Chico Bean

Chico Bean was born as Anthony Jamal Bean on February 20, 1987 in Washington, DC. His father was killed on the streets of DC when he was only two years old. His mother went through a lot of difficulties to raise him as a single parent. Bean, who lost six family members to gun violence, decided early on that unlike his uncles—who lived on the streets and never left anything behind except for memories—he would leave a tangible legacy for his people. While becoming a comedian was not something he had envisioned initially, he now wants to be remembered forever as one of the best entertainers. He received the nickname 'Chico' from one of his uncles. He went to college in North Carolina, where he began his stand-up comedian career. While he has gained popularity as a rapper as well, according to him, it was not a spontaneous effort, but he had been influenced by the culture since he was a child. He grew up singing and rapping, which later helped him with his performances on 'Wild 'N Out'.

He has a 10-year-old daughter named Pierce Chanel. However, he has not shared the identity of her mother, and he has not been linked romantically with anyone so far.

Chico Bean, who has been born and brought up in Washington, DC, first began performing standup comedy over a decade ago in 2007 in Greensboro, North Carolina, a place which he thinks is not a hotbed of comedic talent. He gained recognition following a successful stint as an opener to comedian Chris Wiles. As his popularity grew, he collaborated with two other comedians in 2009 – B-Daht and Darren Brand – to form the comedy group 'Freestyle Funny Comedy Show'. The group was later joined by DeMar 'OsamaBinDrankin' Rankin, Sr. They went on to perform stand-up comedy at various comedy clubs, colleges, and universities.

Chico Bean received a big break when Nick Cannon, learning about his comedy performances in North Carolina, flew him in to Gotham Comedy Club to participate in a set for his 'Fresh Faces of Comedy' stand-up show in 2011. Interestingly, once he reached the club, he was told that he needed to follow certain guidelines for his performance, which included that he omit curse words from his skit. He had to go outside and spend a lot of time re-doing a huge portion of his set. Cannon happened to witness him talking to himself outside of the club, and following his performance realized that he just prepared and performed an improvised set on such a short notice.

Nick Cannon was very impressed by Chico Bean’s spontaneity, stating that many celebrated comedians were not so gifted, and encouraged him to keep pushing. He came back home and resumed performing with his group. Shortly after Bean learned about the next series of 'Wild 'N Out' on Twitter, Cannon came down to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Bean auditioned in front of him before being flown in to New York to audition once again before people in charge of the MTV show. Chico Bean was then flown back again for a group audition, but he successfully passed all three auditions to be on the MTV show. He has been on the show ever since, and has made a name for himself amongst renowned comedians. One of the most popular cast members, he was named the 'Most Valuable Player' after filming for Season 9 was concluded.