Jay Hickman (comedian)
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Jay Hickman (April 19, 1955 – March 15, 1993) was a comedian best known for his downhome[clarification needed] humor and independently released, often-bawdy material. Despite his death in the early 1990s, his legacy of Southern-based material still enjoys a cult following.[citation needed]
Biography
Early life
Hickman was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and was known as a "truck-stop" comedian, which denotes a genre of comedy that was meant to appeal to a Southern grass roots demographic and whose material was marketed mainly through truck stops. He started his career at the young age of 15 when he won a North Carolina state talent show, sponsored by the Women's Club of America. Later, the great comedian Jackie Gleason saw him perform, and one of Gleason's friends quickly hired the unknown comic to perform on cruise ships, eventually progressing to fame performing in strip clubs throughout the Southeastern United States.
Career and fame
It is from those venues that he created and enjoyed a cult, underground following of fans who mainly owned his self-produced cassette tapes of those strip club performances which were self-distributed by him prior to his record deal with Laughing Hyena Records, the same label which discovered comedian Jeff Foxworthy. A total of 7 CDs were released and are still available through the company's web site. Hickman also appeared on HBO, Showtime, and The Playboy Channel; performed on the Hee Haw television show; opened shows for comedians Jackie Gleason and Sammy Davis Jr.; and opened concerts for musical artists Tom Jones, Liza Minnelli, Tanya Tucker, Aretha Franklin, Mel Torme, Anita Baker, Lee Greenwood and George Jones.
Death and legacy
Hickman was diagnosed with liver disease in the 1980s and died at 37 in 1993. He is buried at Southeastern Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Despite his lack of widespread notoriety, his cult following continues on due to the commitment of Laughing Hyena Records to honor Hickman's last request, for them and only them to continue marketing his CDs for future generations to hear per the testimony of his best friend and company founder, Arnie Hoffman, as found on the inner sleeves of Hickman's CDs.
Arnie had the privilege of a very close friendship with Jay. Jay would call the office of Laughing Hyena almost daily, spreading humor to whomever was lucky enough to answer the phone. When Jay knew his time on earth was coming to a close, he flew his friends out to Myrtle Beach for some ‘guy time.’ Saying we are going to have a great time, this is about living for today. Jay gave his life to Christ, became close friends with his local pastor, and attended church regularly in the last year of his life. He and his sister planned his funeral which was well attended by his living family (his sister, two brothers, and extended family) and many friends from around the country.
Personal life
Hickman was married twice even though he claimed in his performances to have been married 4 times and engaged 11 times.
Albums
- Duke of Dirt (1983) Laughing Hyena Records
- Boat Ride (1983) Laughing Hyena Records
- Making People Laugh (1985) Laughing Hyena Records
- The Macho Man (1986) Laughing Hyena Records
- Playing Truck Driver (1988) Laughing Hyena Records
- Comedy's Bad Boy (1989) Laughing Hyena Records
- Don't Hold Nothing Back (1992) Laughing Hyena Records
Popular material
Perhaps his most enduring story was called "Boat Ride", about a male character with a harelip who takes girls out on a boat ride in order to gain sexual favors ("put out or swim" or as Jay said it, "Put out, or thwim!"), a trick which ultimately turns against him.