Ben Roy to drop new special, “Hyena” on Youtube August 10th
June 14, 2023 Matt Kleinschmidt Ben Roy, News, Specials
Ben Roy is prepping to drop his next stand-up special and we’re here for it. The Denver-based comedian (and 1/3 of The Grawlix) will drop Hyena via a hybrid model in the coming weeks that allows you to buy the special directly from his label as he drops the special on Youtube for free a few weeks later.
Starting Tuesday, July 11th, you can make a premium rental and digital download (for $10) of the special at 800 Pound Gorilla’s website. Then a few weeks later the special will drop in its entirety for streaming on 800 Pound Gorilla Youtube page on August 10th at 8pm ET.
Roy wrote much of Hyena during the pandemic. Which like most people re-wired the thinking of a lot of people for Ben, it might be a little bit of a Nihilistic approach. He stated, “It’s become clear just how f*cked we are. Our population has made us far too big to move in any one cohesive direction. We’re sort of like the Titanic now; our size has made it far too difficult to avoid any one sudden catastrophe. I believe what will happen will now happen. It’s best to just laugh and enjoy what remains.”
Roy’s always taken a punk rock approach to his comedy (he is the lead singer of a band afterall) the comedian wields a 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!” A reference to his truTV sitcom, Those Who Can’t. Roy howls out to the audience with an eccentric enthusiasm – and they howl back and echo the same feral and carnivorous energy that earned this special the apt name, Hyena.
The special is full of rants about the downfall of American society and how letting go may be our last hope in this chaotic yet surprisingly optimistic view of our inevitable demise and the cackling laughter we can enjoy while watching it die.