![]() “You fall down at this age, they shut the grocery store down. “When I was young, you fall down on the ground, they laugh at ya,” he begins. “ ‘I could do this.’ ”īack on the bus, “Smiley” Joe Wiley’s talking about aging a little less than gracefully. “I saw it in my mind, ‘I could turn a party bus into a comedy club,’ ” he remembers thinking. “I looked around and said, ‘Man, this would be great if I could just stand up and entertain these fools right now,’ ” Wiley recalls.Īnd so he did just that. Then in 2011, Wiley’s former wife, who has since passed away from cancer, had a 40-year high school reunion in Phoenix, where she, Wiley and assorted friends gathered on a party bus during the festivities. He’d also do comedy aboard Carnival cruise ships for years. Wiley would later run a comedy night in Cleveland and perform around town, before moving to Vegas in 2004, when he got a gig opening for hypnotist Justin Tranz at O’Shea’s. This wouldn’t be happening right now.’ And the class went crazy.” And the first thing he says, is ‘Oh, God! Oh, God! Save me!’ And God be like, ‘Well, if you had your a– in church. “And then all of a sudden, he gets into a car accident and his car’s flying off a cliff. ![]() “He’s driving down the road,” Wiley says. “After that special, I knew where my life was gonna be,” Wiley says.Ī dedicated class clown who got his nickname “Smiley” when he was 14, Wiley still remembers the first joke he ever wrote, about a man being so bored in church, he leaves early. It was a game changer for the kid who aimed to follow in Murphy’s footsteps. T, all while rocking some of the most flamboyant stage attire ever. Wiley took it in the way a house plant does sunshine, particularly impressed by the number of impersonations Murphy did, nearly a dozen in all, ranging from Elvis to Mr. 15, 1983, Eddie Murphy’s “Delirious” special premiered on HBO. Give credit to the man in all that fire-hydrant-red leather. “One day, this is gonna be a show in Vegas.’ He was like, ‘Oh man, gimme a break.’ I said, ‘Steve, just watch.’ ” “I told him, ‘One day, man, we’re gonna take the show to Vegas,’” Wiley recalls telling Pearlman. It’s a loose, off-the-cuff, uniquely funny experience, a blend of music and comedy with no barrier between audience and performer during a 90-minute trip that begins on the south end of the Strip, with a stop at the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign for pictures.īeing in such close quarters with Wiley is akin to sitting at the kitchen table with a good buddy on a Saturday night, sharing drinks, stories and laughs in equal measure.Īnd that’s kind of where it all began for Wiley and Pearlman, both from Cleveland, where they worked in the mortgage business together.Īfter calling it a day on the job, they’d often hang out, Pearlman singing, Wiley cracking wise. on a Friday, and the “Best Comedy Show on Wheels” is just getting warmed up.Īboard a 15-passenger luxury bus, Wiley entertains a crowd of eight flanked by his wife, who serves drinks, and longtime friend Steve Pearlman, who sings during the show. ![]() “ ‘D-d-d-don’t make me repeat myself,’ ” he says, imitating said clergyman. “They got knuckles like a carpenter - you should see their hands.”Ī little later, he’s reminiscing about getting reprimanded in church by a stuttering pastor when he was a boy. “ ‘When you coming out?’ I stomp their knuckles take the plunger, beat their knuckles,” he continues to a round of guffaws. “They find you - they got their little hands under the door,” he begins. “Smiley” Joe Wiley’s on the mic, explaining how he tries to get a break from his kids from time to time by seeking refuge in the bathroom. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) bus is rolling, which means it’s time for a punchline or two about mashing the fingers of small children. Comedian Smiley Joe Wiley takes a selfie while performing during the Best Comedy Show on Wheels bus on Sunday, March 26, 2023, in Las Vegas.
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