Fancy Ray McCloney: How a Minneapolis Original Became a Twin Cities Icon
If you’ve spent enough time around Minneapolis and St. Paul, chances are you’ve seen—or at least heard of—Fancy Ray McCloney.
Whether through television, local commercials, billboards, comedy or one of his trademark larger-than-life appearances, Fancy Ray has spent decades building a place for himself in Twin Cities entertainment culture.
Long before social media made personal branding an everyday business strategy, Fancy Ray understood how to turn personality, humor and relentless self-promotion into something people remembered.
From Minneapolis to First Avenue
Photo: Jonathunder / Wikimedia Commons (GFDL 1.2)
Fancy Ray’s entertainment story reaches back to the 1980s and Minneapolis’ legendary First Avenue.
In 1984, he began making a name for himself through local lip-sync competitions, performing material associated with entertainers including Little Richard and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.
His success eventually took him to the nationally syndicated television competition Puttin’ on the Hits, giving audiences outside Minnesota an introduction to the personality Twin Cities viewers would come to know.
From there, Fancy Ray continued developing his comedy and television career.
Fancy Ray Builds His Own Television Platform
Beginning in 1989, Fancy Ray produced and hosted the local television program Get Down With It!.
The show gave him an opportunity to do more than perform. He produced, directed and scripted the program while interviewing both local personalities and nationally known guests.
Guests connected to the show included Minnesota Twins legend Kirby Puckett, activist Spike Moss, Whoopi Goldberg, Bootsy Collins and Gloria Steinem.
That independent television work became an important part of Fancy Ray’s story. Instead of waiting for a major network to hand him a platform, he used local television to create one himself.
Becoming the World’s Greatest Television Pitchman
For many Twin Cities residents, commercials are where Fancy Ray became impossible to miss.
His colorful, intentionally over-the-top delivery turned advertisements for local businesses into entertainment of their own.
Fancy Ray eventually billed himself as “The World’s Greatest Television Pitchman,” appearing in television advertisements in Minneapolis and other markets around the United States.
His advertising work eventually included an appearance in a Taco Bell commercial connected to the Super Bowl in 2016, adding another national credit to a career largely built from his Minneapolis home base.
Fancy Ray Runs for Governor of Minnesota
Fancy Ray’s story even includes Minnesota politics.
In 1998, he appeared on the ballot as a candidate for governor of Minnesota on the People’s Champion ticket. His mother, Toni McCloney, joined him as his running mate.
It wasn’t merely Fancy Ray joking about running for office—his name actually appeared on the Minnesota gubernatorial ballot.
The McCloney ticket received 919 votes in the election ultimately won by Jesse Ventura.
While Fancy Ray brought his trademark personality to the campaign, he also used the opportunity to speak about issues affecting Black Minnesotans and people living in poverty.
From Twin Cities Celebrity to National Television
Fancy Ray’s career eventually reached well beyond Minnesota.
His national television résumé includes appearances on The Tonight Show, Last Comic Standing and America’s Got Talent.
He has also worked in concert with major entertainers including Richard Pryor, Chris Rock and Little Richard.
Yet even with national television appearances on his résumé, Minneapolis remained central to the Fancy Ray identity.
That’s part of what makes his career unusual. National exposure became another piece of his brand rather than a reason to leave behind the city where that brand was built.
Decades of Twin Cities Recognition
Fancy Ray’s longevity is a major part of his story.
Entertainment has changed. Television has changed. Advertising has changed. The way audiences discover personalities has completely transformed since Fancy Ray began his career in the 1980s.
Yet decades later, people throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul still recognize the Fancy Ray name, look and personality.
His career has crossed comedy, television, advertising, politics and community events while maintaining an identity that is unmistakably his own.
On March 27, 2020, the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul proclaimed Fancy Ray McCloney Day, coinciding with the release of his comedy album The Best Lookin’ Man in Comedy.
In an era before creators regularly talked about building personal brands and creating independent media platforms, Fancy Ray had already spent years doing both.
A Twin Cities Original
Fancy Ray McCloney didn’t follow a conventional path to becoming a Minnesota entertainment personality.
He built his own television platform, promoted himself relentlessly, developed a career in comedy and advertising, ran for governor and took pieces of his personality to national television.
Through it all, Minneapolis remained home base.
For KMHP Digital Radio, stories like Fancy Ray’s are part of documenting the people and personalities who have contributed to Twin Cities entertainment and culture.
Some Minnesota stories aren’t defined by one hit record, one television appearance or one moment.
They’re built over decades.
Fancy Ray McCloney’s is one of them.