Cashing Out

It's the Cash Cab guy! Um, I mean, it's Ben Bailey! You probably all missed the comedy show right before Thanksgiving break, on Thursday, Nov. 19, since there were only about 800 seats filled in Peterson Recreation Center, and let me just shove it in your faces: you missed one hell of a show. Growing up, Ben Bailey was always known for his smart-aleck remarks, constantly getting thrown out of class for them. So, when he moved to California at 21, he quickly found work. It wasn't really the work you would expect-he was actually hired as a bodyguard because of his 6-foot, 6-inch figure-but this led to his current comedic work. One drunken night at a bar after work, Ben was telling old stories that intrigued and humored a comedian close by, and this led to him getting a spot on a comedy show lineup the next weekend. Since then he has appeared on shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Last Call with Carson Daly, Comedy Central's Premium Blend, and his own Comedy Central Presents 30-minute special, which debuted in 2005. From there he was given the host position for the incredibly popular Cash Cab. I don't want to say he hates being the host of Cash Cab, but Ben seems to show some dislike towards his current job. Stand-up is his bread and butter; it's what he he is great at and what he loves to do. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he is not great at hosting Cash Cab (he has three Daytime Emmy nominations for "Outstanding Game Show Host" and two awards for the best game show); he just seems to be annoyed by the fact that the show is what he is best known for. His stand-up is a lot better than his little snippets of comedy on the show. Sure, his little stabs at dumb people on Cash Cab are great, but with his stand-up he has a chance to tell full stories and act them out on stage. His giant-like body and hilarious facial expressions make his stand-up great. A lot of his bits on stage are about Cash Cab, but that's what he is hired to talk about, and that's what people want to hear. We got many stories unrelated to the show, but come on, what kind of show would it be if the Cash Cab guy never mentioned Cash Cab? The game show does fill Ben's stand-up with more stories to tell, but he doesn't need the show to be famous. He is a great stand-up comedian, and you should check out his old shows to get more acquainted with his work (and laugh your ass off). I can't deny that Cash Cab is a great hit, and he is very well known because of it, but you should see the other side of Ben Bailey, a side in which he is actually standing up and not constrained to the front seat of a van.

A New York Minute with Ben Bailey: How was the transition from stand-up to Cash Cab?

It wasn't so much a transition, but Cash Cab has definitely had an effect on my stand-up. Since there was no expectation before, they knew me for my stand-up. Now everybody knows me as the Cash Cab guy, and I'm so nice on television because I feel like I should be since I'm throwing these people into random situations, like, "Hey, guess what, you're on TV right now." But in stand-up it's hard to be that nice; as a comedian you have to run the show. Some people come to the show and are just like, "Holy ****, that's not what I expected, the Cash Cab guy curses a lot." It's just not the same things; there are certain things that they want. They want me to talk about the show, and they want to hear me scream "red light challenge."

Who was the worst contestant on the Cash Cab?

So we pick this guy up downtown, and we're about 40 blocks into the game and the guy says he wants to use a street shout out. So I pull over, this girl sees me; she starts screaming "Cash Cab!" and runs over to the van. He starts yelling, "She's a shill, these people are all shills," which is a term used in card games for someone working to cheat someone out, and then he starts to say he doesn't want to play anymore, and then he starts screaming at me like he wants to fight me. So my director just tells me to put the car in park, I get out, and they make him leave. He was a real ass. Like he was crazy-it's a cable game show, the point is for people to win. If you win, we are a better show.

What's the best place to get picked up?

I tell everyone the same thing: there really isn't a best place to get picked up. The people get in, and I go where they go. I know where I start every day, but I can't tell you that.

Have you ever been in an accident during the show? Two different guys that worked on the show as production assistants both crashed the car while parking the car at night. I never hit anything, but these two guys did in the parking garage. (Editor's Note: if you want to know what parking garage the Cash Cab is at every night, come to me, and for a small fee I can tell you.)

Has anyone ever been rejected from the Cash Cab? Only once, these two girls were just making fun of the show the whole time. Saying it was a dumb show, that no one watches it. I don't know what the deal was-if they thought they would be on the show if they did this, but they just annoyed me to no end, so I just said, "Why don't you just get the **** out of here if you don't like the show? If you don't want to be on it, your wish is my command, get the **** out!" And of course, they just said "Fine, whatever!" I just didn't want to waste my time. We would have spent an hour and a half shooting it and nothing to show for it, so what was the point?

What do we have to look forward to in the future from you or the Cash Cab?

There are 40 new episodes of Cash Cab already finished and coming for whenever Discovery decides to put them out. And I have a one-hour stand-up special on Comedy Central, which comes out in February, I think, which will also come out on DVD.