From Breaking Ice to Cracking Up: Coast Guard Veteran Studying Comedic Arts

Justin Ramey ’26 has lived several lives – some funnier than others. Was it funny breaking Antarctic ice with the U.S. Coast Guard?

It is when you don a Batman outfit to creep near a penguin. Mind you, it was a cute little penguin, not Batman’s nemesis.

For close to 11 years, Ramey was in the U.S. Coast Guard, based in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Seattle, and was sent all around the world. Today, he’s a Comedic Arts major, following his dream of making people laugh.

‘You Have to Go Out, But You Don’t Have to Come Back’

That is the unofficial motto of the U.S. Coast Guard.

“The Coast Guard was my escape plan out of Ohio, where I’m from,” said Ramey. “I was working jobs on top of jobs: UPS, working as a kitchen manager at bars and grills. I said, ‘I can’t do this for 20 more years.’”

Ramey’s buddy joined the Coast Guard out of high school, and it sounded interesting. Ramey was 25 when he joined.

“I was an old guy. I’m an old guy wherever I go. Now I’m the oldest guy [in the Comedic Arts program],” said Ramey.

While serving aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, an icebreaker based out of Seattle, he was featured on the Disney+ and National Geographic series Continent 7: Antarctica. You can see him in the background in some episodes. The cutter created a path for supply ships to get to researchers.

“I wore several hats as a small boat engineer, AC&R technician, fuel transferring officer, hydraulics mechanic, auxiliary machinery technician supervisor, master of naps, and penguin chaser,” said Ramey.

Knowing he had a GI Bill to attend college, he started looking at comedy programs and thought Emerson College’s Comedic Arts BFA was “the greatest thing I’ve seen in my life.” He reached out to Professor Martie Cook, founding director of the Center for Comedic Arts.

Through correspondence, Cook thanked Ramey for his service to our country, and remarked that being out to sea from November to March is a long time to be away. They agreed that comedy is very healing. She praised him for thinking ahead “and looking for things that you feel will make your heart sing.”

Cook also provided a little assignment (that he’ll never get course credit for).

“I always tell my students, ‘Comedy is in the specifics,’” wrote Cook. “As you head home, look around you. Keep a journal. Write down anything that you see humor in… people, places, situation… Take notes for yourself for possible future material. Be specific.”

After leaving the Coast Guard in 2017, Ramey landed in Colorado, where he started doing art and running a tie-die business. But eventually, he decided he needed to apply to Emerson’s Comedic Arts program.

Ramey Loving Comedy in L.A.

This semester the 43-year-old is studying at Emerson’s Los Angeles campus, returning to Boston in the spring.

Ramey is relishing field trips through ELA’s Comedy Conservatory, like to the set of The Conners, guest speakers like original Saturday Night Live cast member Laraine Newman and comedian/podcaster Marc Maron, and meeting Hollywood people.

Ramey liked hearing from producers and a director of The Conners. “We asked what they were looking for in a new show. They told us they are focused on the blue-collar experience and lifestyle. They steer towards that because it’s relatable to a lot of America.”

He’s been writing a lot of sketch comedy and learning about storytelling. He also got his insurance license and is learning some of the business side of the entertainment industry.

“[L.A.] just motivates you more to write down any dumb thought. If that guy is up there [doing standup] saying dumb sh*t, what’s keeping me from saying my dumb sh*t?” said Ramey.

“I’m a 43-year-old college student. I was in the military for 11 years. I [used to] say, ‘The boat is on fire again’ or ‘We’re flooding again. What am I doing with my life?’ Now I’m in college saying, ‘I’ve got to make three TikToks before bed. What am I doing with my life?’ It’s a totally different perspective, and I’m having a blast with it.”

Semper Paratus (Always Ready)

True to the U.S. Coast Guard’s (actual) motto, Ramey is always prepared. That readiness helped him to save the life of one of his Emerson classmates this fall, when the student passed out and hit his head.

“He was knocked out and he wasn’t coming to. I couldn’t get his mouth to open and give him CPR,” said Ramey. “His body started to clench up, so I blew in his nose and gave him one big puff and he woke up and asked what had happened.”

The student fractured his skull and was out of school for a few weeks, but is back in class.

“My Coast Guard training kicked in. I wasn’t thinking about it,” said Ramey, who received EMT training in the military.

That veteran background makes for an interesting perspective on life and comedic arts.

“If you don’t have a sense of humor in the middle of the ocean, you’re going to have a miserable time,” Ramey said.

Some days, they’d be breaking ice and fighting a fire that had broken out on the vessel at the same time, he said.

“We’re breaking ice, so the whole ship is shaking and falling apart” Ramey said. “Basically, you’re walking around on a constant earthquake. It was a six-month trip.”

As a 43-year-old undergraduate student, Ramey is double the age of his classmates, and possibly older than some of his professors. He’s currently living in a residence hall at ELA, and will live in an apartment when he gets back to Boston in the spring.

His plan after graduating from Emerson is to move out to Los Angeles and try his hand at standup and storytelling.

“I think learning comedy at Emerson is filling that void of what I should’ve been focusing on the whole time,” said Ramey. “I’m learning from professionals. The opportunity Emerson has given me – I’m so grateful for it. The fact that my military GI Bill is paying for it, it’s incredible I can do this. Everyone is just so cool.”

Ramey said when he’s walking around, he feels like a student, and is in that learning mindset.

“I’m learning from professionals. It’s a very cool experience to do it at my age.

I gotta trim my grey stuff,” said Ramey.