PicoBlog

Franklyn Ajaye is the most underrated American comic. I back up this statement based on the strength of his comedy records contrasted with his lack of presence in the mass pop culture mind. He put out five records and had a career on television and in the movies that spans five decades. I’m listening to one of the records right now—Vagabond Jazz & the Abstract Truth—and it still sounds great 19 years after it came out. So why isn’t he more well known?

Way back in high school, I had a VHS tape on standby, cued up to record standup bits I saw on Late Night with David Letterman. If they sucked, I’d just rewind it later to record over. This was how we made supercuts back in the day. Franklyn Ajaye had a bit on there that I loved about getting a pubic trim so he would look good on a job interview, which I kept retelling to my friends for the rest of high school trying to get a laugh.

Occasionally, I saw Franklyn in a movie like Car Wash or Stir Crazy. And if you’re one of those Deadwood Is the Best Western Ever people, you saw him on 11 episodes playing Samuel Fields. And he popped up as Maya Rudolph’s dad in Bridesmaids. So while he has a wide scope of roles, he was never That Guy From That Show, which hurts the popularity of creatives in the American Consciousness, and was the driving force before social media for selling tickets at the comedy clubs.

I came across my first Franklyn Ajaye record, Don’t Smoke Dope, Fry Your Hair in a comedy bin at Amoeba. I was collecting comedy records at the time, and remembered the name. Good enough for me.

I took the record home and before the first side was done, I was looking up his name to find out if there were any more. I went back to Amoeba and Rasputin later looking for Comedian and I’m a Comedian, Seriously. All tracks were bangers. Now, his whole catalog is available on my music streaming service.

Here’s how I want to describe his comedy: if you combine him and Steven Wright, you get Mitch Hedberg—you’ll have to undo this in your mind. I can’t say what he’s a combination of…it’s very much stoner comedy that is rarely about drugs, with a notable exception of some tracks like “Disneyland High.” The structure of his work is story-based narratives with clear punchlines, punctuated with a great Ron Funches-esque giggle.

So why isn’t he famous? I can’t find anything out about this. I don’t know anything for sure about his relationship to the comedy clubs or Hollywood. It could either be that he didn’t want it, or it just wasn’t available to him. But the easiest explanation for his lack of fame is that he never had a signature role or a vehicle created for him.

There were some comics in his prime era that didn’t chase TV or film appearances, as they were already making great money doing live events. There are a few comics today, like Russell Peters, who do so well on tour that taking a break to make a film would be a massive pay cut, but his kind is rare today. There’s also a possiblity that he just doesn’t enjoy acting, only picking roles that he really wants or ones that don’t take him away from standup, so maybe he turned down a classic three-camera hacky sitcom in the ‘80s?

There weren’t as many film and TV roles back then, and limited opportunities for Black comedians. So maybe all the film roles were being offered to Richard Pryor, then to Eddie Murphy, and Franklyn was overlooked? It wasn’t that long ago that even in the NBA, you could have a Black player on your team, just not too many of them…we’re not racist, we allow them in the league! The entertainment industry was also massively guilty of tokenism. It could be that every studio and production company already had a Black actor, and that was enough for them.

Maybe he just wants the privacy. According to Wikipedia, he moved to Australia permanently in 1997. This is as much as I can find about his personal life, and I have no idea if it’s true. There’s very little out there. These days, if you’re not visible on the internet, it’s probably your choice.

If you have a personal story about Franklyn, drop me a note. (I have the readership of a number of professional comics) Maybe you have some insight! I will edit in your story or anecdote to this post.

Go to your favorite music streaming service. Mine has all his records. Give them a listen! I recommend starting with Don’t Smoke Dope, Fry Your Hair.

Now, of course, comedy is subjective, and you may not like him as much as I do. But I hope that you tap your phone just the right way and give him a try.

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