eInside Events

Growing Research at Kent State Is Focus of Fall 2015 Bowman Breakfast

Paul DiCorleto, Ph.D., vice president
for research and sponsored programs
at Kent State University, will speak on the
topic “Growing Kent State Research to
Benefit the University and the Community”
at the fall 2015 Bowman Breakfast on
Oct. 7.

The fall 2015 Bowman Breakfast will take place at Kent State University in the Kent Student Center Ballroom on Wednesday, Oct. 7. Doors open at 7 a.m., breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m., and the program will follow at 8 a.m.

The featured speaker is Paul DiCorleto, Ph.D., vice president for research and sponsored programs at Kent State. He will speak on the topic “Growing Kent State Research to Benefit the University and the Community.”

The cost to attend is $12 per person, payable by cash or check at the door only. Invoicing is not available for this event. Reservations can be completed online or by contacting Mary Mandalari at 330-672-8664 or mmandala@kent.edu no later than Wednesday, Sept. 30. No shows will be billed. If you find you cannot attend, please contact Mandalari to cancel your reservation by Sept. 30.

DiCorleto joined Kent State in August from the Cleveland Clinic, where he served as Sherwin-Page Chair of the Lerner Research Institute since 2002, and from Case Western Reserve University, where he served as chair of the Department of Molecular Medicine in the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine since 2003.

As a long-serving employee of Cleveland Clinic, DiCorleto had an excellent track record of securing federal funding for his own research and for institutional programs. In 2013, he was awarded more than $10 million from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop the National Center for Advanced Innovations-Cleveland Clinic, one of only three nationally funded centers designed to expedite the commercialization of laboratory innovations, bringing research from the lab bench to the bedside.

He served on numerous Cleveland Clinic committees, including chair of the Lerner Research Institute Leadership Committee, chair of the Research Strategic Council, and as a member of the Board of Governors and Board of Trustees, Council of Institute Chairs, Capital Review Committee, Cleveland Clinic Innovations Commercialization Council and Industrial Advisory Board, and the Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center Commercialization Advisory Board and Board of Directors.

An award-winning scholar and invited lecturer, DiCorleto has authored or co-authored more than 120 articles, papers and book chapters. His research has focused on the role of the endothelium in maintaining healthy blood vessels and in inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis.

A native of Hartford, Connecticut, DiCorleto earned his Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Cornell University. After receiving his doctoral degree, he served as a senior fellow of the American Heart Association of Washington and National Institutes of Health postdoctoral trainee in the University of Washington’s Department of Pathology.

The Bowman Breakfast, a tradition since 1963, is sponsored by Kent State and the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce.

Kent State’s Center for Teaching and Learning Announces Fall Programs

This year, Kent State University’s Center for Teaching and Learning will host a series of events titled Working Lunches. Led by faculty colleagues and experts from various departments throughout the university, the lunches are designed to provide you with insights, approaches and strategies to enhance student learning. There is no such thing as a “free lunch,” so yes, you will be asked to think about how you can use the ideas in your classroom. We promise to make the lunches worth the effort. The dates and topics for the working lunches this fall are:

• Sept. 23 (Kent Campus)
  “Strategies for Student Learning and Teaching: A Guided Tour and Discussion of What Works and What Doesn’t”
  To register, visit http://tinyurl.com/Strategies-Stu-Learning
  
• Oct. 2 (Kent State University at Stark)
  “Student Surveys on Instruction: What Do They Tell Us, How Did We Get Here and Where Are We Going?”
  To register, visit http://tinyurl.com/SSIs-what-they-tell
• Oct. 21 (Kent Campus)
  “Accessibility: It’s a Campus Thing”
  To register, visit http://tinyurl.com/It-s-a-Campus-Thing
  
• Nov. 12 (Kent State University at Ashtabula)
  “The What, Why and How of the Flipped Classroom”
  To register, visit http://tinyurl.com/What-Why-How-Flipped-Classroom
  
• Nov. 18 (Kent Campus)
  “Putting a Little Technology Into Your Student’s Learning”
  To register, visit http://tinyurl.com/Little-Technology
  

The Center for Teaching and Learning is designed to provide leadership and support for cultivating environments and relationships for innovative and successful learning, for building networks and communities of practice, and for communicating and creating opportunities for professional and staff development. The center also offers an easy way to search for answers to questions related to your role as a faculty member through FlashPort, the Faculty Learning and Support Hub Portal.

