has often been a "one man show" lecturing on comedy and writing
for college audiences.
He's conducted poetry readings for a fun half-hour at schools and libraries, focusing of course
on his "Let Peas Be With You" food poetry, which was first published weekly via a syndicate of Long Island newspapers
and later in book form.
He's livened up the dais for the Museum of Broadcasting, and has appeared on a variety of
TV shows, opposite everyone from Rita Cosby to Joe Franklin to Bill O'Reilly.
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