Ben Roy feels the heat from all sides.
The Denver comedian and singer of the punk band Spells has taken a hatchet to polite society in his vicious but philosophical jokes, as well as spittle-flecked music performances that find his band setting up on the floor, surrounded by bouncing crowds, as vocalist and songwriter Roy vibrates like a wiry windsock.
After four critically acclaimed stand-up albums, tours and music albums with his band, his Denver-based, truTV series “Those Who Can’t” (with his Grawlix trio, including Denver’s Adam Cayton-Holland and Andrew Orvedahl), and ongoing Grawlix podcasts, his first hour-long video special, “Hyena,” is on the loose.
Released by 800 Pound Gorilla Records — the esteemed label for mega-comic Kevin Hart’s LOL! Studios — “Hyena” builds on the 44-year-old’s furious persona as Roy “wields a (figurative) knife on stage, grabs an audience member’s head by his ears, stares down into his soul, and screams ‘I was on extended basic cable television!’ ” as his publicist writes.
For a comic who’s been seen on HBO, Comedy Central and his own sitcom, that’s no idle boast. But it does deserve a bit of context, as Roy’s ever-evolving persona can move at head-spinning speeds.
“It was recorded exactly a year ago, and a lot of it was written during the tail end of the pandemic, when we were all debating about vaccines and things like that,” Roy said last week. “Some of it feels like a resignation. (Humanity has) reached this point where I don’t know that we can course correct. So there’s a part of me that’s laughing more at things now, because all we kind do is try to be kind to each other as it gets hotter and hotter.”
Even Roy’s glass-half-empty critiques don’t come off as angry as he used to be, particularly after he came out swinging in the mid-to-late 2000s scene as one of Denver’s most celebrated alt-comics, helping lead underground Grawlix shows in what’s now the River North Art District, and dominating rowdy open-mics at the Squire Lounge and other small, hip venues.
His cred assured, and his demons long-since made public in his act — addiction, childhood sexual abuse and an anxiety-depression combo that both motivates and tortures him — he approaches “Hyena” with a fearless, hilarious sharpness.
“I used to take Klonopin and alcohol,” he says from the stage. “I loved to take three Klonopins, put them on my tongue and wash them down with whiskey. Which is the chemical equivalent of un-reading books, it makes you so (fricking) stupid.”
However measured, watching “Hyena” from your TV or mobile device may be preferred if you’re not interested in having Roy sit on your lap, legs casually folded, during a live set. He’s known for doing that while headlining Denver’s Comedy Works, and clubs and festivals across the U.S., upping the crowd-work ante from most comics’ light banter.
As Roy preps for his latest shows at Denver’s 10th annual High Plains Comedy Festival, which returns Sept. 21-23, he’s made his $10 “Hyena” special (including an audio download for all of your mobile stand-up needs) free to stream on YouTube starting Thursday, Aug. 10.
“It’s called ‘Hyena’ because we’re feeding on the carcass and laughing,” he said. “Let’s ride this bird ’til it dies, you know?”
The video element of Roy’s new special, which captures his lithe intensity, finds Roy trotting out visual bits cut out from past specials since they couldn’t be fully appreciated. But now he’s also ready to “rest,” such as it is in his world, after releasing two albums in two years and an exhausting series of concerts.
“Definitely with everything else, with music and podcasts and touring, it’s a wild environment to write in,” said Roy, who as a member of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA unions is currently honoring the Hollywood actors-writers strike.
That environment has also pushed Roy to new levels of self-examination, even as he’s never above finding a laugh in dumb ideas.
“Cultures (crap) their pants when they’re about to die,” he says in “Hyena,” “and I have witnessed one of these proverbial pants-(crappings) of Western culture in the form of a new television show on Netflix that is just titled ‘Is It Cake?’ … I thought we had hit the bottom when we got to ‘Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader.’ But little did I know the Marianas Trench of intellectualism was right there.”
“I’ve always struggled with intellectualism and our vulnerability as a culture and our willingness to admit fear,” he said. “I struggle with it personally, too. I struggle with masculinity. Growing up the way I did poor in Maine, and the things that have happened to me — I definitely struggle with my self-image and what it is to be tough or soft.”
That gritty exploration is all the more cathartic for audiences, who have streamed his individual bits and rants on social media and YouTube tens of thousands of times over the years. Roy also feels a deep, motivating catharsis.
“Entertaining and being on stage was the first time that I felt accepted for who I was when I was younger. I didn’t have to posture and act overly macho,” he said.
“Part of the reason Spells plays on the floor at venues is that I like being in the mix. I love interactive shows, and my fondest memories of my teenage years were fraternal Eagles club shows and playing at VFW halls and in art galleries — wherever we could put on a show. That’s what made it great,” he said, “and it’s what I’ve always wanted. To say, ‘This is yours, too.’ ”
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