For more information about Kent State’s Center for Teaching and Learning, visit www.kent.edu/ctl, call 330-672-2992 or email ctl@kent.edu.

Kent State Museum's “Flapper Style” to Highlight 1920s Fashion

Pictured is a cream silk satin dress with
pearls and beaded fringe (American,
1920s; KSUM 1983.1.2488) on display at
the Kent State University Museum.

The Kent State University Museum will present its new exhibit “Flapper Style: Fashions of the 1920s” in the museum’s Broadbent Gallery from Sept. 25, 2015, to Sept. 4, 2016. The museum also will host a special preview reception featuring drinks and refreshments on Thursday, Sept. 24. Admission to the reception is $15; to RSVP, please call 330-672-0300.

Sara Hume, Ph.D., Kent State Museum and exhibit curator, says the flapper style epitomized the glamor and decadence of the Roaring Twenties.

“The term ‘flapper’ refers to the generation of young women who came of age just as World War I ended and shocked the older generation with their short hair and short skirts, their drinking and smoking and swearing,” says Hume. “Flappers faced a world strikingly different from the one their mothers knew, and their clothing reflected this dramatic break with the past.”

Flapper fashion emphasized a slim and boyish silhouette, which evolved alongside women’s changing roles during the World War I era (as documented in the museum’s previous exhibit “The Great War: Women and Fashion in a World at War”).

While the flapper look is well known, this exhibit looks beyond the iconic beaded dress to explore the wide array of influences on 1920s fashion, including sportswear and artistic movements, such as Bauhaus and Art Deco. “Flapper Style” features more than 40 pieces, including undergarments, evening wraps, sportswear, menswear and footwear.

Hume also will also present a “Flapper Style” lecture on Saturday, Oct. 3, as part of Kent State’s Homecoming Weekend festivities. The lecture, which takes place at 12:30 p.m. in the museum’s Murphy Auditorium, is free and open to the public.

The Kent State University Museum is located at 515 Hilltop Drive, at the corner of E. Main and S. Lincoln streets in Kent. The museum is open to the public on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m.-4:45 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m.-8:45 p.m.; and Sunday from noon- 4:45 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $3 for children under 18. Admission to the museum is free with a Kent State ID, and free to the public on Sunday. Parking is free. For more information, call 330-672-3450 or visit www.kent.edu/museum.

About the Curator

Hume is curator and an associate professor at the Kent State University Museum. She earned her Ph.D. in modern European history from the University of Chicago. Her dissertation examines the development and preservation of traditional or folk dress practices in Alsace in the face of pressure from political conflict and mainstream fashion. She is interested in exploring the use of material culture, specifically clothing, in historical scholarship. She also holds a B.A. in art from Yale University and an M.A. in museum studies (with a concentration in costume and textiles) from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Kent State Hosts Passport Fair

Kent State University Passport Fair attendees can apply
for a passport at the fair on Sept. 17 in the Kent Student
Center Ballroom.

Kent State University’s Office of Global Education, Department of Mail Services and the United States Postal Service (USPS) are holding a Passport Fair as part of the Education Abroad Fall Expo, Sept. 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Ballroom. The Passport Fair allows attendees to apply for passports on campus with guidance rather than go to an off-campus post office.

“We are having the USPS come to the Kent Student Center for a Passport Fair instead of the students, faculty and staff going to USPS,” says Steve Finley, manager for Mail Services at Kent State. “And it’s open to the public!”

Items to bring:

• Two Passport photos (Walgreens can take the photos)
• Original Documents:
  - Previous Passport (must bring if you have one)
  - Birth Certificate or naturalization certificate
• Copy of Driver’s license, government I.D. card, or Military I.D. card
  - Note: if the identification being submitted is from a state other than Ohio, a second form of identification is needed
• Students should bring identification and copy of identification (no two-sided copies)
  

Expect to pay the following fees:

• Personal checks only (No debit, cash or credit)
• Payable to the U.S. Department of State
  - $110 (four- to six-week processing)
  - $184.85 (three-week processing)
• Payable to the United States Postal Service
  - $25 (processing fee)
  - $15 (if need passport picture taken)
  

For more information about obtaining a passport, visit http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html.

