May was born Ralph Duren May in Chattanooga, Tennessee on February 17, 1971, but raised in Clarksville, Arkansas. At age 16, 42 of his bones were broken in an automobile accident. When he was 17 he won a contest to open for comedian Sam Kinison, whom he considered his idol. Kinison suggested that May move to Houston, Texas to further develop his comedy routine. May graduated from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston. He then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment.
In 2003, May was chosen to participate in the first season of Last Comic Standing. He finished in second place in the competition, with Dat Phan winning first place. After that, he appeared in comedy shows, such as The Wayne Brady Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In 2005, he was the only white comedian on The Big Black Comedy Show, which also featured Mo'Nique, Rodman, and Vince Morris.
In 2005, May released his comedy album, Just Correct. Since then, he has recorded four Comedy Central specials: Girth of a Nation (2006), Prime Cut (2007), Austin-tatious (2008), and Too Big To Ignore (2012), as well as two Netflix specials, Unruly (2015) and Imperfectly Yours (2015). He appeared in the movie For Da Love of Money. He also performed at the "Gathering of the Juggalos 2012.
May married comedian Lahna Turner on July 3, 2005. The couple had two children, a daughter and a son.
In October 2015, Turner filed for divorce seeking joint custody of their children.
May suffered from obesity throughout his life. His weight increased to 800 pounds following a car accident at age 16.May participated on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club and had gastric bypass surgery in 2004 which brought his weight down to 350 pounds (160 kg). A bout with viral pneumonia on a cruise in October 2011 caused May to lose 40 pounds.
On October 6, 2017, May died of cardiac arrest at the age of 45, after being afflicted with pneumonia for several weeks
source : wikipedia.com
