Ray O’Leary
Ray O’Leary is a deadpan comedian from New Zealand, known for wearing his trademark grey suit. O’Leary’s real name is Matthew but was given the nickname ‘Ray’ by his friends who thought he sounded like Ray Romano. O’Leary has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in philosophy.
O’Leary took to the stage in 2015 and one year later he won Best Newcomer at the 2016 Wellington Comedy Awards. In 2017 he was nominated for the Billy T Award, for his show A Pessimist’s Guide to Optimism, and for Ray Against the Machine in 2020. In 2023, Ray was performing his comedy show Everything Funny All the Time Always across New Zealand and Australia.
Why Ray O’Leary is vegan
Ray O’Leary is vegan for the animals.
Ray O’Leary decided to become vegan after reading Animal Liberation by Peter Singer – not surprising considering his background in philosophy.
He works veganism into many of his comedy routines, often making fun of vegan cliches. For example he jokes that he doesn’t go on about the health benefits of veganism because he’s always too tired, and jokes that “everyone thinks that vegans are skinny and low in energy… but I’m here to show you that vegans are also fat and low in energy.”1Smith, R. 2026. 21 vegan comedians who are rewriting the “humourless vegan” cliché. Vegan Food & Living. Available: https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/features/vegan-comedians/ [Accessed 4 August 2026].
References:
- Smith, R. 2026. 21 vegan comedians who are rewriting the “humourless vegan” cliché. Vegan Food & Living. Available: https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/features/vegan-comedians/ [Accessed 4 August 2026].