Marty Ross, a Santa Clarita comedian, spoke with KHTS about his appearance on NBC’s television series America’s Got Talent.

Marty Ross, a comedian from Santa Clarita, appeared on an America’s Got Talent episode that aired Tuesday, June 9.

“First of all, it’s more people than I’ve ever performed in front of in my entire life,” Ross said. “The second thing is, the more people there are, the more people that get to enjoy what I do. So I am never nervous about things like that. I love big, big crowds, and that was the biggest I’ve ever had.”

The Santa Clarita resident has been performing stand-up comedy for nearly 15 years since retiring from being a clothier.

“When it was all said and done, and at 65, nobody wanted to hire me and pay me anymore,” Ross joked. “I figured, what do I have to lose? So I joined a standup comedy workshop, and I’m still with them.”

Ross was among the few hundred chosen out of the 10,000 applicants to appear on the show in the first round.

“Being an old person, 80 years old, and being chosen to be on America’s Got Talent out of all the 10,000 submissions… is just so hard for me to wrap my head around. It’s just incredible,” Ross said.

Ross acknowledges 80 years old is late in life to start a career as a comedian, but his goal is to make people smile and laugh.

“My whole goal since I started stand-up at this point in my life is to bring as much laughter, love and joy to as many people as I can,” Ross added. “I did a senior show many years ago and after the show, this woman came up to me and she said ‘I want you to know that I’m a cancer survivor and you made my heart laugh.’ And to this moment, I still get goosebumps when I hear that, and that’s what my journey, my mission is to do that.”

Listen to the entire interview with Ross here.

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