Aries Spears

Aries Spears (born April 3, 1975) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer from New Jersey. Spears was a regular on Fox's sketch comedy series MADtv, appearing in 198 episodes, making him the second longest-serving cast member on the show behind Michael McDonald. In 2011, he released a special called Aries Spears: Hollywood, Look I'm Smiling. He is also a two-time co-host for the AVN Awards, in 2018 and 2020.

Aries Spears
Aries Spears performs at the Shoreline Comedy Jam in 2012
Birth nameAries Spears
Born (1975-04-03) April 3, 1975
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
MediumStand-up, film, television
NationalityAmerican
Years active1989–present
GenresSketch comedy

Early life

Spears was born in Chicago, Illinois and moved to New York when he was a year or two old. His mother, Doris Spears, is a jazz singer. Spears moved to New Jersey at age 11 and attended Arthur M. Judd Elementary School. He became a comedian at 14, performing stand-up comedy in various comedy clubs in New York City. He was expelled for fighting during his sophomore year in North Brunswick Township High School in North Brunswick Township, at age 17.[1] Spears started doing his own comedy routine around his hometown.

Spears said that his first stand up comedy was doing impressions at the Uptown Comedy Club in Harlem, and Spears said that he recalls himself doing impressions of James Brown and Jack Nicholson during his first stand up comedy.[2]

Career

Early film and TV roles

Spears' first television appearance was on Russell Simmons's Def Comedy Jam, followed by It's Showtime at the Apollo (1987). He moved to Los Angeles in 1992, landed a recurring role on A Different World (1993) and became a regular at The Comedy Store, The Improv and The Laugh Factory. Other television credits include Crosstown Traffic, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993) and Soul Train.

At 16, Spears landed a part in the movie Malcolm X. Shortly thereafter, he was cast in a starring role opposite Glenn Frey in South of Sunset (1993). Spears's other movie appearances include Home of Angels (1994), The Pest (1997), Jerry Maguire in which he played Teepee, brother of Rod Tidwell (1996), Out-of-Sync (1995), and The Proud Family (2003).

MADtv

He joined the cast of MADtv during its 3rd season in 1997, and he left at the end of its 10th season in 2005. During his stay, he created characters such as comedian Belma Buttons (co-host of fictional BET show "Reality Check"), Dollar Bill Montgomery (a host of an urban parody of Politically Incorrect called "Real **********ing Talk with Dollar Bill Montgomery"), James Brown Jr. (co-host of Cabana Chat), and controversial rapper Emcee Esher. He is well known for his impressions of celebrities, including rappers Jay-Z, Kanye West, LL Cool J, DMX, and Snoop Dogg actors Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Sylvester Stallone, Denzel Washington, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as fellow comedians Eddie Murphy and Paul Mooney.

Celebrity impressions on MADtv

After MADtv

Spears appeared in a 2nd-season episode of Mind of Mencia, which parodied Jamie Foxx's role in Kanye West's music video for "Gold Digger." He also appeared in the 2006 movie Hood of Horror. Spears performed in the TV series The Underground and voiced the character Wizard Kelly in the animated television series The Proud Family.

Spears appeared in two episodes of Frank Caliendo's sketch comedy show Frank TV as Shaquille O'Neal.

He appeared alongside Cedric the Entertainer and other comedians in the All Star Comedy Jam in 2009.

His 2011 stand-up comedy special Aries Spears: Hollywood, Look I'm Smiling was shown on Showtime. According to Deadline Hollywood, Spears is expected to appear in the dark comedy feature film directed by Vladislav Kozlov The Immortalist in 2020, along with Franco Nero, Sherilyn Fenn, Paul Rodriguez, and Jeff DuJardin.[3]

Discography
  • I Ain't Scared! Aries Spears [2 Discs] 2005

Filmography

Television work

References
  1. Gadino, Dylan P. "Sketching up with Aries Spears", Punchline. accessed October 10, 2007.
  2. In a video that was published to YouTube on February 29, 2016, an interviewer asked Spears questions. From the 1:48 mark of the video to the 1:55 mark of the video, the interviewer asked Spears, "Okay, so what was like, the first time you actually got in front of an audience, and did your thing?" From the 1:54 mark of the video to the 2:41 mark of the video, Spears answered, "Uh, you know I I went down, me and my mother my sister went down to uh The Improv in New York, and back then, to try to get on stage, you had to put ya your name in a hat, and they would pull it out of a hat, so all three of us put my, all three of us put my name in, and uh neither one of us got it, so I was, I was a little discouraged that day but then someone kinda pulled me to the side, said, you know, there's the Uptown Comedy Club, in half-, in Harlem. Uptown Comedy Cafe is what it was called. Uh, so, jump on a train. Go up there. Maybe get your feet wet. So, I went up there. I I did, you know, two minutes of impressions, and uh the, the got bit by the bug man. It was kinda, kinda successful for me, and I said okay this is what I want to do, and been, been riding the wave ever since." From the 2:40 mark of the video to the 2:42 mark of the video, the interviewer asked Spears, "What were the impressions, that you did back there?" From the 2:41 mark of the video to the 2:52 mark of the video, Spears answered "Ah man, I think I did like James Brown, Jack Nicholson, doing a Pepsi commercial. Uh, really raw stuff, man. Just just really, stuff that I had practiced in front of the mirror at the crib."
  3. N'Duka, Amanda (2019-12-20). "Rachel True, Sean Gunn Join 'Agnes'; Sherilyn Fenn, Franco Nero Topline 'Immortalist'; Cameron Douglas, Elisabeth Röhm In 'The Runner'". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
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