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Ben Bailey
American comedian, game show host (born 1970) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Benjamin Ray Bailey (born October 30, 1970) is an American comedian best known as the host of the game show Cash Cab.[2] He also does stand-up comedy, and as an actor has appeared in some films and television shows.
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Early life
Bailey was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and raised in Chatham Borough, New Jersey.[3] During his youth Bailey was a member of his local Fish & Game Club, where he was a county champion swimmer and diver.[4] In interviews he has stated that he was often the "comic relief" in his family, especially as a kid, helping ease tension.[5] He graduated in 1988 from Chatham Borough High School.[6]
Bailey attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, where he majored in "liberal arts" however he left a semester before graduation, to move to Los Angeles in 1993.[7][8]
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Career
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Stand-up career
According to Bailey, he was telling stories with some comedians after hours at The Comedy Store (where he worked as a bartender and bouncer)[9] when Skip E. Lowe, who was emceeing at the club, found his stories humorous and offered him an opportunity to perform stand-up.[10] Bailey soon returned to the East Coast, where he gained popularity at comedy clubs in New York City. He has since performed at major festivals such as Just For Laughs and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As of 2019, he toured as a headliner.[11]
During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Bailey streamed his comedy show Work from Home to YouTube, with his girlfriend as co-host and producer. He filmed the show in his basement.[12]
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In 2006, he starred in his first special on Comedy Central, Comedy Central Presents Ben Bailey.[13] In 2011, he released a two-part special, Road Rage and Accidental Ornithology.[14][15] In 2016, he released Ben Bailey Live & Uncensored and in 2024, he released the Please Tell Me What I Said special on his YouTube channel.[16][17]
Cash Cab and other endeavors
Bailey was the host and producer of the American version of Cash Cab, a TV game show played in a taxicab that Bailey drives around New York City, broadcast on the Discovery Channel and Bravo. He hosted the show for all of its 14 seasons, including its initial run from 2005 to 2012, as well as its return from 2017 to 2020. He also hosted the short-lived 2007 spin off Cash Cab After Dark.
Bailey also appeared on the new Shovio.com's TalkBackTV. He narrated the Discovery Channel's series Smash Lab.[18][unreliable source?][better source needed][19][unreliable source?][better source needed] From 2011 to 2012, he was the host of Who's Still Standing? on NBC;[20] the show was not renewed for a second season due to high production costs.
He has also appeared in ABC's The Knights of Prosperity, Hope & Faith, NBC's Law and Order SVU, and Fox's Mad TV, and has also appeared in Blue Bloods, 30 Rock, with a recurring role on One Life to Live.[13] In 2019 he made a cameo appearance as himself in the seventh episode of the show Perpetual Grace, LTD where drives the cash cab.[21]
He has appeared on talk shows such as The Tonight Show, The Today Show, Oprah, Rachel Ray, Good Day New York, and numerous morning/radio shows nationwide.[16]
Bailey has had several film appearances, most notably in Bad Parents. He was also set to appear in Spider-Man 2012, but his scene was cut from the final film.[22]
He has done television commercials for Michigan electric/natural gas company DTE Energy and ALDI.[23]
From 2022 to 2023 Bailey hosted Money Grab in the Cab, a show very similar to Cash Cab, in which he drove around giving farmers 10 minutes to answer as many questions as they could in order to earn money for their local FFA chapter.[24][unreliable source?][25]
In 2023 Bailey appeared in The Game Show Show, a documentary about the history of game shows.[citation needed]
In 2025 Bailey partnered with the Kansas City Chiefs to create a video special titled "The Chiefs Cab" which was inspired by Cash Cab. In the special Bailey Drives around members of the Chiefs organization and asks them questions.[26]
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Comedic style
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Bailey is often described as using “observational humor,” drawing from mundane, everyday experiences to find laughs. Much of his subject matter: everyday tasks, relationships, personal anecdotes however. In a 2024 interview he stated: “I don’t do anything political.”[27] While his base style is observational, he has also been know to do voices, characters, and facial expressions stating “I’m a little more animated. I’m doing these characters and voices, and a lot of faces.”[28] Before hosting Cash Cab Bailey used to speak slow and deliberately. However after the show took off he shifted away that deliberate style to a more natural version of himself. Stating
I used to speak slowly, deliberately,” “After Cash Cab, I would do that and the audience would look around, like, ‘Why is he talking like that?’ They knew me from the show. I abandoned that and am now more myself onstage.
Some of Baileys early influences include George Carlin, Richard Pryor and Rodney Dangerfield.[29] He has also credited his own father and grandfather as inspirations as well.[5] More recently in a 2019 interview he stated “I stopped watching comedians a long time ago,” “I don’t want to be influenced by someone else. Early on, I would watch Dave Attell at the Comedy Cellar every Friday night for several years. It was difficult to sit there and not be influenced. I always wanted to do something that’s all me and completely unique to me.”[30]
Personal life
Bailey lives in Morristown, New Jersey.[31] He met his ex-wife, Laurence, in a pub in Morristown in the 1990s.[32] The couple married in 1997 and divorced in 2012.[32] They have two children.[33]
Bailey is a licensed taxi driver in New York City.[34]
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.[35]
Cash Cab won the Daytime Emmy award for Best Game Show in 2008, 2009, and 2010, and won Most Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Show in 2010.
Filmography
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References
External links
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