Kent State University Libraries to Host After-hour Social Media Event

The Kent State University Libraries, Kent Area Chamber of Commerce, Streetsboro Chamber of Commerce, Portage Development Board and Focal Point will host Portage Power After Hour, a business after-hour event, in the University Library on Wednesday, Sept. 16, from 5 to 8 p.m. Kent State President Beverly Warren will be a SoMe Award recipient, highlighting her success as an influential social media user in Portage County.

Refreshments will be provided. Guest parking is available in the Kent Student Center Visitor Lot on Summit Street. Parking fees are $2 for one hour, $3 for two hours and $4 for three hours.

For sponsorship opportunities, contact Karen Hillman at 330-672-1886.

Click here for more information or to register for the event.

Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop to Focus on “Enduring Trauma”

Attend in person all day or for specific sessions, live Web stream available for main presentations

The 2015 Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop on
Sept. 17 will focus on "Enduring Trauma."

Covering trauma – a tragic accident, a horrendous attack, a sickening court case, a catastrophic weather event – exposes journalists and victims to complicated questions about ethics, privacy and responsibility. This year’s Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop will delve into significant topics including re-victimization, extreme crisis communication, campus sexual assault and the impacts of social media on trauma incidents and victims.

The workshop will be held on Thursday, Sept. 17, in the FirstEnergy Auditorium, Room 340, Franklin Hall. All students can attend for free, but registration is required. Professionals and educators can register online for a nominal fee; walk-ins are welcome.

What is Trauma?

The word trauma is highly charged and conveys many different meanings. To discover how industry experts, ethicists, journalists and educators explain this term, follow the “Defining Trauma” social media series.

Keynote Speaker and Workshop Sessions

Frank Ochberg, M.D., is this year’s keynote speaker. Ochberg is the nation’s leading expert in journalism and trauma. He helped define “Stockholm Syndrome” (the behavior of captives who bond with their captors), and he is a frequent analyst and expert in court cases, including at the sentencing hearing for the Cleveland man who kidnapped and tortured three young women for 10 years. He is a founding board member of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and recipient of their highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award. He served on the committee that defined post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and edited the first text on its treatment. His session will focus on “Coping with Cruelty.”

Another workshop highlight will be “Telling Johanna’s Story,” featuring Rachel Dissell of The Plain Dealer and Johanna Orozco, the young woman who at 17 was shot in the face by an ex-boyfriend. Orozco could have been a statistic: just another teen victim of extreme violence. Dissell could have done a quick news feature about Orozco and moved on to more exciting stories. Neither took an easy route. Read the original Plain Dealer series “Johanna: Facing Forward.”

Additional workshop speakers include journalists and media professionals who deal with trauma, media ethicists from The Poynter Institute and educators. Just a few of the other topics include:

• No Means No: Campus Sexual Assault
• Recognizing the Trauma of Covering Trauma: Journalists, PTSD and Self-Care
• How the Media Trample Trauma Survivors' Privacy
• Extreme Crisis Communications: Best Practices
• Amplifying the Trauma: Social Media, Online Journalism, Violence and Victims
  

Event Details

What: 11th annual Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop, “Enduring Trauma?”

When: 8:30 a.m. (registration and continental breakfast) to 5 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 17

A live stream of several sessions can be viewed on event day. Archives of all sessions also will be available online.

Where: FirstEnergy Auditorium, Room 340, Franklin Hall, on the Kent Campus. Parking is available in the R-1 Lincoln and R-1 Rockwell parking lots. Campus map: www.kent.edu/maps.

Cost: $25 for media and other professionals, $20 for educators and free for students

About the Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop

The Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop is a one-day training program for professionals, educators and students that examines critical issues and perspectives in media ethics. Moderated by distinguished ethics faculty from The Poynter Institute, the Media Ethics Workshop provides a unique forum for professionals and students alike to confront and discuss significant issues crucial to understanding media ethics and its effect on our world. School of Journalism and Mass Communication Associate Professor Jan Leach is the chairperson of the workshop planning committee. Previous workshops have addressed online ethics, sports media ethics, political media ethics, entertainment media ethics and the ethics of data mining. Established in 2004, the Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop continues its mission to strengthen media credibility and bolster citizens’ faith in media integrity.

