Fans recall Ricky Velez from his tenure as a contributor on Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.
But for the last five years of Ricky Velez, career, the comedian has been best known as Pete Davidson’s best friend, both in real life and on film.
They starred in Davidson’s semi-autobiographical film, The King of Staten Island, and because of the success of the film, Velez’s stock increased. He then collaborated with Judd Apatow, one of Hollywood’s top personalities in comedy, on two more films.
And finally, his dream came true when he landed a stand-up comedy special and a comedy series pilot for HBO.
He snatched the attention for himself in his hour-long HBO special Here’s Everything, which broadcast on October 2021.
It was the first time he ever built something truly his own, but it wouldn’t have been possible without his wife. Like other comedians, Velez talked about his family.
Ricky Velez (Pinterest)Ricky Velez Cracks a Joke About His Wife
Velez has been married to his wife, Julie Velez, since 2018. The couple tied married in Miami, where he lived throughout the pandemic.
As a born and bred New Yorker, the comic had no desire to leave his home.
But in 2020, after the basement of their Chelsea, Manhattan, apartment building was plundered, he and his family flew to Florida.
The incident has been talked about in his specials. The comic discloses a lot about his family life.
During an interview with Seth Meyers on Late Night with Seth Meyers, he revealed his wife offered him material for his jokes and did not mind being the focus.
While discussing what he could or could not say now and then, she would quarrel with him and beat him to it because she was highly educated.
But luckily for him, she is incredibly supportive of his profession.
“My wife can respect a good joke, but she can’t respect a lousy concept. She’s cool. We are a team doing this together. Right before this call, I was doing a self-tape, and she’s the one who was reading with me,” Velez told Steve Buscemi during an interview.
He humorously added that his comic career was now “a family business.”
Ricky Velez (Pinterest)Ricky on Parenting
Velez and his spouse have a three-year-old son, born on September 11, 2019. He constantly discusses and features him in his stand-up.
During the end credits of his special, he showed footage of his son playing his toy guitar and singing his heart out with a Ramones t-shirt.
In the aforementioned Seth Meyers interview, the comic joked said he was pleased to be out on the road with his show because he had enough of his son.
“I mean, I needed to get away from him. We recently did a full year together. I’m out. I’m through. I’m heading back out on the highway. Miami is nice, right? Velez said.
He also described how he was ordered to cut the umbilical cord during the delivery of his son.
The comic misidentified it as an ability chord because he didn’t know what it was, which confused the doctor. But joking aside, it is obvious that Velez loves his family dearly.