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. Winthrop is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 6,121 at the 2020 census. Winthrop's population, however, approxim ...
,
who now lives in
Denver, Colorado
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
. 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 and satirist. His material— encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy— was controversial and ofte ...
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 and cultural trends.
He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis Black's ...
.
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 Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...
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 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, who would go on to national fame as winner of ''
Last Comic Standing
''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...
''.
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 and actor. His acting roles include Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–2023) as adult ...
and
Fred Armisen
Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, musician, and writer. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, he co-created and co-starred in the IFC sketch comedy series '' Portlandia''. He also co-created ...
);
and on the
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 ...
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
Comedy Works.
The Grawlix
Early on in his comedy career, Roy met fellow Denver comedians
Andrew Orvedahl and
Adam Cayton-Holland. 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.
''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,
TruTV
TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...
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.
Ben started his musical career as the original singer of the 90s band Dishwalla.
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 the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...
and has been sober since 2010.
Discography
* Pet Your Friends (1995)
* 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