Contact Jennifer Kramer, APR, in the College of Communication and Information, with questions at 330-672-1960 or jlkramer@kent.edu.

Kent State’s School of Communication Studies to Honor Alumni and Professor Emeritus

Kent State University’s School of Communication Studies will host the sixth Centennial Award Celebration on Friday, Oct. 2, to honor two alumni and one professor emeritus. The annual event is an opportunity for the school’s alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends to celebrate and recognize the achievements of communication studies professionals. All Kent State faculty and staff are invited to attend.

The following individuals will be honored:

Jerry D. Feezel, Ph.D., Kent, Ohio, resident and Professor Emeritus. Feezel will receive the Centennial Award, a recognition given to individuals of great stature and service to the university who have gained national or international recognition for their work in communication studies.

Robin Clair, Ph.D., Lafayette, Indiana, resident and ’90 graduate. Clair will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award, an award given to a graduate from the School of Communication Studies with more than 15 years of professional experience and equal contribution to the field of communication and his or her career.

Anthony Limperos, Ph.D., Lexington, Kentucky, resident and ’04 and ’06 graduate. Limperos will receive the Outstanding Young Professional award, given to the communication studies graduate with five to 15 years of professional experience who has shown outstanding success in his or her chosen career.

The festivities will begin at 5 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Ballroom Balcony, with the awards ceremony beginning promptly at 6:30 p.m. Attendees must register by Friday, Sept. 25, at www.kent.edu/comm/homecoming. The event and registration are both free of cost.

School of Journalism and Mass Communication Offers Violence Prevention Training

Pictured is Franklin Hall, home to Kent State University's
School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication will offer a Green Dot overview training session for 40-plus students on Wednesday, Sept. 16, as part of its national Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop, which is set for Thursday, Sept. 17, in Franklin Hall.

This year’s Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop will delve into significant topics including re-victimization, extreme crisis communication, campus sexual assault and the impacts of social media on trauma incidents and victims. Best practices for journalists and other communication professionals also will be covered.

Adding the Green Dot violence prevention training to this year’s pre-workshop lineup is an added value for any students taking a course within the College of Communication and Information and will initiate discussions scheduled at the daylong Poynter workshop on Sept. 17.

Green Dot is a national movement seeking to create new norms to replace the norm of sexual violence. The session will help students understand what behaviors lead to personal violence, including sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking and related issues, and how they, as individuals and as bystanders, can prevent or reduce the risk of harm to themselves and their peers.

Suzy D’Enbeau, an assistant professor in the School of Communication Studies, and Jennie O’Connell, director of the Office of Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services, are certified Green Dot educators and will lead the session.

D’Enbeau says that Green Dot training is designed to help students not only identify potential harm, but also to help them understand their own barriers and how they choose to respond to situations.

“Some people are going to feel more comfortable directly intervening, and some people will prefer other interventions,” D’Enbeau says. “The goal is to help students develop a toolkit to decide how they want to intervene.”

Alicia Robinson, program coordinator for Kent State’s Women’s Center and a certified Green Dot educator, says the Green Dot Bystander Movement was brought to Kent State to help make the university a safer campus for everyone.

During the overview session at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, students will learn about Green Dot’s mission and will engage in small group activities designed to help them take proactive and reactive measures against violence, Robinson says.

Registration for the special Green Dot session is closed, but anyone interested in attending all or part of the Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop can register online or get more information at http://mediaethics.jmc.kent.edu.

About Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop

The Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop is a one-day training program for professionals, educators and students that examines critical issues and perspectives in media ethics. Moderated by distinguished ethics faculty from the Poynter Institute, the Media Ethics Workshop provides a unique forum for professionals and students alike to confront and discuss significant issues crucial to understanding media ethics and its effect on our world. Kent State School of Journalism and Mass Communication Associate Professor Jan Leach is the chairperson of the workshop planning committee. Previous workshops have addressed online ethics, sports media ethics, political media ethics, entertainment media ethics and the ethics of data mining. Established in 2004, the Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop continues its mission to strengthen media credibility and bolster citizens’ faith in media integrity.

