Jay Hickman was a self-released stand-up comic known for his down-home wit and often-bawdy material. Jay Hickman is the best-selling and most-radio-played comic on Laughing Hyena Records. To find out why, read Boat Ride, his signature story about a depraved sex maniac who couldn’t talk well. Advertising planes soared over Florida’s Atlantic coast, following a banner that said “Boat Ride” at its highest.
Jay was known as the Cheetah 3 at Thee Doll House, a topless titty bar with locations in Myrtle Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Atlanta, where he worked on a regular basis. Because comedy clubs were still in their infancy in the late 1980s, he never performed there. Every night, Jay looked after the strip joint’s employees and slept in his own bed. He would cash his entire check on payday and use it to tip the servers, who were often short on cash. Thanks to a benevolent club owner called Michael J. Peters, Jay was always fed, and his rent was paid.
Early Life and Career
Hickman was a “truck-stop” comedian, a type of comedy aimed primarily at a Southern audience and sold mostly at truck stops. He was born in the city of Winston-Salem in the state of North Carolina. He began his career at the age of 15 when he won a state talent competition sponsored by the Women’s Club of America in North Carolina. When famed comedian Jackie Gleason saw him perform, one of Gleason’s friends quickly hired him to perform on cruise ships, and he went on to fame performing in strip clubs around the Southeast.
He built and maintained a cult following of admirers in those areas, the bulk of whom possessed his self-produced and self-distributed cassette cassettes of those strip club appearances. Laughing Hyena Records has signed him to a record deal, the same label that discovered comedian Jeff Foxworthy. Funny fishing songs tunes were included on seven CDs, which are still available for purchase on the company’s website. Hickman has also opened shows for comedians Jackie Gleason and Sammy Davis Jr., as well as musical artists Tom Jones, Liza Minnelli, Tanya Tucker, Aretha Franklin, Mel Torme, and Anita Baker.
Few of the All-Time Stand-Up Comedies
After being diagnosed with liver disease in the 1980s, Hickman died in 1993 at the age of 37. He is buried in the Southeastern Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Laughing Hyena Records’ pledge to honor Hickman’s final wish, which was for them and only them to continue promoting his CDs for future generations to hear, as expressed on the inner sleeves of Hickman’s CDs by his best friend and company founder, Arnie Hoffman.
This was one of his all-time hits, and it had succeeded to startle the listeners. Among the songs on the album’s playlists were:
- Jay Hickman Boat Ride Joke
- Put Out or Swim
- Making People Laugh
- I’ll hate Myself in the Morning
- I Remember My First Time
- Super Bowl Sunday
- Hunting fishing songs
- Jay Hickman “Comedy’s Bad Boy”
This includes the following tracklists:
- Spending the Rent Money
- My Wife Shared Way Too Much
- Happily Married 4 Times
- Steak, Lobster, and Roses
Wrapping Up:
Jay Hickman was without a doubt the best-selling and most-radio-played comedian in the Laughing Hyena’s repertoire. Aside from the five CDs listed here, Hickman published five more in the Laughing Hyenas series. Some of the best hunting and fishing songs and Jay Hickman Animation of all time may be found on Laughing Hyenas.
