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Super Bowl Ad Features Twin Cities Icon Fancy Ray

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities icon hit the big time Sunday night in a Super Bowl ad. But ask him, he's always been big time.

We're talking about Fancy Ray, the Minneapolis comedian and  television personality who calls himself the "Best Looking Man in Comedy." He stars in a new Taco Bell commercial that's airing locally to promote the restaurant's newest menu item, the Quesalupa.

We talked with him a few hours before it aired.

"I'm the world's greatest television pitchman and I've sold everything," Fancy Ray said.

He's been a TV pitchman for nearly 30 years, helping small businesses in Minnesota and other states sell all kinds of products.

"My line is that if you've got something to sell, I can sell it," he said.

A few months ago, Fancy Ray says he got a call from Taco Bell asking for help promoting a new menu item.

The ad is a parody of a real commercial that Fancy Ray wrote and produced for Treehouse Records in Minneapolis.

Web Extra: Fancy Ray's Extended Interview With Angela Davis

"Taco Bell said 'we need to let everybody know about our new product and who can we get? The man who can deliver the message with the biggest voice, the biggest recognition and the prettiest smile on television," he said.

Fancy Ray's big personality has landed him on billboards and even on a mural on Lake Street.  But he also has a quiet side, one that reveals itself when he officiates weddings.

"Depending on what type of service you want to have, I can bring that love and joy to the service," he said.

He says his real mission is to encourage others.

"You can do, be and have whatever you want to do, be or have, if you believe in yourself, if you have faith. Put it in your mind what you want to accomplish and then work to make it happen," Fancy Ray said.

Fancy Ray says the Taco Bell commercial is only airing locally, but he's hoping the company will ask him to be their national spokesperson.

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