Mo Alexander

Alexander was born in south Memphis, near Stax Records, and raised by his mother (a grade-school teacher) and his grandmother.{{cite news |last=Kaz |first=Ed |date=2007-12-28 |title=Get the w00t out of here! |url= |work=Asbury Park Press |location=Asbury Park, New Jersey |access-date= |page=G13}}{{cite news |last=Owen |first=Brent |date=2020-03-11 |title=Comedian Mo Alexander: ‘I got that dude fired’ |url=https://www.leoweekly.com/2020/03/got-dude-fired/ |work=Louisville Eccentric Observer |location=Louisville, Kentucky |access-date=2023-07-14 }} He grew up Catholic and attended Memphis Catholic Middle and High School; he later described himself as a "computer/theater nerd who also played sports", including performing as a cheerleader and school mascot. He attended the University of Memphis as a physics major and theater minor.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2019-01-25 |title=Great Day Live!: Life after death with comedian Mo Alexander |url=https://www.whas11.com/article/features/great-day-live/comedian-mo-alexander/417-16b5cd35-1ef9-4efc-8280-81361ac61a9b |work=WHAS-TV |location=Louisville, Kentucky |access-date=2023-07-14 }}

Alexander is known for his dark comedy, which often takes on issues of racism and American politics. His influences include Sinbad, George Carlin, Bill Cosby, Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor, Paul Mooney, and Laurie Kilmartin; he has credited Bill Hicks' brutal honesty as a particular influence.

Katie Murawski of Yes! Weekly called Alexander "a legend amongst national touring comics." The Memphis Flyer's annual Best of Memphis poll named Alexander one of the top comedians in the city four times.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2019-09-26 |title=Best of Memphis 2019 Arts & Entertainment |url=https://www.memphisflyer.com/best-of-memphis-2019-arts-entertainment |work=Memphis Flyer |location=Memphis, Tennessee |access-date=2023-07-14 }}{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2018-09-27 |title=Best of Memphis 2018: Arts & Entertainment |url=https://www.memphisflyer.com/best-of-memphis-2018-arts-amp-entertainment |work=Memphis Flyer |location=Memphis, Tennessee |access-date=2023-07-14 }}{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2017-09-28 |title=Best of Memphis 2017: Arts & Entertainment |url=https://www.memphisflyer.com/best-of-memphis-2017-arts-amp-entertainment |work=Memphis Flyer |location=Memphis, Tennessee |access-date=2023-07-14 }}{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2015-10-01 |title=Best of Memphis 2015: Nightlife |url=https://www.memphisflyer.com/best-of-memphis-2015-nightlife |work=Memphis Flyer |location=Memphis, Tennessee |access-date=2023-07-14 }}

He performed at his first open mic in 1993, at age 22. He became a full-time professional touring comic in 1996 after his grandmother died, and he decided to leave Memphis and go on the road for six months.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2022-09-27 |title=Check Out Mo Alexander’s Story |url=https://memphisvoyager.com/interview/check-out-mo-alexanders-story/ |work=Memphis Voyager, Voyage Group of Magazines |location=Memphis, Tennessee |access-date=2023-07-14 }}{{cite news |last=Justin |first=Neal |date=2018-01-07 |page=E1 |title=The new comedy circuit: Podcasts and social media are driving a golden age for stand-up comics |url= |work=Star Tribune |location=Minneapolis |access-date= }} In 1999, he was asked by Keenen Ivory Wayans to be his touring opener after impressing Wayans by roasting him in the green room. He has also opened for Dave Chappelle, Brian Regan, Chris Rock, Dom Irrera, and Tommy Davidson.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2019-03-07 |title=All aboard the comedy bus |url= |work=The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, Louisiana) |location=Lafayette, Louisiana |page=A1}} In 2003 he was given his own Las Vegas show, "The Mo Funny Show", at the Casino Royale, which ran for six months.{{cite web |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/denver/article/Mo-Alexander-Comes-to-Comedy-Works-Landmark-This-Week-20230418 |title=Mo Alexander Comes to Comedy Works Landmark This Week |last=Wild |first=Stephi |date=April 18, 2023 |website=Broadway World |publisher= |access-date=2023-07-14}}{{cite news |last=Snow |first=Donnie |date=2003-12-05 |title=Mo Alexander Bringing His Brand of Edgy Comedy to Bally's Bonkerz |url= |work=The Commercial Appeal |location=Memphis, Tennessee |page=G18 |access-date= }}{{cite news |last=Graves |first=Lori |date=March 3, 2022 |title=Matters of Graves Importance: Lori Graves returns to the columnist spotlight |url=https://www.chillicothegazette.com/story/life/2022/03/03/lori-graves-returns-columnist-spotlight/9331769002/ |work=Chillicothe Gazette |location=Chillicothe, Ohio |access-date=2023-07-14 }} He has appeared on the syndicated radio shows The Bob & Tom Show and Mancow's Morning Madhouse, and has done comedy sets at both a furniture store and a nudist colony.

