Robert Kelly
Kelly in July 2015
BornMedford, Massachusetts, U.S.
MediumStand-up, film, television
Years active1991–present
Children1
Websiterobertkellylive.com

Robert Kelly is an American stand-up comedian, actor, radio personality, and podcast host.

Kelly frequently performs at the Comedy Cellar. He co-hosts The Bonfire on Sirius XM Satellite Radio, often appeared on The Opie and Anthony Show, and has also appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and Premium Blend.[1] He rose to fame in part as Louis C.K.'s brother in Louie.

Early 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 ancestry, and was raised Catholic.[2][4] Kelly is 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 center.[8]

Career

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 Doug Bell 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]

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.[11]

In 1998, Kelly was spotted by an agent through his acting work and went to New York City to further his career. [10]

Kelly in 2005

In 2004, Kelly made his first of many appearances on the Opie and Anthony radio show. 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.[12] 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.[13]

Kelly was a part of the New Jersey Bamboozle Festival in 2007 as part of the Pass the Mic Comedy Tour on May 6.[14] Kelly also appeared in the 2008 comedy Ghost Town as the ghost of a fat 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.[citation needed]

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.[11]

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, Joe List, and Luis J. Gomez. 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.[15] The book followed a short film that the three wrote named Cheat.[16]

On August 8, 2014, Kelly released the hour-long special Live at the Village Underground, directed by Bobcat Goldthwait.[17] It premiered on Comedy Central in January 2015.[18]

Kelly co-starred in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll for two seasons, beginning in 2015.[19][20] It was his first acting role as a regular cast member, and he received formal drum lessons for the part.[21][22]

Personal life

Kelly and his wife Dawn have one son, Max.[4][10] In 2015, the family moved from New York City to Westchester, New York.[21]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1998 The Jim Breuer Show Himself
2002 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Armando Padilla Episode: "Vulnerable"
2002–2008 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Jose Lopez / Detective Ray Valdez 2 episodes
2002 The Job Luis Somarriba Episode: "Vacation"
2003 Hack Jim Cooper Episode: "Death of Innocence"
2004 Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn Himself
2006 Tourgasm Himself 7 episodes
2008 Comedy Central Presents Himself
2009 Law & Order Bobby Episode: "Promote This!"
2010–2015 Louie Bobby / Robbie 8 episodes
2011 Curb Your Enthusiasm Heckler #1 Episode: "Mister Softee"
2012 NYC 22 George Moore 12 episodes
2013 Inside Amy Schumer Grunth Episode: "Unpleasant Truths"
2014 Sirens Soda Bottle Guy Episode: "Pilot"
2014 Robert Kelly: Live at the Village Underground Himself Stand-up special; also writer and director
2015 Nurse Jackie Cop Episode: "Clean"
2015 Maron Repairman #3 Episode: "The Node"
2015–2016 Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll Bam Bam 20 episodes
2015 Benders EMT Thurber Episode: "California Here We Come"

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Last Night at Eddie's Dillon
1998 Enough Already Basketball Player
1998 Dating Games Kyle
2003 8 Guys Robert Short film
2007 Good Luck Chuck Airport Security Guard
2008 Ghost Town Construction Worker Ghost
2008 What Doesn't Kill You Gas Man
2009 Children of Invention Torres
2011 Cheat Bobby Short film
2013 Staten Island Truffle Hunter Uncle Paulie Short film
2015 Trainwreck One-Night Stand Guy
2018 Unsane Steve's Partner
2022 Fourth of July Bobby

Video games

Year Title Role
2008 Grand Theft Auto IV Luca Silvestri, The Crowd of Liberty City
2013 Grand Theft Auto V The Local Population

Discography

References

  1. ^ "cringehumor.net". Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Greenough, Jason (September 6, 2018). "Hey 'You Know What Dude?' Robert Kelly never stopped repping Boston". Vanyaland. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Ciemcioch, Mark (September 11, 2017). "Robert Kelly talks frankly on comedy and life". Buffalo News. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Castleberry, Tony (December 27, 2016). "Robert Kelly Part II — Making it personal". Raleigh & Company. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d 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. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. 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. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b c Pilot, Jessica (January 9, 2015). "Robert Kelly on Power, Vulnerability and Comedy". Paste. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  11. ^ a b Amorosi, A.D. (September 20, 2018). "Interview: Robert Kelly Discusses TV, Comedy and Life". Glamorosi Magazine. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  12. ^ "Tourgasm.com". Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  13. ^ "Military Personnel in the Persian Gulf Treated to Visit by Funnyman Colin Quinn". World News Network. February 28, 2005. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  14. ^ "The Bamboozle Festival". Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  15. ^ Trimboli, Grant (August 28, 2012). "Stand-Up Tuesdays: Robert Kelly". Under the Gun Review. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  16. ^ Simcik, Cameron (October 10, 2012). "Comedian Robert Kelly teaches us how to cheat wisely [INTERVIEW]". GuySpeed. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  17. ^ Kelly, Robert (August 8, 2014), Robert Kelly: Live at the Village Underground, retrieved July 21, 2016
  18. ^ Frissore, Angie (January 7, 2015). "Stand-Up Wednesdays: Robert Kelly (Interview)". Under the Gun Review. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  19. ^ Pedersen, Erik (April 8, 2015). "FX Sets 'Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll' Premiere, Louis C.K. Special, Other Summer Bows". Deadline. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  20. ^ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (September 10, 2016). "FX Cancels Denis Leary's 'Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll'". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  21. ^ a b 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.
  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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