Category: Hosting

In the tradition of comedians who have made the transition from the stage to the screen, such as Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby, multi-talented Guy Torry has made the leap to comedic actor with great success. Guy has been seen on BET’s “Comic View,” Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend,” “Showtime at the Apollo” and “Russell Simmons: Def Comedy Jam” where he made his stand up debut to a national audience. Guy also hosted the enormously successful 52 city comedy tour The Kings of Comedy, which grossed over $37M. He created a unique concept called Phat Comedy Tuesdays which was a weekly showcase for up and coming comedians. This evolved into a weekly spotlight at the Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip entitled The Guy Torry Show where Guy hosts and produces a comedy showcase featuring an improv comedy troupe. This event was regularly attended by the comedy A-List including Eddie Murphy, Chris Tucker and Chris Rock.

Francisco Ramos can be seen on Netflix’s “Gentefied” and Hulu’s “This Fool” and wrapped his first feature film “The Unexpecteds” along Matt Walsh from “Veep” coming out later this year. He directed, co-wrote and starred in his debut comedy short “Zoo Animals”, which was acquired by MAX to stream on their platform. He also shot a standup special “EntreNos” for MAX. He was part of the first ever Netflix is a Joke Festival held in Los Angeles. He was a top-ten finalist on Last Comic Standing and has appeared in Show-time’s “Shameless,” as well other appearances in “Angie Tribeca” from Steve Carell, Netflix”s “Lady Dynamite”, and voicing the role of Marmoset in the animated film “RIO” and part of Cartoon Network show “Victor and Valentino”. He has also appeared on the hilarious @midnight on Comedy Central and several times on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Francisco was part of Lorne Michael”s “Mas Mejor”, where he has written, directed and performed several sketches for them. His debut album “Vayalo” has been exclusively playing on Sirius XM and has been a top 5 album on the Billboard Comedy Charts.

Early in his career, Francisco was selected to perform in the CBS Multicultural Diversity Showcase, where he was one of 12 selected from a pool of 5,000 applicants. Having won first place in the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival sponsored by NBC/COZI TV, American Latino produced a documentary on Francisco about his rise as a comic for Latino Out Loud (LOL).

Countless theater, television, film, and comedic endeavors have pushed David Alan Grier’s career to remarkable heights. His ability to excel across all mediums and contexts is a testament to his inherent sense of comedic timing and creative drive.

On the film front, Grier has appeared in prominent feature films including THE BIG SICK, produced by Judd Apatow; ARIZONA, alongside Kaitlin Olson, Danny McBride, Justin Theroux, and Seth Rogen; and Tyler Perry’s PEEPLES, alongside Kerry Washington and Craig Robinson. He can recently be seen in A24’s ‘NATIVE SON.’ and the dramatic indie film, SPRINTER, produced by Will Smith. David’s next film appearances will be in great supporting roles in Paramount’s upcoming feature, CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, and in Netflix’s COFFEE AND KAREEM.

His television work is highlighted by his turn as a principal cast member on the Emmy Award-winning show, IN LIVING COLOR (1990-1994), where he created and portrayed some of the show’s most memorable characters. He also starred in DAG (2000-2001) and LIFE WITH BONNIE (2003), which earned him the Image Award and Golden Satellite Award nominations. In 2008, David created, wrote, and starred in Comedy Central’s CHOCOLATE NEWS. He also starred previously as ‘Principal Carl Gaines’ in CBS’ BAD TEACHER. In 2015, David played ‘The Cowardly Lion’ in NBC’s popular live television special, THE WIZ LIVE! Grier also starred as a Series Regular on NBC’s THE CARMICHAEL SHOW and recurred in Season 2 of the Netflix adventure/drama, A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS. He played the lead in COOL KIDS, Danny McBride’s multicam comedy for FOX, and can next be seen recurring in QUEEN SUGAR for OWN and as a guest cameo on Issa Rae’s BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW for HBO.

The three-time Tony and Grammy Award-nominee was trained in Shakespeare at Yale University, where he earned an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Grier has received many accolades and awards throughout his career, not the least of which was his inclusion on Comedy Central’s list of “The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time”. Grier also cowrote the Jury Prize winning and LA Film Festival nominated Feature, THE POKER HOUSE, starring Jennifer Lawrence.

