- Comedian Vyck Cooley
I recently caught up with 32-year old Christian comedian Vyck Cooley. Cooley has opened for such notables as Bill Bellamy, Chris Tucker, Bernie Mack, Cedric the Entertainer and Eddie Griffin.
This full-time elementary school teacher got his start like most comedians, as a misunderstood class clown. He wanted to be a comedian after listening to a Richard Pryor record when he young kid. Cooley explained, “I didn’t understand much other then the curse words but I liked the fact he was making people laugh.” Years later Cooley took to the stage for the first time at a Budweiser Comedy Explosion contest in Greensboro, NC at club called “Side Effects.” Cooley says the club is no longer in business due to it being “shot up” so much over the years. He was 22 years old.
Although he’s been in the business for 10 years, Cooley re-dedicated his life to Christ about 4 years ago. One day his pastor suggested that he do something for the congregation. A reluctant Cooley explained that he used to do comedy for clubs and not churches. His pastor replied: “Well just do it and see what God gives you.” Cooley did a routine that was very well received. He followed that success by following his pastor around to different churches when he (the pastor) would do revivals. Cooley often served as an opening act for his pastor.
In 1993, Cooley did a show with comedian Ricky Smiley. Always looking to improve, he asked Smiley for feedback. “Ricky told me that my show was good and suggested that I cut down on my cursing. I’ll never forget him telling me that. I’d been doing comedy about 6 years and once I rededicated my life to Christ I figured I wasn’t going to be able to do comedy again because I just didn’t know how to do it the clean way. I was like Eddie Murphy and the older comics like Richard Pryor. I cursed and swore and talked about any and everything. But once I accepted God in my life I couldn’t say those jokes and feel good about what I was doing. Now I get more joy out of doing it clean that I did when I was doing it dirty.” Cooley also acknowledges Bill Cosby as a role model saying, “Cosby’s been doing it clean from day one.”
So who makes Cooley laugh? He says, Ricky Smiley. “I like his clean act and his gestures and his creative mind. His ability to entertain is phenomenal. Most of today’s comedians seem to be on the Def Jam path. They don’t really want to uplift someone’s spirit though laughter. They all seem to focus on sex and stuff like that. I like Ricky because he doesn’t do that.”
Parts of Cooley’s comic routines consist of “remember when” stuff—things that happened to you when you were growing up. Cooley says life was simpler back then and things were funny. “I reflect on things that our parents used to do and say. Sometimes I give scriptures based upon what I want to say.”
Being a Christian comedian, Cooley doesn’t have the same pool of mentors to choose from to develop or hone his craft. “In this game you don’t have too many people who are willing to give you a helping hand,” says Cooley. “Everyone is trying to get to the top and it’s almost like most people feel they shouldn’t give advice because it may cripple them. As far as my professional development is concerned, it’s just God, my creativity and me. When I get to the top I’m definitely going to pull others with me.”
Cooley says he got his big break with an appearance on BET’s Comic View. He recalled that airline lost his luggage and he and his friends were booked into a cheap hotel that wouldn’t give them extra blankets. He arrived at the studio wearing borrowed clothes and had to wait in the dressing room for 8 hours before going on stage. Not exactly the glamorous life. “I wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of my time to shine,” say Cooley.
Many funny people come from dysfunctional backgrounds. Reflecting on his upbringing Cooley recalled that his mother ran a liquor house and shared that he has a brother serving a life sentence in prison. He sold drugs as youth and says despite that environment, there was a lot of love in his family. He credits his late mother for saving him. “My mother accepted God and began pushing me to do the same. So through all of this I was praying, even before I went out to sell drugs every night. And I’m glad I did. There were so many close calls with the authorities that I’m lucky to have my freedom.”
Cooley is part of a group called the Underground Players. This group of four goes out in the streets as characters and plays tricks on unwitting people as a way of sharpening their skills as comics. For example, Cooley may play a character called “Crazy Legs” who break dances against other homeless people for money. According to Cooley, the public loves it and all the money is given to the homeless. Cooley is also slated to appear in an upcoming movie called “Church Detectives” directed by George Folks. Cooley plays a drug dealer named Eddie Vangola (not much of a stretch there). “The movie has a message directed towards the church and promises to be as funnier then ‘“Harlem Nights.’”
Vyck Cooley has played the hand that he was dealt in life and beat the odds. He says he did all of the wrong things growing up and turned his life around when God touched his life. “I’ve turned my life around. I have a Masters Degree in education, I’m currently pursuing my Administration degree and I definitely believe that younger black males need role models. Young black men need someone to tell them what will happen to them without education. We need individuals to take the place of a parent and give kids the love, the nurturing and the discipline that they need. I really believe that if Jesus is in your life, you can’t go wrong. You gotta keep believing and you gotta keep praying.”
When you want to book an entertainer for your next function, consider giving Vyck Cooley some love. You can check out Cooley’s tour schedule and book him via his web site at Creator Productions.
This interview was conducted by Gary Johnson. Thanks to Mike McKoy of Creator Productions for arranging this making this interview possible.