Veteran stand-up comic Tommy Davidson, who made a name for himself on In Living Color, is perhaps best known as Homey the Clown's victim and for a spot-on Sammy Davis Jr. impersonation. He recently called from his Detroit hotel to talk about his impressions, his favorite ILC character and why the Cleveland Browns of the mid-'70s were one of the greatest NFL teams ever. - Ed Condran

Dude, the last time I saw you, which was about 10 years ago, you were doing impressions of Rocky, Sugar Ray Leonard and Al Jarreau. That was gutsy going out doing impressions of guys some of your audience didn't know about. But the material was funny.

I don't do those guys anymore. I did Al Green back then but a lot of people in the audience didn't get it no matter how funny it was. A lot of people don't know who Al Green is anymore, which is a shame.

You also did Emmanuel Lewis and Antonio Fargas way back.

But now I don't date myself with those guys. I do impressions of regular people. I'm probably the only comic doing impressions of regular people. I'll do the white woman at the grocery store, the old black man, the Indian man at the convenience store and the intellectual white guy. I'll do the kind of stuff that Richard Pryor did.

You've done comedy for more than 20 years. Many of your TV peers have canned comedy in favor of acting.

I know it. It's a long list of guys who have stopped doing stand-up.

I asked Drew Carey why he'll do improv and television but you rarely see him do stand-up and he said that it's hard to get an act together. It's hard work.

It's true. I understand why a lot of actors who were comedians don't do it anymore. It's not easy to do even if you really love it. But fortunately, I love it, and what I do works. I'm lucky because I have comedy to survive on, and I'm good at it.

You did so many characters on In Living Color. Who did you like to do the most?

I loved doing Sweet Tooth Jones since I came up with the character and I wrote it. I got great feedback doing Sweet Tooth. Being on In Living Color was like being on the old 49ers or the Steelers or the Cleveland Browns of the '70s. We were a great team.

The Cleveland Browns of the '70s get the short shrift since they didn't get to the Super Bowl.

That's true but they were truly great. Brian Sipe was an amazing quarterback. They were a fantastic fucking team. Great defense. Great skilled position players. Those Browns teams played the Steelers so tough. It's too bad they never got over that hump. The Browns from those days were a lot of fun to watch. What was their nickname?

The Kardiac Kids.

Yeah, the Kardiac Kids. They were exciting. What I remember about those Browns teams is that they always managed to fumble the ball at the most critical time. They wouldn't get blown out when they would lose but in a big game, one play would kill them.

But that wasn't what it was like with In Living Color. You guys were finishers.

We were. We had a lot of talent on that show. I had more fun on that show than you could imagine. Every day we went out and did our thing was a great day. There was so much creative energy on that show. Everyone had skills. You could see it every show.

Were you surprised that Jim Carrey became such a massive star?

Not at all. Jim is so talented, and he's about as hard working as anyone I've ever been around. Being a white comedian, odds are that you're going to have more commercial success. That's not a racial thing. It's just that there are more white people. But Jim is amazing. He was like a flower that you water. It was going to bloom. He is so gifted. But all the guys from the show were really funny. I'm proud to have been part of In Living Color.

And how crazy is it that your Flygirls included Jennifer Lopez and Rosie Perez?

Yeah, we were loaded with talent. I can't say enough about that. Everywhere you looked someone had it going on. I loved working with those guys. I'm going on an In Living Color tour with David Alan Grier.

But you'll be by your lonesome in Cleveland.

Yes, I'll be by myself when I go onstage in Cleveland. I'm good about doing it on my own.

Tommy Davidson: April 3-6 at Cleveland Improv, 2000 Sycamore St., 216.696.4677. Tickets: $21.