Sideshow: Living with Loss and Moving Forward with Faith
by Rickey Smiley
Mentioned once across 1 show · first heard May 2026 on Mick Unplugged.
The general take
Mick Hunt considers Sideshow therapeutic and essential reading—he's revisited it multiple times and credits it with grounding him through grief. He found deep resonance with Ricky Smiley's personal journey, particularly the parallels in their own losses, and appreciated how the book helped him process his father's recent death by preparing him emotionally for grief in a way that goes beyond typical self-help.
About
Read by the author. How do you live with the pain of watching someone you love suffer from addiction? How do you cope with the grief of losing them especially when your job is to make people laugh every day? Comedian Rickey Smiley has dealt with these immensely difficult questions for years—first with his father, then with his son. Both battled drug addictions. Both died from overdoses. Both left Rickey weary and wounded. Far from healed, Rickey has learned how to find moments of peace. He's practicing how to hold the good with the grief, the past gifts with the present heartache, the hope with the hurt. It's the "sideshow" he's living. It's anything but a smooth path, but he's on it, and he's moving forward. And he invites you to come with him.
Who said what
Mick Hunt👍 Recommends
…reflecting on rickey smiley's motivation and purpose driving his work
“So I'm going to get to this amazing bestselling book in one second. Thank you. But I usually start my show by asking my guests, what's your because? And because I've read this book four times, like I feel it in there, but I classify your because is that thing that's deeper than your why, right? Like to me, your why is superficial. People talk about all the time. I got to find my why. Well, you know what your why is. It's the reason that makes them or that thing, your why that's really important. So if I were to say, what's your why? And then I say, but why is it your why? Why is it important? That sentence starts with, well, because I care about that because that tells me who you are. So if I were to say, Ricky, 2026, man. What's your because? Why do you continue to do all the amazing things that you do for communities, for children, mentoring other people? Like what's your because?”
Mick Unplugged — How to Keep Going When Life Breaks You with Rickey Smileyat 10:31
Listener reviews
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