Rome Davis: My Dad's Son

A life can change because of a breakup, a loss, and a random sign in a club bathroom. Comedian Rome Davis walks us through the winding road that takes him from feeling stuck and getting pushed out of job after job to finally finding a place where he belongs: the stand-up comedy stage. 

We get into the real work behind becoming a better comic: taking a six-week comedy school course, getting tested in tough rooms, learning to write, and building the thick skin that every performer needs. Rome also talks about bombing so badly it forces a reset, then using that moment to start a podcast during COVID, not for clout, but to keep creating when the world feels shut down. Along the way, he reflects on the rush of performing, the power of a microphone, and what it means to connect with a crowd even when you’re nervous, broke, or half-blind from astigmatism. 

The heart of the conversation turns to family, grief, and how laughter can carry you through real pain, including his father’s stage four pancreatic cancer diagnosis and the unexpected gift of more time than doctors predicted. Rome’s takeaway is simple and hard-earned: comedy is not only jokes, it’s truth shared out loud, and it can pull people together across every difference. 

If you enjoy stand-up comedy stories, creative resilience, and honest talk about grief and healing through laughter, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s the moment that pushed you to chase something bigger?

Transcript

Warm Welcome And Crowd Work

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Hi. Obviously you know I'm a comedian. Short. I told Brandon to introduce me as single, but that didn't work out. See a nice lot of I see a lot of high credit scores in this room. It is, you know what I mean? I live at home with my mom, I'm trying to come up. Nah, man. If you don't know by now, this is my home. Not the wiener hut. The stage. I've been doing comedy for six and a half years now. Thank you. Thank you. And you're gonna hear why.

Finding Comedy Through Loss

SPEAKER_00 0:50

This is home. I got into comedy back in 2019. I went through a rough period in my life for about seven years prior to that. I went through a horrible breakup, bad breakup. I tried everything from multiple franchises, kept getting fired from jobs. Well, I wasn't getting fired, they just kept asking me to leave. I even tried when a toy store went out of business, I was gonna flip porcelain dolls to make a profit. Cats out the bag. I'm afraid of those dolls. That's neither here nor there. December 18th, 2018, uh one of my mentors passed away, my Uncle Gerald. He actually went into the hospital for a procedure and never came back. That same month was New Year's Eve. My parents, free tickets, gave me tickets to the Virginia Beach Funny Bone to see one of my favorite comedians, Godfrey. And I saw a sign. I don't know it was a sign from the Lord, I don't know what it was, but it was a sign in the bathroom. That said, comedy school, six-week course. $250. Way to advertise. I ended up taking that six-week course. I want my father, who was a big inspiration into my life. My mother, who's also a comedian, my sister, they also encouraged me to go. Like I've always been funny. I've just never been on the stage funny. You know, like I grew up watching, you know, Deaf Comedy Jam and Kings of Comedy and Blue Collar Comedy Tour and seeing comedians like Martin Lawrence, D.L. Hugley, Jerry Seinfield. It was like a figment of my imagination. Like, why are these guys on the stage? How are they so funny? And when I took that course, I graduated, Valavictorian, class, class of May. Oh, thank you. Nobody started swiping left on my tender profile, son. No all at all. My father took me there, and uh that first that first day of that class, my dad looked at me and said, Hey, if you want to do it, go for it. I'll pay half. I kind of want him to pay half. Uh, you know, the full thing, because my overdraft was only 500 at the time. Navy Federals turned me up with those fees. I graduated, I continued my education as far as common. I ended up enrolling to a place called the Viny on 35th Street. I was so a lot of you familiar with that. Yeah, I was underneath the mentorship and guidance of a man, two men named James Cooper and Marlon Hargrave. And for $5 every Thursday, I got cussed out. I got tough skin now, so bring it on. And that's where I started to really fall in love with the arts, man. Like this, the comedy has been a passion. You know, like stand-up comedy, like looking in the crowd when I can see you because I got astigmatism. Me too. Right on. It's always been a passion of mine, and I've gotten to do a lot of great things. And I don't know how to really describe the rush of being at home on the stage. I don't know if it's starting by writing on the pen pad or seeing a sign in the bathroom that says comedy school for 250 or just perform to make you guys laugh.

