6 days ago
EXCLUSIVE Rickey Smiley reveals he has no issue with 'offending people' as he details list of taboo topics in comedy special
Rickey Smiley is back - and has declared that he is funnier than ever before.
'I haven't done a special in 12 years, so I'm really excited about it,' he told
Smiley - whose new special Fool-ish is now available to stream on Hulu - describes his latest project as 'funny, animated, with a lot of energy.'
'[It's] really physical,' he quips. 'Something that I think everybody would enjoy.'
Smiley, 56, says 'life has brought a lot of changes' since his last special, something which he delves into in Fool-ish.
Joking that he is now 'older, and has a beard,' he also spoke about the changes having grown children - and recently discovering he is the biological father to six-year-old twin girls - has had on his comedy.
'I talk about that in the special as well,' he assures fans. 'It's a great special to be in your 40s and 50s, [and for] people in their 20s and 30s or whatever.'
'I think I'm funnier now, than I was before,' he declared. 'Because at this age, you say whatever on your mind and you don't care who gets mad.'
'When you have more life behind you than in front of you, you don't care,' he laughed.
Smiley, who lost his 32-year-old son Brandon to an accidental overdose in January 2023, said performing his show felt like they were on stage together.
'My son was a performer, he was funny. He had his own style, and uniqueness on stage,' he reflected.
'I'm just glad that we were able to share and do the same thing,' he said passionately.
For Smiley, who has been performing in comedy shows since the 1980s, there were no nerves when it came to curating the show.
'I'd done so many shows and comedy clubs, three shows Saturday, two shows Friday - do the morning show every single morning,' he listed.
He joked it was like exercising the comedy muscles in your brain, and had 'a lot of fun' coming up with what to include in the special.
'I've been performing for years, and if you figure out if you're going to do a special, you go ahead and let's put a special set together,' he explained.
Smiley, who lost his 32-year-old son Brandon (pictured) to an accidental overdose in January 2023, said performing his show felt like they were on stage together
Smiley says that means 'doing things that people will remember.'
The comedian added there may be some humor that may offend people, he deems his content universally engaging.
'You say what needs to be said and it's funny and everybody relates to it, and you're only saying what everybody's thinking anyway, so we just bold enough to say it,' the comedian shared.
He revealed his potentially taboo topics include 'talking about little people' and his favorite TV show - My 600 Pound Life.
'People might get offended,' he admitted. 'But hey, it's funny, they're going to watch it.'
