Robert Kelly (comedian)

Robert Kelly (born October 8, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, radio personality, and podcast host.

Robert Kelly
Kelly in July 2015.
Born (1970-10-08) October 8, 1970
Medford, Massachusetts, United States
MediumStand-up comedy, film, television
Years active1991–present
Websitehttps://robertkellylive.com/

Kelly frequently performs at the Comedy Cellar. He often appeared on The Opie and Anthony Show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio, and has also appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, and Premium Blend.[1]

Life

Kelly was born in Medford, Massachusetts, three miles away from Boston.[2] He was raised in a three-bedroom house with thirteen family members.[3] He is of Irish and Italian ancestry, and was raised Catholic.[2][4] Kelly became a self-confessed addict.[5] He began drinking at age ten before he quit alcohol and drugs at fifteen. He has remained sober since.[6][7] Kelly was arrested as a teenager, and spent time in a youth detention centre.[8]

Kelly discovered stand-up comedy in 1987 while attending the International Conference of Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous, after which he began to listen to comedy albums.[9] He performed his first stand-up routine on stage in 1991 at a school talent competition as part of a sketch comedy troupe, Al and the Monkeys. His plan was to enroll at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston to study fine arts, but gained interest in pursuing comedy and quit shortly before he was to earn an associate degree.[5] After one member of the group quit, they were replaced by Dane Cook.[5] His first solo performance took place at Catch a Rising Star in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which his family attended.[8] He is married and has one son.[4][10] In 2015, the family moved from New York City to Westchester, New York.[11]

Career

Before taking on stand-up comedy full-time, Kelly worked several jobs including a waiter, delivering flowers, and working with juvenile delinquents.[10] After his comedy troupe split in the early 1990s, Kelly did not perform stand-up for two years.[5] Kelly lived in Los Angeles for a short period of time until he was encouraged to return to the East coast by Patrice O'Neal.[12]

In 1998, Kelly was spotted by an agent through his acting work and went to New York City to further his career. He moved in with fellow Boston comedian Bill Burr.[10]

Kelly in 2005

In 2005, Kelly toured with comedians Dane Cook, Gary Gulman, and Jay Davis on the cross-country tour entitled Tourgasm. After tearing (ACL) and straining (MCL) ligaments in his knee, he managed to finish the tour which began airing on HBO as a comedy documentary series in June 2006.[13] Kelly later toured with Cook and Al Del Bene as part of Cook's Global Thermo Comedy Tour: Isolated Incident.

In 2005 and 2006, Kelly accompanied fellow comedian Colin Quinn to Iraq, where they each performed stand-up for American troops stationed in Baghdad.[14]

Kelly was a part of the New Jersey Bamboozle Festival in 2007 as part of the Pass the Mic Comedy Tour on May 6.[15] Kelly also appeared in the 2008 comedy Ghost Town as the ghost of a construction worker. That same year, Kelly also had a small voice part in the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV as Luca Silvestri, a member of the Pegorino crime family and associate of Ray Boccino, who accompanied the main character in a mission.

From 2010 to 2015, Kelly starred as Louis CK's brother Robbie during the first, fourth, and fifth seasons of the FX sitcom Louie. Kelly rated his performance on the show as among the best of his acting career.[12]

Kelly started his podcast You Know What Dude! in April 2010 on RiotCast, a podcast network that he co-owns.[3] It is recorded weekly in a studio at the Comedy Cellar. Kelly described the podcast as "a true comic hang".[8] It regularly features Kelly curating a discussion with three to five comedians, with an emphasis on honesty and "ball-busting". His regular guests include Dan Soder. The show was produced until September 2014 by Kelly Fastuca, and has since been produced by Chris Scopo.

In 2012, a comedy book by Kelly, Burr, and Joe DeRosa entitled Cheat: A Man's Guide to Infidelity was released.[16] The book followed a short film that the three wrote named Cheat.[17]

On August 8, 2014, Kelly released the hour-long special Live at the Village Underground, directed by Bobcat Goldthwait.[18] It premiered on Comedy Central in January 2015.[19]

Kelly co-starred in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll for two seasons, beginning in 2015.[20][21] It was his first acting role as a regular cast member, and received formal drum lessons for the part.[11][22]

