Fancy Ray

Fancy Ray McCloney
Birth name	Ray McCloney
Born	Claimed age 29 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Years active	1989–present
Website	www.fancyray.com

Ray "Fancy Ray" McCloney is a comedian and television personality who has built a comedy and advertising career partly by becoming famous for being famous, especially in and near his home town of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Fancy Ray is the self-proclaimed "Best Looking Man in Comedy", known for his androgynous and heavily made-up style as well as a loud, sometimes bizarre, comic persona. His stage personality is made up of the sexual prowess of Prince, the funky style of James Brown, and the animation and expression of Little Richard. He is known to break into verse and recite poetry at his shows, in ode to himself, of course.

Aside from claiming that he is the best-looking man in comedy, Fancy Ray makes many outrageous claims about himself such as his ability to swim in the oceans without getting wet. Fancy Ray's recurring performance themes revolve around his own good looks and sense of style, his outre urban attitudes, and sexual topics.

In addition to "The Best-Looking Man in Comedy," Fancy Ray also frequently calls himself the "Human Chocolate Orchid."

Fancy Ray grew up in Minneapolis and graduated from Minneapolis West High School, which was located in Uptown Minneapolis and closed in 1982.

Fancy Ray explained the origins of his name to "Weird Al" Yankovic on Ray's cable TV show in Minneapolis, Get Down With It, as follows: "Fancy comes from the Flamboyant, the Fertile, the Fashion part, and the Fragrant."

However, in a 1998 interview, Fancy Ray claimed he was actually principally influenced by his grandfather, Fancy Wade, a sharp-dressed ladies' man. Upon Wade's 1984 death, Ray inherited Wade's music collection, including Little Richard recordings, which inspired him to become known thereafter as Fancy Ray.

Ray began to perform standup comedy in 1989, then launched his television program ""Get Down With It"" on a Public-access television cable TV channel. He interviewed guests such as Tiny Tim and Whoopi Goldberg. In the ensuing years, Ray cultivated an extremely unusual career in Minneapolis as a flamboyantly dressed advertising pitchman.

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