He was a semifinalist in the San Francisco Comedy Competition in 2012,{{cite news |last=Heuston |first=Laurie |date=2012-09-28 |title=Who's the biggest hoot of them all? |url= |work=Mail Tribune |location=Medford, Oregon |access-date=}} and the Seattle International Comedy Competition in 2016.{{Cite web|url=http://seattlecomedycompetition.org/2016-competition/ |title=2016 Seattle International Comedy Competition |work=Seattle International Comedy Competition |access-date=2023-07-18}} He has also headlined at comedy festivals including the Asheville Comedy Fest,{{cite news |last=Arnaudin |first=Edwin |date=February 14, 2018 |title=Smart Bets: Mo Alexander |url=https://mountainx.com/arts/smart-bets-mo-alexander/ |work=Mountain Xpress |location=Asheville, North Carolina |access-date=2023-07-14 }} Altercation Comedy Festival, Hopkins Comedy Festival, Memphis Comedy Festival,{{cite news |last=Davis |first= Chris |date=2016-03-31 |title= Memphis Is Funny |url=https://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis-is-funny |work=Memphis Flyer |location=Memphis, Tennessee |access-date=2023-07-14 }} and North Carolina Comedy Festival.{{cite magazine |last=Murawski |first=Katie |date=February 14, 2018 |title=Spotlight: The Idiot Box Presents the North Carolina Comedy Festival |url=https://issuu.com/yesweekly/docs/yes__weekly_-_february_14__2018 |magazine=Yes! Weekly |volume= |issue= |location=Greensboro, North Carolina |publisher= |access-date= 2023-07-14}}

Alexander has released six comedy albums.

In 2015, Alexander developed blood clots in his heart and was pronounced clinically dead twice; he claims that he had a near-death experience in which he heard the chorus to The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Big Poppa". He spent 78 days in the hospital. The experience became the nucleus of his 2016 album Got Clots.{{cite news |last=Davis |first= Chris |date=2016-03-31 |title= Resurrection Man: Memphis Comic Mo Alexander releases his new CD, "Got Clots" |url=https://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis-is-funny |work=Memphis Flyer |location=Memphis, Tennessee |access-date=2023-07-14 }}

After self-releasing his earlier albums, Alexander signed with Dan Schlissel's Stand Up! Records in 2019. His 2022 album Mo' Possum Blues, his first for Stand Up!, was also the first comedy album ever recorded in Memphis' historic Sun Studios. The sessions were taped live in front of an audience of about 60 people. The label also released a seven-inch single of Alexander's blues song "Possum Blues". The album debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes and Amazon comedy charts. Mo' Possum Blues takes its title from Alexander's unusual pets—he has taken in several semidomesticated opossums that have been injured and can no longer safely live in the wild. One is featured on the album cover.

Alexander was featured in the Memphis episode of the Comedy Central stand-up series Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City in 2017.{{cite news |last=Tate |first=Sarah |date=July 1, 2021 |title=Famous Comedians You Didn't Know Were From Tennessee |url=https://www.iheart.com/content/2021-06-30-famous-comedians-you-didnt-know-were-from-tennessee/ |work=iHeart Media |location= |access-date=2023-07-14 }}{{cite news |last=Horgen |first=Tom |date=2017-12-07 |title= Kevin Hart shines spotlight on minority stand-up comics in Twin Cities|url=https://www.startribune.com/kevin-hart-shines-spotlight-on-minority-stand-up-comics-in-twin-cities/462356983/ |work=Star Tribune |location=Minneapolis |access-date=2023-07-14 }} He has also appeared on ABC's Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Comedy Central's Laugh Riot,{{cite news |last=Barbazon |first=Angelle |date=2014-04-01 |title=Comedian who has opened for Chris Rock, Keenen Ivory Wayans coming to Elkhart |url= |work=The Elkhart Truth |location=Elkhart, Indiana |access-date=}}{{cite news |last= |first= |date=June 6, 2018 |title=Mo Alexander performing at Comedy Catch |url=https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2018/jun/06/mo-alexander-comedy-catch/ |work=Chattanooga Times Free Press |location=Chattanooga, Tennessee |access-date=2023-07-14 }} '.

He played a prison librarian in the 1998 psychological thriller A Letter from Death Row, written, directed and starring Poison frontman Bret Michaels.

He played both a shriner and the shriner's wife in the video for the Ray Stevens song "Shriner's Convention", which appeared in Stevens' 1995 movie Get Serious.

