Broderick Dornell Smiley (born August 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, actor, and radio personality known for his prank phone calls. The calls feature Smiley disguising his voice carrying a conversation with the recipient of the call. He is the host of the nationally syndicated Rickey Smiley Morning Show based in Atlanta from its flagship affiliate WHTA "Hot 107.9". He starred in a sitcom, The Rickey Smiley Show, which aired on TV One. He is also a featured columnist on the Fox-produced tabloid nationally-syndicated TV show Dish Nation. In 2015, Smiley appears on Rickey Smiley For Real, a reality television series about his life.
Rickey Smiley | |
|---|---|
 Smiley appearing on Sister Circle on TV One in 2019 | |
| Born | August 10, 1968 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Alabama State University (BA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Comedy |
| Children | 4 |
Career
editSmiley appeared as the host of the 2000 season of BET's ComicView program. He has appeared on Showtime at the Apollo, HBO's Def Comedy Jam, HBO's Snaps, The Nashville Network, Uptown Comedy Club, and Comic Escape. His original comedy routines often feature the role-play of fictional characters such as "Bernice Jenkins" (also known as Granny Swims, Ms. Johnson or Mrs. Francis), "Lil' Daryl", "Rusty Dale", and "Beauford". Bernice Jenkins has a grandson named Rufus who's a stereotype of the modern-day "Gangsta". Rufus is in two routines, in "Two Of My Toes Fell Off" and another prank phone call where Smiley calls a pharmacy.
Smiley became the morning show personality for radio station KBFB in Dallas in April 2004. The show features the trademark prank calls as well as news, information, and the latest hip hop music. In 2008, he signed a deal with Syndication One (a syndicated radio division of Radio One) to take the show nationwide and The Rickey Smiley Morning Show is now heard on a number of mainstream urban and urban adult contemporary radio stations. Syndication One merged with Reach Media in 2013.[1]
He has released several humorous songs based on the bits such as "Roll Tide" featuring his redneck character Buford, and "We Miss Robert", based on a routine in which a friend of a deceased drug dealer performs a rap song called "We Miss Robert" at the funeral, which is actually a song about a woman and performed in hopes of landing a record deal. He had a starring role in Ice Cube's Friday After Next. He also appeared in All About the Benjamins as an informant of Ice Cube's character, Snitch Mitch. The performance can be viewed in a deleted scene in the special features of the DVD.
Prank calls
editSome of Smiley's most notable calls include:
- "Buried Alive" - Smiley plays a narcoleptic who works at a funeral home and "fell asleep in one of these caskets" who calls a cemetery claiming that "they done buried me alive" and insists he is calling from inside a casket on his cell phone. He then requests that someone come and "dig all these graves open".
- "Come Over" - In a reverse prank (similar to the ones innovated by the Jerky Boys), "K.D.," a hapless caller, phones a Smiley character named "Gina", a woman who initially entices him with statements like "I'm just 'bout to go crazy over here" and "I want you to come over and hurt me" before revealing that she is a hermaphrodite ("that means I got both genitals"). K.D. assures Gina he is "still comin'", which prompts her to up the stakes by announcing "my grandmama over here too... she a real freak." K.D. then speaks to the grandmother who wants to know "what kind of draws you got on."
- "Uncle Melvin" - Smiley prank calls his uncle, as a man who believes his girlfriend has left him, and who punctuates every remark with the word "dawg" ("Is my girl over there dawg... tell her I love her, dawg").
- "Churches" - Smiley plays two characters, both call Church's Chicken. One is an elderly lady who mistakes Church's for a "church" (e.g. wants to know "what time do y'all start service" and asks "who is y'all's pastor", and "well when d y'all have Sunday school?"). Informed that she has called a restaurant, asks "Don't the chicken belong to the church?" The other caller is "Willie", who claims to be a heavyset man with a thyroid problem, "I can't get out the house no more", and who asks for a rundown of the menu "Is y'all okra fried, or is it all slimy in the pot like grandmama used to make" Willie constantly requests delivery of food to his house.
- "Pray For Me" - Again using his "Granny" voice, Smiley calls "Miss Ola Mae Benton Carter Jackson Glenn", and asks her to pray for a member of her church who was stabbed, involved in an ambulance crash, hit by a train, had a leg cut off by the Jaws of Life, shot "in the right eye."
- Smiley gets the woman to sing leading her in several verses of "Walk With Me, Lord", each verse increasing in silliness.
- "She P-E-E-D" - Smiley prank calls an elderly woman using his "Granny" voice; the aftermath of the call causes the woman to laugh so hard that she ends up urinating on herself.
