Ben Roy (born June 18, 1979) is an American comedian and musician originally from

Winthrop, Maine Winthrop is a town in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 6,121 at the 2020 census. Winthrop's population, however, approximately doubles during the summer months as part-year residents return to seasonal camps located on ...

, who now lives in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Heavily tattooed, and known for his "spittle-flecked rants" on stage, Roy has been compared to

Bill Hicks William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material—encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy—wa ...

and

Lewis Black Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion, or any other cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series '' Lewi ...

. Roy is a member of The Grawlix, a trio of Denver comedians who produce a monthly live comedy show and web series. He stars on the

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that ...

show '' Those Who Can't''. He is also a singer who has fronted several Denver-area punk rock bands.

Career

Comedian

Roy started in the world of standup comedy when he entered a

Comedy Works Comedy Works is a stand-up comedy club with two locations in the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area. The downtown club opened in September 1981 and is located in Larimer Square in Denver. The south club, which opened September 2008, is part of The ...

new talent night in early 2004. A Comedy Works manager snuck him into a professional competition a few months later, where he placed second to comedian

Josh Blue Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive ( hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J * "Josh", an early pseudonym o ...

, who would go on to national fame as winner of ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large grou ...

''. In the summer of 2010, Roy was invited to perform in the "New Faces" division of the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, and invited back for its 2012 Nasty Show. He has been selected to perform at the Boston Comedy Festival, the Laughing Skull Comedy Festival, the Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival, and the MTV Comedy Showcase. He's also been featured on HBO's Funny as Hell series; in the John Wenzel Book ''Mock Stars: Indie Comedy and the Dangerously Funny'' (alongside comedy greats like

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom '' The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

and Fred Armisen); and on the Comedy Central Show '' Adam DeVine's House Party''. His debut standup album, ''I Got Demons'', was released in 2012 and ranked one of the 10 Best Comedy Albums of the year by Laughspin. His second standup album, ''No Enlightenment in Sobriety'', was released April 15, 2014. Roy recorded his third standup album on March 8 and March 11, 2015 at

The Grawlix

Early on in his comedy career, Roy met fellow Denver comedians

Andrew Orvedahl Andrew Orvedahl (born December 21, 1976) is an American comedian best known for his work with ''The Grawlix'', a comedy trio consisting of Orvedahl, Adam Cayton-Holland and Ben Roy, and the TruTV scripted comedy television show '' Those Who Can ...

and

Adam Cayton-Holland Adam Cayton-Holland (born June 2, 1980) is an American stand-up comedian from Denver, Colorado best known for his work with the comedy trio The Grawlix and their sitcom television series ''Those Who Can't.'' Cayton-Holland is also a writer who ha ...

. After performing together for a few years, the trio officially formed ''The Grawlix''. The troupe performs a monthly show at The Bug Theatre in Denver, consisting of standup sets from each of the principals, a variety of national guest comedians, and screenings of their web series "The Grawlix", produced by

The Nix brothers Evan Nix (born December 10, 1983) and Adam Nix (born October 11, 1986), known together professionally as the Nix Bros., are American film directors, producers, and musicians. They are most well known for filming the series ''The Grawlix'' on Funn ...

''Those Who Can't''

The Grawlix also teamed with The Nix brothers to produce a pilot for Amazon in June 2012 called '' Those Who Can't'', about three inept Denver high school teachers. While Amazon eventually passed on the pilot,

paid the trio to rewrite and re-film it in December 2014. In February 2015, the network announced they were ordering 10 episodes of the series. TruTV went on to air 3 seasons of Those Who Can't between 2016 and 2019. The show was eventually canceled on April 24, 2019.

Music

While still in Maine, Roy first formed punk band The Mendicants before fronting hardcore band Thousand Year Suffering. Roy has said he's been in "16 or 17 bands since the age of 16," including Denver punk bands 29th Street Disciples and The Fire Drills. Roy now fronts the band SPELLS that formed in 2012 with guitarist Chuck Coffey, bassist Don Bersell, and drummer Rob Burleson. The foursome play high-energy, melodic punk that they describe as "vacation rock." The group is known for their nontraditional approach to both their tour schedule and releases—in 2013, they issued a 45, multiple digital downloads, and a cassette with previously unreleased tracks.

Personal life

Roy was married to photographer Crystal Allen for 19 years. The pair met in Maine and moved to Denver in 2002. They have one son, Milo, born in 2005. Roy has been vocal about his struggle with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

and has been sober since 2010.

Discography

* I Got Demons (2012) * No Enlightenment in Sobriety (2014) * Ooze Your Delusions (2018) * Take the Sandwich (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Ben 1979 births Living people American stand-up comedians People from Winthrop, Maine 21st-century American comedians Comedians from Maine