Comedy Central Presents: Rickey Smiley

Rickey Smiley brings his clean, character-driven Southern comedy to his 2006 Comedy Central Presents half-hour. The set leans heavily into his staple persona work, notably featuring an extended impersonation of an old woman reading church announcements. He anchors the rest of the time with observational material about his pet peeves at Black funerals and a recounting of an encounter with an elderly stripper.

At the time of the taping, Smiley was already a known commodity. He hosted BET’s ComicView at the start of the decade and built a dedicated following through a series of successful prank call CDs. He was also two years into his Dallas morning radio show, a gig that would soon expand into his nationally syndicated broadcasting empire. The half-hour captures him translating his voice-acting skills to a physical stage right before radio fully took over his career.