• Mo Files (2000)
• Evolution (2006)
• Nappy Headed Hoes and Other FCC Infractions (2008)
• Just in Case the Mayans are Right (2012)
• Got Clots (2016)
• Possum Blues (original mix) 7" single (Stand Up! Records, 2022)
• Mo’ Possum Blues (Stand Up! Records, 2022)

• Get Serious (1995)
• A Letter from Death Row (1998)

• Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher (1999)
• Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City: Memphis (2017)
• Punching Below the Bible Belt (2020)

• Big Time Podcast (October 17, 2017){{cite podcast |url=https://archive.org/details/podcast_big-time-podcast_10-17-17-with-mo-alexander_1000393637720 |title=10-17-17 with Mo Alexander and Charley McMullen |website=Big Time Podcast (archive.org) |publisher= |host=James Hodge, Ryan Davis |date=2017-10-17 |time= |access-date=2023-07-14 }}
• Gender Fluids, "Mo Alexander: An Old School Kinky Dude" (October 3, 2018){{cite podcast |url=https://www.stitcher.com/show/gender-fluids/episode/mo-alexander-an-old-school-kinky-dude-56541298 |title=Mo Alexander: An Old School Kinky Dude |website=Gender Fluids |publisher= |host=Ava Smartt and Arielle Isaac Norman |date=October 3, 2018 |time= |access-date=2023-07-14 }}
• The Orbit Spaceman Show (June 6, 2019){{cite podcast |url=https://orbitspacemanshow.podbean.com/e/comedy-king-mo-alexander/ |title=Comedy King Mo Alexander |website=The Orbit Spaceman Show |publisher= |host= |date=June 6, 2019 |time= |access-date=2023-07-14 }}
• Memphis Famous Podcast, Episode 2 (March 30, 2020){{cite podcast |url=https://theoamnetwork.com/mfpod/3032020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406132036/http://www.theoamnetwork.com/mfpod/3032020 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=April 6, 2020 |title=Episode 2: Mo Alexander |website=Memphis Famous Podcast |publisher=OAM Network |host=Catherine Sundt |date=March 30, 2020 |time= |access-date=2023-07-14 }}
• Learning to Fail, Episode 40 (May 5, 2020){{cite podcast |url=http://learningtofailpodcast.com/episodes/episode-40-mo-alexander/ |title=Episode 40 — Mo Alexander — Back From the Dead… and Still Killing! |website= Learning to Fail Podcast |publisher= |host=Jason Scholder |date=May 5, 2020 |time= |access-date=2023-07-14 }}
• Alert Spoilers, Episode 9 (June 29, 2020){{cite podcast |url=https://www.howlingmonkeyradio.com/spoilers/e9worstcomedies |title=E9: Worst Comedy Movies |website=Alert Spoilers |publisher=The Howling Monkey Radio Network |host= |date=June 29, 2020 |time= |access-date=2023-07-14 }}
• Jon D. Podcast, Episode 16 (September 8, 2020){{cite podcast |url=https://www.podpage.com/jondpodcast/jon-d-podcast-ep-16-wmo-alexander/ |title= Ep. 16 w/ Mo Alexander |website=Jon D. Podcast |publisher= |host=Jon D. Miller |date=2022-09-13 |time= |access-date=2023-07-14 }} and Episode 45 (September 13, 2022){{cite podcast |url=https://www.podpage.com/jondpodcast/jon-d-podcast-ep-45-w-mo-alexander/ |title= Ep. 45 w/ Mo Alexander |website=Jon D. Podcast |publisher= |host=Jon D. Miller |date=2022-09-13 |time= |access-date=2023-07-14 }}
• The Dork Forest, Episode 686 (August 16, 2022){{cite podcast |url=https://www.scribd.com/podcast/587314840/Mo-Alexander-GI-Joe-DC-and-Possums-EP-686-Mo-Alexander-moalexander-is-a-great-comic-with-a-new-album-out-Mo-Possum-Blues-and-we-talk-DC-Pos |title=Episode 686: Mo Alexander, GI Joe, DC and Possums |website=The Dork Forest |publisher= |host=Jackie Kashian |date=2022-08-16 |time= |access-date=2023-07-14 }}
• Behind the Bits Podcast, Episode 122 (September 7, 2022){{cite podcast |url=https://www.thebtbpc.com/episode-122-mo-alexander/ |title=Episode 122: Mo Alexander |website=Behind the Bits Podcast |publisher= |host=Scott Curtis |date=September 7, 2022 |time= |access-date=2023-07-14 }}

{{reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.moalexander.net/ Mo Alexander official website]
• [https://standuprecords.com/collections/mo-alexander Mo Alexander at Stand Up! Records website]
• [https://www.youtube.com/moalexander Mo Alexander on YouTube]
• {{Twitter|MoAlexander}}
• {{IMDb name|id=1702267|name= Mo Alexander}}

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Category:1970 births

Category:Comedians from Memphis, Tennessee

Category:Male actors from Memphis, Tennessee

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American comedians

Category:Stand Up! Records artists

Category:American stand-up comedians

Category:American male comedians