Ralphie May’s comedy career was cruising along worry-free, with sold-out concerts and a string of successful specials on Comedy Central, until fatherhood intervened and seriously altered his perceptions.
 “I love being a daddy,” said May, who performs at Victoria Theatre in Dayton on Tuesday. “It’s tremendous, but I didn’t know anything could make comedy be work. Being daddy sure does. The jokes are free. What people pay for is me not being home and waking up in my own bed with babies curled next to me.”
 While the children — April, age 4, and August, age 3 — haven’t dulled May’s edgy, biting comedy, it has changed the way he travels.
 “I just bought a big tour bus, so I can take the babies on the road with me,” he said. “It’s Dave Matthews’ old bus, so we had to change the carpet and get it fumigated to get rid of all that bad music.
 “We bought the bus because we want them with us so we can take them around and have fun,” May said. “Instead of reading about things like volcanoes we can actually go see them and have these wonderful adventures.”
 May’s latest one-hour Comedy Central special “Too Big To Ignore” premiered in May. Although the material was taped in October, his topical jokes on subjects like gay marriage, Arizona’s immigration law and Muslims are still relevant.
 “Those things are going on right now,” May said. “I write faster than most comedians, so the topics I talked about were so current it gives it a longer shelf life. That’s what happened with ‘Austin-Tatious’ too.”
 However, the extended shelf life creates its own unique problems for the prolific comic.
 “I have two specials ready to go,” May said. “One is silly and whimsical, and the other is introspective and relatable. I think it’s my best work ever, but the market won’t let me put it out yet.”
 Contact contributing arts and music writer Don Thrasher at donaldthrasher8@aol.com.