Benjamin Ray Bailey (born October 30, 1970) is an American

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

. He is best known for hosting the

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

-winning

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

'' Cash Cab'' in New York City.

Early life

Bailey was born in

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 72,294 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, third-most populous city in the stat ...

, and raised in Chatham Borough, New Jersey. He has an older sibling. Bailey graduated in 1988 from Chatham Borough High School as part of the school's 76th and final graduating class. Bailey attended

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1993. Standing at , he was offered a job as a bouncer for

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

after bumming a cigarette from a man in the parking lot.

Career

According to Bailey, he was telling stories with some comedians after hours at The Comedy Store when Skip E. Lowe, who was emceeing at the club, found his stories humorous and offered him an opportunity at

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

. Bailey is the host of the American version of '' Cash Cab'', a TV game show played in a

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

that Bailey drives around

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, broadcast on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

and

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels * Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 * Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...

. He also appeared on the new Shovio.com's ''TalkBackTV''. He narrated the

's series '' Smash Lab''. From 2011 to 2012, Bailey was the host of '' Who's Still Standing?'' on NBC. On May 13, 2012, it was announced that the show would not be renewed for a second season due to high production costs. Bailey does television commercials for Michigan electric/natural gas company DTE Energy and

ALDI Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

Personal life

Bailey lives in

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a Town (New Jersey), town in and the county seat of Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

. He met his ex-wife, Laurence, in a pub in Morristown in the 1990s. The couple married in 1997 and divorced in 2012. They have two children. Bailey is a licensed taxi driver in New York City.

Awards

As the host of ''Cash Cab'', Ben received Daytime Emmy nominations in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 for " Outstanding Game Show Host", winning in 2010, 2011 and 2013. The show took home honors at the Daytime Emmy awards for Best Game Show in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Appearances

* ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...

'' (2010) * '' After the Catch'' (2009) * Aspen Comedy Arts Festival in 2002/2004 * ''Bad Meat'' as an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agent * ''Bertcast #331'' with Bert Kreischer * '' Blue Bloods'' ''S11E13'' (2021) * '' Brain Games (National Geographic)'' * '' Caroline and Friends'' (2018) * '' Cash Cab'' - host of U.S. version (2005–2012, 2017–2020) * ''

Comedy Central Presents ''Comedy Central Presents'' is an American stand-up comedy television series created for Comedy Central. It is the network's main half-hour program which highlights either one or a series of stand-up comedians each episode. In 2011, the series ...

'' * '' Delivery Man'' (2013) * ''Don't Shoot The Pharmacist'' * ''The Haney Project: Ray Romano'' * '' Friends of the People'' (2015) * '' Hope & Faith'' * '' The Knights of Prosperity'' * ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with '' ...

'' * ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airi ...

'' * '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' * ''

MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...

'' * '' Premium Blend'' on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

* ''Road Rage and Accidental Ornithologist'' * '' Smash Lab'' - narrator (2nd season) * '' They're Made Out of Meat'' * ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

'' with

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno ( ; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show'' from 1992 until 200 ...

* ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'' (April 2, 2008) * '' Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn'' * ''Unforgettable S04E09'' (January 2016) * ''Who's Still Standing?'' - host * ''The World Stands Up''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Ben 1970 births American game show hosts American male comedians American stand-up comedians American taxi drivers Chatham High School (New Jersey) alumni Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host winners Living people Old Dominion University alumni People from Bowling Green, Kentucky People from Chatham Borough, New Jersey 21st-century American comedians Comedians from Kentucky Comedians from Morris County, New Jersey Discovery Channel people