If comedian Ed Wiley were to write a memoir, he’d choose the title “How to Follow Your Dreams … in Reverse.” It would tell the story of a boy who fell in love with comedy at age 8 but didn’t pursue it professionally until he was a 40-year-old husband and father of six living on a farm in Tifton.
It was a medical crisis that caused Wiley, whose full-time career is in software technology, to refine his perspective on life and feel brave enough to leap into comedy. With his family’s full support, the fear of failure was eclipsed by excitement, and the reward continues to prove it was worth the risk.
Wiley, 50, was raised in Albany by his mom, who worked as a secretary for Easter Seals. At 8 years old, he would do impressions of her co-workers, which always made her laugh. He was a class clown, too, who specialized in doing impersonations of teachers. He learned quickly that he could use humor to get himself out of trouble.
Credit: (Courtesy of Delaney Garcia)
Credit: (Courtesy of Delaney Garcia)
While studying information systems and management at Georgia Tech, Ed met his bride, Annie, who was a student at Georgia Baptist College of Nursing (now part of Mercer University) at church. Ed proposed after dating Annie for six months and they said ‘I do’ six months after that. Within a year they had their first child and then, as Ed puts it, they just kept having children.
“I told Annie early on that I’d have as many as she wanted to have,” said Ed. “Maybe I didn’t know she’d want to go to six but, after our sixth was born, she said, ‘OK I’m done.’ When you get past six you go from a minivan to a church van. We got to keep our Odyssey.”
‘Don’t name your cow. Just don’t do it.’
Ed and Annie, who worked as a nurse before she became a stay-at-home mom and homeschooler, lived all over metro Atlanta, from Brookhaven to Paulding County, renting homes and raising a family, but they wanted to get back to their roots. They both grew up poor and craved a simpler life for their kids in a slow-paced environment. Sixteen years ago, they found their paradise: a brick ranch home on a 46-acre farm in Tifton.
“It sounds grand, but, financially, a small farm in South Georgia was an even swap for a house in the suburbs of Atlanta,” said Ed. “Acreage sounds like old money, but I promise we’re not. We need all-new plumbing.”
Annie was excited to have goats. They got two, and two quickly became 60.
“The goat population got out of hand. It was a slow realization of how not Amish we are,” joked Ed. “We still have a dozen goats, but it’s more like an assisted living situation, as they’re all pretty old. We also have a cow. My one advice to you would be, ‘Don’t name your cow. Just don’t do it.’ But Rose was delicious.”
About 13 years ago, Ed stepped on a large, rusty nail on the farm, then had a severe reaction to the antibiotic he was given to treat the wound. One day his calves were in pain just from walking up a slight incline, the next day he couldn’t hold his dental floss. The medicine systematically attacked all the tissue in his body, setting off a series of gastrointestinal, neurological, and cardiac issues. He spent time at the Mayo Clinic and learned it was all a freak incident, no diagnosis given. His body just needed time for the effects of the medicine to subside.
“It was a transformative time that led to a spiritual epiphany,” said Ed. “I was in a hospital having all these health problems, when I felt the Lord take away all my bitterness, all insignificant worries, and suddenly, I no longer felt bound by fear of any kind.”
Credit: (Courtesy of Claire Wiley)
Credit: (Courtesy of Claire Wiley)
Pursuing a comedy career
Grateful for a second chance at life and a healthy body, Ed started to look at life with a renewed perspective. He wanted to live without regrets and take risks. He wanted to do the thing he’d always loved but never considered trying. He wanted to become a comedian.
With six kids and a full-time job in software technology, finding time for comedy seemed preposterous, but Annie gave him the nudge he needed.
“He had been through a tough time, and I felt like he was finally pursuing something he could really love,” said Annie. “I had believed for years that he is very talented and needed to use his talents to benefit others. He has always made friends, family, and co-workers laugh. He loves the art of stand-up, and it’s amazing to watch someone find the thing they are truly passionate about.”
Wiley had a George Bush impression that he’d tried out when his boss asked him to open company meetings. He started writing more bits, funny stories about his life with six kids and living on a farm in rural Georgia.
Whenever his busy schedule allowed, he’d drive to Atlanta to perform at open mics at places like Jerry Farber’s Side Door at Landmark Diner and the Punchline.
“The first step was going into a comedy club with what I thought was funny stuff, realizing that it wasn’t funny, and trying again,” said Ed. “I was and am a super clean comic. They’d sometimes call me Christian Ed Yankovic.”
After performing at a fundraising gig for a ministry at a little theater in Canton, Ed got his big break. Comedian Anita Renfroe, who was in the audience, invited Ed to open for her show. He said yes and went from audiences of 100 to audiences of 2,000 as he traveled around the country.
He also had a couple of posts go viral on Facebook, which led to even more nationwide bookings. One of those viral posts was a photo of a Lynyrd Skynyrd cassette tape his daughter found by a creek on the farm. Ed posted the photo and, in the caption. wrote “Our kids found this and asked if it was from the Civil War.” The post was so wildly popular that even the band’s official Lynyrd Skynyrd Instagram account commented.
The next year he posted another video on Facebook, a bit titled “If Trump were on staff at your church,” that garnered 8 million views. A big crowd pleaser was Ed’s joke, “Make Lock-Ins Great Again,” referring to youth group overnight events held at churches.
“I’ve always endeavored to do impressions of political figures without being political,” said Ed.
Ed involves his family in his comedy, from incorporating them into his act, to bringing them along on the road and writing bits together, as much as he can. Without their interest and support, he said, none of the comedy success would be as great.
“Family life trumps professional success all day long. Because I have them, I feel like I have nothing to lose and can try anything,” said Ed. “Not all shows are great, not even at the highest level of comedy, but I’m not afraid of that, because that’s not where my self-worth and identity come from.”
Ed hopes that he will continue booking gigs with companies, churches and comedy clubs across the nation and, on the homefront, is thinking of starting a bingo night for his senior citizen goats.
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