Bombing Hard Then Building A Podcast

SPEAKER_00 4:37

And you know, COVID came and I ended up creating a podcast, but that's not the reason why I created a podcast. I had a bad show. I bombed very bad. I bombed. I had to rethink life. I don't know if you guys have ever had a bad day, but it kind of is equivalent to you slipping in the shower and trying to grip the water. I'm not saying I did it, but I had a bad show. I started a podcast, and my dad, once again, was right there in my corner. Hey, son, if you want to do it, do it. I'll pay half. Cool. I ended up getting a lot of features. I got to work with some of my favorite comedians in the time of COVID. Michael Cyer, D.L. Hugley, Adele Givens, Martin Lawrence. I actually got to get a little broad knowledge. But in that same year of 2020, not only did we have COVID, we ran out of gas, Taco Bell was selling chicken wings, we ran out of, we didn't know where those chicken wings came from. They were good. Questionable, but they were delicious.

His Dad Cancer And Laughing Anyway

SPEAKER_00 5:57

My father was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. Yeah. The doctor told him he had three months to live, but we ended up getting three years. Three years, three years. And like I said, he was my biggest supporter. He would give me jokes. They won't funny. But he tried his best. You know what I mean? So A for effort. I just want to let him know his $125 went somewhere. The thrill of comedy is one of those things I like to say is you're not just telling jokes, but you're making a connection with the crowd. Right? I'm sharing my truth with you guys. This is 100% me. Comedy is something that you experience. Like if you look around right now, right? No matter the race, the sex, the religion, the political background, you guys are here for a story. You got a couple of jokes, thanks to this guy. But you're all here for one reason, that's to laugh, right? And I've gotten to do a lot of great things on this stage. And this microphone is the most powerful thing in the world. I've been on America's Got Talent. I've been at the Virginia Beach Funny Bone. I've been at the Mohegan Sun. I don't have a passport, but you know, they flew me in from Chesapeake. I made her spit her drink out. That's what I've been working on the whole time. But I have a saying that I like to use where I say, if you're not laughing, you're not living. Laughter is a cure. And that's one of the things that my father was doing, even in his pain. He was laughing, he was cracking jokes. Not good jokes, but he was still cracking jokes. My mother, she's a comedian. That's weird because the dinner table is a big roast session. Just going back and forth. But little does she know I pay no rent, so she can't evict me.

Favorite Comedians And Life Observations

SPEAKER_00 7:49

But it's a great thing to do. Anybody have a favorite comedian they want to share? Rom Davis, thank you. I'm my favorite comedian. You know what I'm saying? My father's my favorite comedian. My mother's my favorite comedian. My co-workers are some of my not favorite funny people, but they're my favorite comedians as well, too. And that's what life is about. It's just about having a good time and laughing. You have to share your story. Laughing not only cures sickness, but it helps out with relationships, friendships, outings. You ever look in the store and be like, oh, this is hilarious. Did they have that? You never walk down the aisle? TJ Maxx, okay. You have good credits. You never thought about certain things. I just got the light, but you never thought about certain things. Like when you walk down certain aisles, you ever notice that, like, you walk down the hygiene aisle, you see different names. Like, women have a nice product names. They have Japanese cherry blossom. They have a lot of like this last midnight summer blue, strawberry eve. Man, we get Duke. Hems. Everyday man Jack. My personal favorite. You got about two more days, big dog. But see the way that you guys laugh. It's the same thing that I like to do for you guys. I appreciate you guys coming out. I'm gonna bring back on your host. My name is Jerome Davis.