Marco Island Comedy Club Seafood Restaurant

Comedian Donnell Rawlings appearing at Capt. Brien’s

There’s more to Donnell Rawlings than the glimpses provided on the uber-popular and gone-too-soon “Chappelle’s Show.”

Rawlings may be best known for the characters Ashy Larry and the Jheri-curled “Beautiful,” and for co-hosting the show’s abbreviated third season, along with Charlie Murphy.

And there’s his joyful and strident pronouncement “I’m rich b****” that was the Comedy Central series’ tagline during its 2003-2006 run.

Stand-up is where Rawlings established himself as an entertainer and he’ll display his comedic skills to Marco Island audiences at the Off the Hook Comedy Club on Aug. 11-14.

“Honest, observational — I guess it’s like a hip mix of social commentary, observational stuff,” is Rawlings’ own description of his comedic approach.

“I think everybody knows a funny story in their neighborhood, but there’s always that one guy you’d rather hear tell it because they can change it up and make it interesting. You can hear it a million times and there’s always something different about it,” he said.

Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Alexandria, Va., Rawlings’ route to a show business career was a circuitous one that began in 1996.

Rawlings spent four years in the U.S. Air Force as a military policeman after high school. After being discharged, he returned to D.C. and applied to join the police force. While waiting to enter the police academy, he worked as a security guard at a Safeway grocery store.

Some co-workers convinced Rawlings to join them at a comedy club open-mic night one evening, where he found himself heckling the comedians. Rawlings continued attending and occasionally heckled the erstwhile performers.

That heckling had an unanticipated result.

“After a time, people started following me just to hear me heckle,” Rawlings said. “Then, some people sitting behind me challenged me to get on stage because they were trying to shut me up. Once I grabbed the mic, I was like, ‘Oh, career change.’ Fifteen years later, I’m still doing it.”

Rawlings said he’d long appreciated stand-up comedy as an art form, but never dreamed of taking the stage himself until that evening.

“The reaction from the people, all the lights on me, all the attention on me — I enjoyed it,” he said.
TV show

It was “Chappelle’s Show” co-creator and contributing writer Neal Brennan who brought Rawlings into the fold.

Rawlings said Brennan first approached him when he was scouting talent for the Fox Network’s early-1990s comedy show, “In Living Color.”

Years later, said Rawlings, Brennan approached his manager to see if Rawlings wanted to get involved with a show being developed for Chappelle.

Rawlings said he and Chappelle, a D.C. native, knew each other from the Washington comedy scene.

“Chappelle’s Show” was a growth experience.

“It gave me a platform for people to see some of the things I was already developing and my natural talent” said Rawlings. “I was working side-by-side with one of the best comedic actors, so it can only make you better. It definitely contributed to me being a more well-rounded performer.”

The popularity of the Ashy Larry character has Rawlings feeling grateful and a bit bemused.

“I guess America has some connection with guys who wear underwear and like to shoot dice in the basement,” Rawlings said about the “World Series of Dice” sketch that is a Chappelle show favorite.

Rawlings said the character is reality-based because he enjoyed shooting dice as a youth.

“I’d come home and my mother would ask if I’d been out shooting dice and I’d say, ‘No,’” said Rawlings. “She would say, ‘Yes, you have because your knees are ashy.’ I told Neil (Brennan) that I want to be so ashy that I can write how much money people owe me on the side of my legs.”

Since “Chappelle’s Show” demise, Rawlings has co-hosted radio morning shows in New York City and Washington; appeared on E!’s “Chelsea Lately,” and had a Comedy Central stand-up special titled “Ashy to Classy.”

Rawlings’ dramatic acting skills have been on display in movies, such as 2004’s “Spider-Man 2,” and on television. He also portrayed Day-Day Price on several episodes of HBO’s award winning series “the Wire” and has also had guest spots on NBC’s “Law & Order SVU,” “Law and Order Criminal Intent,” and “Third Watch.”

This will be Rawlings’ first visit to Marco Island.

“I’m excited about it because it’s good weather and I’ve heard it’s one of the best places for seafood and to go fishing,” said Rawlings. “I’m excited by that.”