Big laughs: Ralphie May gets a new life after 'Last Comic' fame

Maryville Daily Times - Maryville,TN,USA - Without a doubt, NBC's "Last Comic Standing" changed Ralphie May's life -- and it may have saved it as well.

In addition from his socio-economic move -- from a four-plex at Crenshaw and Adams in Los Angeles to a house in the Hollywood Hills -- May also obtained the financial stability to tend to his health. He's still a big guy, but he's not the morbidly obese funny man that Americans fell for.

"I got something I'd never had before -- insurance," May told The Daily Times this week. "I went to a specialist at Cedars-Sinai (Medical Center), and I got gastric bypass surgery. I've lost 300 pounds. I weigh 385 pounds now, and I'm only 35 pounds away from being able to get life insurance.