Filmography

Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
1998The Jim Breuer ShowHimself
2001Premium BlendHimself
2002Law & Order: Special Victims UnitArmando PadillaEpisode: "Vulnerable"
2002–2008Law & Order: Criminal IntentJose Lopez / Detective Ray Valdez2 episodes
2002The JobLuis SomarribaEpisode: "Vacation"
2003HackJim CooperEpisode: "Death of Innocence"
2004Tough Crowd with Colin QuinnHimself
2006TourgasmHimself7 episodes
2008Comedy Central PresentsHimself
2009Law & OrderBobbyEpisode: "Promote This!"
2010–2015LouieBobby / Robbie8 episodes
2011Curb Your EnthusiasmHeckler #1Episode: "Mister Softee"
2012NYC 22George Moore12 episodes
2013Inside Amy SchumerGrunthEpisode: "Unpleasant Truths"
2014SirensSoda Bottle GuyEpisode: "Pilot"
2014Robert Kelly: Live at the Village UndergroundHimselfStand-up special; also writer and director
2015Nurse JackieCopEpisode: "Clean"
2015MaronRepairman #3Episode: "The Node"
2015–2016Sex & Drugs & Rock & RollBam Bam20 episodes
2015BendersEMT ThurberEpisode: "California Here We Come"

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
1997Last Night at Eddie's Dillon
1998Enough AlreadyBasketball Player
1998Dating GamesKyle
20038 GuysRobertShort film
2007Good Luck ChuckAirport Security Guard
2008Ghost TownConstruction Worker Ghost
2008What Doesn't Kill YouGas Man
2009Children of InventionTorres
2011CheatBobbyShort film
2013Staten Island Truffle HunterUncle PaulieShort film
2015TrainwreckOne-Night Stand Guy
2018UnsaneSteve's Partner

Video games
YearTitleRole
2008Grand Theft Auto IVLuca Silvestri, The Crowd of Liberty City
2013Grand Theft Auto VThe Local Population

Discography
  • Robert Kelly: Live at the Village Underground (2015)
  • For The Love Of Comedy (2013)
  • Just the Tip (2008)
  • Robert Kelly Live (2003)
gollark: #6 is just a dull one saying ubq323 mostly?
gollark: A week.
gollark: #5 is... some sort of recursive sort, but with more indirection I guess?
gollark: What is it DOING? Why does it turn off the GC? Does the blattidus/2.0 codebase look like this?!
gollark: ... is #9 passing *pointers* over the sockets?

References
  1. "cringehumor.net". Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  2. Greenough, Jason (September 6, 2018). "Hey 'You Know What Dude?' Robert Kelly never stopped repping Boston". Vanyaland. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  3. Ciemcioch, Mark (September 11, 2017). "Robert Kelly talks frankly on comedy and life". Buffalo News. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  4. Castleberry, Tony (December 27, 2016). "Robert Kelly Part II — Making it personal". Raleigh & Company. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  5. Zaino III, Nick A. (August 18, 2006). "Robert Kelly brings comedy close to home". The Boston Globe. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  6. Castleberry, Tony (December 26, 2016). "Robert Kelly part 1: Being funny is not just an act". Raleigh & Company. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  7. Castleberry, Tony (May 17, 2018). "'Sober at 15': Boston comedian talks addiction ahead of Raleigh show". WRAL.com. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  8. "Run the Light With Robert Kelly". StandUpTalk. January 8, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  9. Sullivan, James (May 12, 2015). "Kelly's having too much fun". The Boston Globe. p. G5. Retrieved October 12, 2018 – via Highbeam Research.
  10. Pilot, Jessica (January 9, 2015). "Robert Kelly on Power, Vulnerability and Comedy". Paste. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  11. McCarthy, Sean L. (January 9, 2015). "From Bang-Bang to the Burbs and back again to Bam Bam: Robert Kelly talks Live at the Village Underground, his new Comedy Central hour". The Comic's Comic. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  12. Amorosi, A.D. (September 20, 2018). "Interview: Robert Kelly Discusses TV, Comedy and Life". Glamorosi Magazine. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  13. "Tourgasm.com". Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  14. "Military Personnel in the Persian Gulf Treated to Visit by Funnyman Colin Quinn". World News Network. February 28, 2005. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  15. "The Bamboozle Festival". Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  16. Trimboli, Grant (August 28, 2012). "Stand-Up Tuesdays: Robert Kelly". Under the Gun Review. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  17. Simcik, Cameron (October 10, 2012). "Comedian Robert Kelly teaches us how to cheat wisely [INTERVIEW]". GuySpeed. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  18. Kelly, Robert (August 8, 2014), Robert Kelly: Live at the Village Underground, retrieved July 21, 2016
  19. Frissore, Angie (January 7, 2015). "Stand-Up Wednesdays: Robert Kelly (Interview)". Under the Gun Review. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  20. Pedersen, Erik (April 8, 2015). "FX Sets 'Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll' Premiere, Louis C.K. Special, Other Summer Bows". Deadline. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  21. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (September 10, 2016). "FX Cancels Denis Leary's 'Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll'". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  22. Lerman, Ali (June 16, 2014). "You Know What Dude? It's Robert Kelly Live From the Village Underground". The Village Voice. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
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