- "Is My Daddy Over There" - Smiley plays Lil' Daryl and his brother Brandon as they call a lady claiming their father was supposed to return home with milk for their cereal. The brothers ask the lady what she has cooked for dinner over there as she ultimately hangs up on them in frustration.
- "Whose Funeral is Today?" - Smiley uses his "Granny" voice and calls a funeral home, asking for her deceased neighbor named Wilbert Smith. She learns that he was cremated and she was oblivious to his death, screaming out in agony when the funeral director repeats that he was cremated. The lady then asks who they are burying this week and offers to go to that funeral to make up for missing Wilbert's. The man tells her that the person they are burying is Hattie Mae Barkley, as she screams out again in agony as it is another person she knows.
Personal life
editOn July 6, 2020, Smiley announced that his daughter, Aaryn had been shot during a road rage incident the previous weekend.[2] Smiley is a member of Omega Psi Phi; he was initiated into its Psi Rho graduate chapter.[3]
On January 29, 2023, Smiley announced his 32-year old-son, Brandon Smiley, had died after being found unconscious in his Birmingham apartment.[4] Brandon committed suicide with a combination of drugs including fentanyl.[5]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Friday After Next | Santa Claus | |
| 2003 | Sweet Hideaway | Ducktape | |
| 2008 | First Sunday | Bernice Jenkins | |
| 2010 | Stomp the Yard: Homecoming | Finale MC | |
| 2013 | Baggage Claim | Calvin | |
| 2015 | F**K Child Support | Himself | TV movie |
| 2019 | Iron Grit | Interviewee | |
| 2021 | Miracles Across 125th Street | - | TV movie |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Def Comedy Jam | Himself | Episode: "Episode #3.9" |
| 1995 | Snaps | Himself | Episode: "Episode #1.1" |
| 2000 | Showtime at the Apollo | Himself | Episode: "Goodie Mob/Rickey Smiley" |
| 2003 | Players | Himself | Episode: "Less Than Jake, Fred Savage, Jason Sehorn" |
| 2004 | ComicView | Himself/Host | Main Host: Season 13 |
| Super Secret Movie Rules | Himself | Episode: "Sports Underdogs" | |
| 2006 | Comedy Central Presents | Himself | Episode: "Rickey Smiley" |
| 2008-09 | 1st Amendment Stand Up | Himself | Recurring Guest |
| 2011–19 | Dish Nation | Himself/Co-Host | Main Co-Host: Season 1-8 |
| 2012 | Let's Stay Together | Steve | Episode: "Fear Factor" |
| Are We There Yet? | Salesman | Episode: "The Expensive Purse Episode" | |
| 2012–14 | The Rickey Smiley Show | Rickey Smiley | Main Cast |
| 2013 | Trumpet Awards | Himself/Co-Host | Main Co-Host |
| 2014–16 | Stellar Awards | Himself/Co-Host | Main Co-Host |
| 2014–18 | The Real Housewives of Atlanta | Himself | Guest: Season 6, Recurring Cast: 7 & 10 |
| 2015–17 | Rickey Smiley For Real | Himself | Main Cast |
| 2017 | Star | Himself | Episode: "Code of Silence" |
| 2017–20 | Black Music Honors | Himself/Co-Host | Main Co-Host |
| 2018 | Unsung Hollywood | Himself | Episode: "Ray J" & "Rickey Smiley" |
| 2021 | Super Bowl Gospel Celebration | Himself/Co-Host | Main Co-Host |
Special
edit| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Latham Entertainment Presents | Himself |
| 2011 | Rickey Smiley: Open Casket Sharp | Himself |
Discography
editTo date, Smiley has released six albums of his prank calls:
- The Best of Comedian Rickey Smiley Vol. I
- Rickey Smiley: Prank Calls Vol. II
- Rickey Smiley: Vol. III
- Rickey Smiley "Off The Hook Volume 4"
- Rickey Smiley: Vol. V
- Rickey Smiley: Vol. 6
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Syndication One To Consolidate With Reach Media". All Access. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ "Road rage shooting victim is comedian Rickey Smiley's daughter". ABC 7. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
- ^ "Chapters".
- ^ Respers France, Lisa; Johnston, Chuck (January 30, 2023). "Rickey Smiley mourns the death of his son Brandon". CNN. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ Hodgin, Mary Scott; Short, Cody (September 13, 2023). "Opioids are killing more Black men — largely due to the spread of fentanyl". NPR. Retrieved September 13, 2023.