Arts news | Comic Ben Roy is about to have a (sacred) cow

To get a picture of Ben Roy performing standup comedy, just imagine a laughing hyena tearing into a sacred cow.

Roy’s standup sets are not unlike a punk-rock show, which is fitting given that Roy is also the lead singer of the enduring party-rock Denver band SPELLS, where he’s known for getting in your face (and on your shoulders).

“In a hardcore show, you are standing on the floor nose-to-nose with the audience, and you make them part of the show,” said Roy. “The thing that I related to most about punk and hardcore music was that the line between audience and performer was blurred. I love bringing that same energy to standup, because it doesn’t feel as expected there.”

But, just like punk rock, underneath that tough exterior is nothing but love. Smiling, silly, taunting, goofy love.

“I may train in jiu jitsu and sport tattoos, but I am certainly not known at my martial-arts gym as being a tough guy at all,” Gentle Ben said with a laugh. “I am the clown who is not as good as everybody else but loves doing it anyway. Honestly, I am just a doughy and anxious and emotional person.”

All traits that have helped make Roy one of the most visible, varied and successful comics in Denver since he moved here in 1999. Roy co-created and starred in the truTV comedy series “Those Who Can't,” about three inept Denver teachers, with pals Adam Cayton-Holland and Andrew Orvedahl. (Together the trio comprises a wildly popular comedy superteam called The Grawlix). He has appeared on Comedy Central and HBO, and at all the major comedy festivals. He’s part of a disarmingly funny podcast called “The Grawlix Saves the World,” and he’s released four albums. But he’s better to see than to hear. And on Sunday at the downtown Comedy Works, he will be recording his first hour-long video comedy special for his new label, 800 Pound Gorilla Records of Nashville.

“This is going to be fun because it’s a longer form,” he said. “I don't really write a series of short jokes. I tend to tell stories. I am mostly going to be doodling about two things: I talk for a fair amount about where I stand on vaccines, and why it's hard for me to criticize what I put in my body. And it’s about where we’re heading as a people. There’s a lot about the idea of feeling lonely vs. actually being alone.”

On stage, Roy is an emotional powderkeg with a long, lit fuse, and he talks openly about everything that made him that way. “I was a (bleep) person for a long time because I grew up toxic and I was dealing with trauma from my past. I was always afraid of what people thought of me. I had a warped concept very early on of what being a 'man' is, and that made me overly concerned about being seen as tough.”

Speaking of tough: In John Wenzel’s seminal book “Mock Stars: Indie Comedy and the Dangerously Funny,” Roy compared surviving in comedy “to being a dirty, awkward kid from an alcoholic family surviving the first day of school.” It’s a hard life. The world may have been shocked when Will Smith came out of the audience to slap Chris Rock at the Oscars, but Roy says that kind of dangerously bad behavior has been going on for decades. It’s just not televised. 

“Not that long ago, I was at a smaller comedy club and this woman threw a glass at me from the back of the room – and she hit another audience member in the back of the head,” said Roy. “The police weren’t even called.” While Roy was recording a previous album, a man rushed the stage to fight him. And at his most recent show, a man walked out of Comedy Works South shouting at Roy. This is nothing new.

“Did I say something that I can look back on now and say, ‘Yes, that could be deemed upsetting, and I probably provoked him?’ Yes. Definitely. And are there unhinged people out there who simply can’t control themselves? Yes. Definitely. I just laugh at it.”

“The Grawlix Saves the World” is a remarkable podcast for all sorts of reasons, including the hosts’ commitment to a legit weekly self-improvement challenge. For example, Roy, Cayton-Holland and Orvedahl once challenged each other to make amends to someone they’ve hurt. Another time, to perform random acts of kindness. Another, to use less plastic.

And then there’s “Boi Crazy,” a pod-within-the-pod where these three married, testosterone-fueled fathers debate the relative hotness of other dudes – in the most sincere and, at times, catty and hilariously objectifying of ways. Take for example, their dissection of the hunks in “Young Guns” vs. those in “Young Guns II.” We’re talking Emilio Estevez vs. Charlie Sheen vs. Christian Slater vs. Lou Diamond Phillips vs. a whole bunch of other studs. But to Roy, it’s no contest. “Kiefer Sutherland all the way,” he said with conviction.

“If a guy tells you he has never appraised himself against the hunkiness of other dudes, he’s just plain lying,” Roy said. “Insecurity and low self-esteem come from knowing deep down that somebody is probably more attractive than you are – and if you are a guy, that’s when you posture up even more. And that’s where the problems begin.”

It’s side-splittingly funny, yet utterly refreshing to hear these three straight fathers share their vulnerabilities and talk so openly about what maleness should be in 2022.

“Listen, I paid my dues getting into trouble and being around toxic, violent people growing up,” Roy said. “But since I got sober and became a husband and a father, all I really know about being a good man is what we’re trying to teach our son, and that is not to be afraid to talk about your emotions; to tell people that you care about them and that you love them; and to try to treat everybody fairly and with dignity.”

Pretty punk rock. Tickets to the taping of Roy’s special on Sunday at Comedy Works are $18 and are available at comedyworks.com.