What comedian do you know that has 2 Emmy’s, appeared on Broadway and was voted “Best Male Standup” at the American Comedy Awards? That’s right, it’s The LoveMaster Craig Shoemaker! Best known for his engaging, relatable standup and iconic baritone-voiced character, The LoveMaster, Craig has appeared on hit television shows such as “Parks & Recreation” and “The Bold & The Beautiful.” Craig’s latest 90-minute standup special, “Daditude,” aired prime time for three months on SHOWTIME Network. The Los Angeles Times praises him, saying; “Shoemaker is insightful and amusing … we are moved beyond laughter to tears.”

Using his experiences growing up in Newark, Bill Bellamy started doing stand-up while he was a student at Rutgers University. Bellamy quickly discovered how much he enjoyed making people laugh and began honing his skills at small comedy clubs around the country and was soon making waves in the New York clubs like The Improv, The Comic Strip, and at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles.

In less than two years of launching his stand-up career, Bellamy earned a spot on HBO’s DEF COMEDY JAM where he notoriously coined the phrase “Booty Call.” The now famous late-night rendezvous moniker became the name for his first comedy special for Showtime; “Booty Call” and it was instantly one of the network’s top-rated specials.

Bellamy became a staple on MTV in the 90’s as one of the first “VJs” on the network. He hosted several of their programming blocks, including MTV JAMS. MTV TOP 20 COUNTDOWN and MTV BEACH HOUSE, while interviewing everyone from the late Kurt Cobain, Prince, Snoop Dogg, to Janet Jackson. In 1996, Bill landed his own late night series, “The Bill Bellamy Show.” 

Bill starred and executive produced in his own syndicated show in 2012 MR. BOX OFFICE with costars Jon Lovitz, Tim Meadows, and Vivica J. Fox. Prior to MR. BOX OFFICE Bellamy has appeared on recurring episodes of Tyler Perry’s MEET THE BROWNS/TBS and has guest-starred on ABC’s CASTLE, USA’s ROYAL PAINS, USA’s WHITE COLLAR & TNT’s MURDER IN THE FIRST. Previously, Bill hosted and produced four seasons of the TV One comedy competition show WHO’S GOT JOKES? and hosted two seasons of NBC’s Emmy Nominated LAST COMIC STANDING.

Bellamy also continued to star on the big screen in addition to garnering coveted guest roles in several prominent television series. In the feature world, Bellamy starred in LOVE JONES, HOW TO BE A PLAYER, LOVE STINKS, THE BROTHERS, and ANY GIVEN SUNDAY. At the same time, showcasing his mutli-hyphenate talents, Bellamy continued to hone his comedy and stand-up prowess. He debuted his second comedy special, CRAZY SEXY DIRTY in May 2012, it was one of the highest rated comedy specials of their respective years on Showtime. In 2017 Bellamy co-starred with Shemar Moore & Nadine Velazquez in the romantic comedy THE BOUNCE BACK.

Bill was a recurring co-host on THE RACHAEL RAY SHOW and Bill has also filled in for host Mario Lopez on ACCESS HOLLYWOOD Live and hosted the ESPY AWARDS red carpet for ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT. In 2015, Bill hosted the Telepictures/Scripps syndicated hit game show LETS ASK AMERICA.

In between acting in feature films, TV shows and hosting duties, Bill decided return to his first love – stand-up comedy. Bellamy debuted his third Showtime comedy special, LADIES NIGHT OUT . The tour sold out nation-wide and featured material by comedians Ali Siddiq, J. Reid and D’Lai. Bill has appeared as a featured player in SHAQ”S ALL STAR COMEDY JAM which tours across the country and as a Showtime comedy special
in 2017. Bill also headlined a nation-wide comedy tour, THE STANDING OVATION TOUR, with Tommy Davidson, Sommore, Marc Curry & Tony Rock.

Bellamy joined the top-rated Tom Joyner Morning Show as a weekly co-host for the 2017 season.

In 2018, Bellamy had a key recurring role on HBO’s INSECURE. Bellamy can next be seen in the horror/thriller film, A DARK FOE, opposite Selma Blair and Graham Greene. Bill also landed a series regular role in the ABC pilot, NANA, alongside Katey Segal. Most recently, Bellamy produced and starred in the holiday film ” A Rich Christmas for BET Plus, while staring in the upcoming comedy ” Back To The Strip” featuring Wesley Snipes, Tiffany Haddish, J Smoove, Gary Owens and Faison Love. 2021 Bellamy in his first book deal with Harper- Collins to be released fall of 2022. Also, signed a joint venture with Breakbeat Media to produce his own podcast.