About Kent State’s Office of Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services

The Office of Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services provides education and awareness to students around sexual violence and support services for those who are impacted. The office launched the Green Dot Bystander Movement in 2014. For more information about Green Dot at Kent State, visit www.kent.edu/greendot.

About Green Dot

Green Dot etc. is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to violence prevention education. Green Dot is built on the premise that the community can measurably and systematically reduce violence by the actions of individuals. For more information, visit www.livethegreendot.com.

Contact Jennifer Kramer, APR, in the dean’s office of the College of Communication and Information, with questions at 330-672-1960 or jlkramer@kent.edu.

Love Finds Judy Garland Featuring Joan Ellison at Kent State Tuscarawas

Love Finds Judy Garland will be performed by Joan
Ellison on Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Kent State University
at Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center in New Philadelphia.

Love Finds Judy Garland will be performed by Joan Ellison on Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Kent State University at Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center in New Philadelphia. This is a cabaret performance where the audience sits on the stage with the performers. Dinner is included in the $45 ticket price. Tickets can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center Box Office, online at www.kent.edu/tusc/pac or by calling 330-308-6400. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free parking is available for all shows.

Michael Feinstein has praised Ellison for her "vocal prowess ... [and] organic grasp of the classic songs," and Donald Rosenberg of The Plain Dealer described her as bringing "a keen blend of vocal splendor and verbal crispness to every musical moment" and "possess[ing] a crystalline voice that never stops."

Ellison’s longtime immersion in the popular vocal styles of the 1920s to the 1960s includes transcribing more than 200 piano and vocal arrangements note-for-note from classic recordings. This intimate understanding of vintage musical and vocal styles brings distinct freshness, immediacy and authenticity to her interpretations of class American standards.

This season, Ellison sang her Judy Garland in Hollywood concert with the Lakeside Symphony under the baton of Robert Cronquist, and also performed with the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Wizard of Oz film release. For the past several years, she has been performing the theatrical productions Love Finds Judy Garland and Gershwin On the Air, for which she arranged the music. Both shows received short runs at True North Cultural Arts Center this season.

In July, Ellison released a new album,“Retrophonic Gershwin,” featuring a dozen songs from her show, Gershwin On the Air. Along with an ensemble of two singers and duo-pianists, the album is mixed by Grammy award-winning engineer Robert Friedrich.

Upcoming performances include Judy Garland in Hollywood with the Wheaton Symphony, the premiere of the re-written Love Finds Judy Garland (including eight new arrangements) in Cleveland before its Florida debut in February 2016, three summer concerts with the Cleveland Pops and a return to the Lakeside Symphony as the soloist in a concert commemorating the end of World War II. Winter 2016 will find her playing the role of Judy Garland in The Boy from Oz, directed by Mark Danni, at TheatreZone in Naples, Florida.

One of her past appearances was Judy Garland Valentine with the Tuscarawas Philharmonic under Eric Benjamin. He commented, “To say ‘Joan lit up the stage’ is to use a cliché, but that’s why the phrase was coined to begin with. She did just that as she sang the Garland tunes with heartfelt spirit and a warm, vibrant sound - she is a gem! The audience fell in love at first sight and song.”

Other past symphonic appearances have included the Cleveland Pops Orchestra (with maestro Carl Topilow) headlining their Songwriting Giants of Broadway concert; The Music of Richard Rodgers with the Erie Philharmonic; and a return engagement with the Erie Philharmonic (with maestro Daniel Meyer) for their series of Holiday Pops concerts. In 2005, she made her Severance Hall debut with the Cleveland Pops opposite Broadway Baritone William Michals, and has since sung a dozen times with the ensemble in repertoire ranging from The King and I to Wicked.

In addition to touring the country with Love Finds Judy Garland and Gershwin On the Air, Ellison has trod the boards as Julie in Carousel, Nellie in South Pacific, Lizzie in 110 in the Shade, Eliza in My Fair Lady (in concert), and Claudia in Nine. In 2010, Ellison released her debut album, A Date With Judy! Joan Ellison Sings Judy Garland.