Coloradan wins Tony Award

OK, so Colorado actor Jason Veasey didn’t technically win a Tony Award on Sunday. But the Broadway musical he’s prominently featured in, “A Strange Loop,” won the Tony Award for Best Musical. “Night of Nights. Dream fulfilled,” said Veasey, who has been involved since 2012 in the development of this authentic story about a queer young Black man facing his inner demons. “It feels right and deserved. Like winning a spelling bee that you’ve practiced for all year … or 10.”

More changes at Fine Arts Center

The dizzying pace of change continues at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College. Two weeks after Idris Goodwin made his surprise exit as Executive Director, Nathan Halvorson announced his resignation as Associate Director of Performing Arts to become the new CEO of the Colorado Springs Conservatory effective July 1. Halvorson succeeds Linda Weise, who founded the Conservatory in 1994.

“Nathan brings with him a wealth of expertise in the performing arts and a passion for the Colorado Springs community,” said Michelle Talarico, the conservatory’s Board Chair.

“Education in the arts has been foundational to my work throughout my entire career,” said Halvorson, a lifelong theater educator and frequent theater director who last month starred in the Fine Arts Center’s “The Legend of Georgia McBride.”

One million meows

Meow Wolf admitted its 1 millionth visitor to its Denver Convergence Station on Wednesday (June 15).  For those with calculators, that comes to 3,690 convergers per day. The massive Denver art installation reached the milestone in 271 days – three months faster than its immediate predecessor in Las Vegas.

Awards for Denver short film

Kevin Hart and Steef Sealy’s short film “The Meeting” – sort of an “Office Space” variation on “The Actor’s Nightmare,” was awarded Best Short Film and Best Direction last week at the Movie Play International Film Festival in London. “The Actor’s Nightmare” is a play about a man who is forced to perform in a play but he does not know any of the lines. “The Meeting” is the story of an office slacker who’s called upon to lead a meeting he’s not prepared to lead. It features an A-list of local actors including Mark Shonsey, Eric Mather, Abby Boes, John Ashton, Jenna Moll Reyes, Riley Holmes, Denis Berkfeldt, Max Cabot, Kevin Hart and Joey Wishnia. You can watch the film above.

P.S.: On a related but unrelated note, the new OddKnock Productions is presenting “From on High,” an immersive theater piece set in an absurd corporate environment with an obsessive work culture. Audiences enter as the newest hires of a fictional 1980s megacorporation and then wander the eccentric office space interacting with the characters who work there. “There's been a great shift in the way people view work-life balance," said director Zach Martens. "We're blending familiar work life with the bizarre to discover exactly where those limits lay." “From on High” runs through July 3 at the shuttered IMAC building at 2550 Larimer St. in RiNo.

The Juneteenth holiday is here

Denver’s annual Juneteenth Music Festival returns to the historic Five Points neighborhood from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with performances from DJs, singers and artists, along with street vendors, food and retail merchandise along 27th and Welton streets. The block party kicks off with a parade starting at Manual High School at noon on Saturday. (For those who read here about the award-winning new anti-gang documentary “The Holly,” the film’s controversial subject and now Denver mayoral candidate, Terrance Roberts, has said he will be participating in the parade.) Look for a full roundup of area Juneteenth events in Friday’s Denver Gazette.

Denver Fringe keepin’ it surreal

The Denver Fringe Festival is back for its third go-round from June 23-26 in 10 venues throughout Five Points and the RiNo Art District. The wide-ranging fare spans “Josephine,” an Off-Broadway bio-musical about the life of Black superstar Josephine Baker; “Desiderium Dream” by local circus troupe Soul Penny Circus; and “Un/Packing,” an immersive adventure theatrical experience that toys with space, time and gender.

The festival also marks the debut of the new 2¢ Lion Theatre Company, which will premiere its new Beatles-themed multiverse rom-com called “Yesterday/Today” on June 23 at the Savoy (2700 Arapahoe St.) Truth is, local startup theater companies come and go at a head-spinning rate, but 2¢ Lion, created by University of Denver grads Kevin Douglas, Gracie Jacobson and Izzy Chern, would be the only local company (at present) that is fully dedicated to the queer community on and off-stage.   

Two passion priorities for Fringe Fest founder Ann Sabbah, sister of the beloved late Denver playwright Jeff Carey: The Denver Fringe includes a week-long family-friendly mini-fest for kids with free workshops and family shows; and the top price for any Fringe show is $15 (full pass $75) in an effort to make theater accessible to all. Ticketing and info at denverfringe.org.

Briefly …

The new “Skyspace” designed by contemporary artist James Turrell will be unveiled Saturday (June 18) as the centerpiece of the 2022 Green Box Arts Festival in Green Mountain Falls, west of Colorado Springs. A Skyspace is a kind of above-ground observatory with an aperture in the ceiling open to the sky. This one is billed as the first in the world to be carved into the side of a mountain – seeing it will be the reward for hikers who make it up one of two new trails to the top of Red Mountain. This will be Turrell’s first permanent work in Colorado. He’s known for cultivating environmental works of art that focus on human perception. …

Theater 29, a 30-seat boutique opened by local playwrights Lisa Wagner Erickson and Ellen K. Graham at 29th Avenue and Federal Boulevard in 2018, will make its long-awaited return to live shows June 26 with a one-night-only immersive event featuring short new plays, collaborative art installations and performance art, all set around the theme of “Emergence."