Tulsa, OK, radio announcers Brent Douglas and Phil Stone created the character of Roy D. Mercer as a hillbilly variation on the Jerky Boys -- a comedian whose act is entirely based on prank phone calls. Mercer rose from obscurity in 1997, when he graduated from a featured bit on the duo's radio show to a contract with Capitol Records. Two Mercer albums -- How Big 'a Boy Are Ya?, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 -- were released simultaneously in February, and other volumes in the series soon followed on a regular and prolific basis. The duo broke away from the series in 2001 with the New York City-hatin' Roy D. Mercer vs. Yankees. Family Album from 2002 returned to the How Big 'a Boy Are Ya? format. Hits the Road (2003), Get Well Soon (2004), and Black & Blue (2006) stayed the course. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Roy D. Mercer is a fictional character created by disc jockeys Brent Douglas and Phil Stone on radio station KMOD-FM in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States.[1] Douglas, who performs Mercer's voice, uses the character as a vehicle for comedy sketches in which he performs prank calls. In most of these sketches, Mercer will demand that the recipient of a call pay him money for some incident, and if the recipient refuses, he will threaten them with violence (usually an "[good ol' country] ass-whoopin'"). If the recipient is a woman, Mercer will typically threaten to send his wife to do the ass-whoopin' instead.
Originally, the prank call sketches were a part of KMOD's morning show. By 1997, Capitol Records Nashville began issuing the sketches on compact disc.[2] Sixteen Roy D. Mercer compilations have been released on the Capitol and Virgin Records labels.