In addition to performing, Ellison serves as the first Teacher of Popular Voice at the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Visiting Guest Artist (singing teacher) with the Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House M.F.A. Acting Program.

Ellison earned a Master of Music Therapy and a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she was elected Pi Kappa Lambda.

Kent State’s Office of Global Education Hosts Education-abroad Expo 2015

Kent State University students take a break from studying
to explore the city during an education-abroad trip. Kent
State's Education-abroad Expo takes place Sept. 17 at the
Kent Student Center.

Kent State University’s Office of Global Education will host an Education-abroad Expo on Sept. 17 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Kent Student Center.

The annual Education-abroad Expo enables Kent State students and faculty members to easily explore the many opportunities and resources that the university offers to participate in a rewarding education-abroad program.

An education-abroad experience is essential in today’s global economy for a complete, well-rounded education and provides a framework for greater personal growth and professional success.

For more information about Kent State’s Office of Global Education, visit www.kent.edu/globaleducation.

Well-known Comedian Ralphie May to Perform at Kent State Tuscarawas

Stand-up comedian Ralphie May will
perform at the Kent State University at
Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center on
Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m.

Ralphie May, one of the most popular stand-up comedians in the country, will perform at the Kent State University at Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center on Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Known for his hilarious, off-beat observations, May has performed on Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, The Tonight Show, and the Netflix specials Unruly and Imperfectly Yours. His frank, no-nonsense viewpoints keep audiences laughing. May delivers a performance containing mature language and content meant for adults only. This show is co-sponsored by Mix 94.1 radio.

Tickets for May range in price from $32 to $42 and can be purchased now at the Performing Arts Center Box Office, online at www.kent.edu/tusc/pac or by calling 330-308-6400.The box office is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free parking is available for all shows.

For 25 years, May has appeared at the biggest venues, slayed every late-night audience multiple times, recorded a special for every comedy-loving network on television, traveled the world for the USO and reached the level of popularity few standup comedians have attained.

Yet little compares to the amount of exposure May received when Netflix exclusively launched his new comedy special Unruly in February, at the same time it released the new season of House of Cards.

“That’s the biggest launch in Netflix history,” May says. “The wave for House of Cards is a tsunami, and I’m the fat guy trying to body surf. These guys are taking me to the middle of the country. They’re taking me into people’s homes. I’m the luckiest guy in America.”

You could make the argument May already was among the luckiest, with a charmed career that is equal parts sweat equity and choking the life out of every opportunity that came along. He fell in love with comedy after performing at a church conference at age 13, and winning unexpected rewards. He turned professional at 17 when he opened for Sam Kinison, after winning a contest as a dual-enrollment student at the University of Arkansas.

“He told me to move to Houston,” May says. “So I didn’t wait till graduation. I just left: ‘I’m going to Houston to do standup.’ And that was 25 years ago. It’s crazy.”

Houston was a comedy mecca at the time with seven clubs and a thriving, competitive scene. May could work all the time, and he did, also landing a radio gig that helped expand his reputation. He eventually earned a spot on the first season of Last Comic Standing, and though he finished second, he might as well have won with the way fans fell in love with his over-the-top persona.

The raw, uncensored hallmarks of his mentor Kinison are evident in May’s set, laid out brilliantly over two hours in “Unruly,” recorded in front of a raucous, fist-pumping crowd of thousands in Atlanta. But May doesn’t deal in simple outrage, building a routine that’s rich, deep and fearless. He is able to balance boyish charm, withering introspection and compassion for his fellow human being with some of the dirtiest, most honest observations you have ever heard.

“When I was a kid, my grandmother taught me how to crochet and how to quilt, and that’s kind of how I do an act,” May says. “I have one-liners, I have dirty jokes, but I also have long stories that are 10- or 20-minutes long and the laughs come every eight seconds. It’s a different set. And it’s a different life than most people have led.”

Viewership expectations are high. May debuted five specials over a decade on Comedy Central, with each drawing record ratings. He also tours extensively and has made 19 trips into war zones to perform for troops with the USO and Wounded Warriors charity. And his popularity continues to grow. He and his family split their time between Nashville and Los Angeles, where he has television development deals for an unscripted reality show with Ryan Seacrest Productions and a scripted series with Will Ferrell’s Gary Sanchez Productions.