Rob Delaney
Quick Facts
Biography
Rob Delaney (born January 19, 1977) is an American comedian, actor, and writer.
Early life
Delaney was raised in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and graduated with a degree in musical theater in 1999.
Career
Delaney first came to the attention of the public via Twitter, on which he started posting in 2009. By 2016, Delaney had over 1.2 million followers. While other comics were hesitant to share their material on social media, Delaney is considered one of the first comedians to use social media to publish jokes. Delaney credits comedy writer and director Graham Linehan with his rise in popularity after Linehan began responding to Delaney's tweets.
In 2010, Paste magazine named Delaney one of the ten funniest people on Twitter. In May 2012, he became the first comedian to win the 'Funniest Person on Twitter Award' at The Comedy Awards hosted by Comedy Central.
Writing
Delaney has written several articles for Vice as well as The Guardian.
His book Rob Delaney: Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage. was published by Spiegel & Grau in November 2013.
Television
In December 2011, Comedy Central announced that Delaney would shoot a pilot for a variety show, called "@RobDelaney".
Delaney and Sharon Horgan co-wrote and co-star in Catastrophe, a six-part comedy series for the British Channel 4 that began airing in the UK on 19 January 2015. It has been renewed for a third and fourth series.
Since moving to the UK in 2014, Delaney has appeared on several British panel shows, including Have I Got News for You, Would I Lie to You?, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year and Room 101.
Delaney is also well known for trying to scrub, what is widely considered the worst Jimmy Kimmel appearance in history, from the Internet.[citation needed]
Personal life
Delaney is married and has three children. He lives in London.
Delaney has publicly shared his experience with clinical depression and alcohol addiction. In 2002, Delaney blacked out while driving and drove his car into a building owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. In the wreck, he broke his left wrist and right arm, and had both of his knees scratched to the bone. This prompted Delaney to stop drinking, and he has been sober since February 4, 2002.
Delaney is a left wing progressive and often writes about political issues. He claims to choose presidential candidates based mostly on their policies regarding education and health care, reasoning: "Make it easier for your citizens to be healthy and smart and they will save you in ways you have yet to imagine."He supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary and voted for Hillary Clinton in the subsequent general election. After Donald Trump was elected president, Delaney decided to join Democratic Socialists of America, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Filmography
Year | Work | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | Wild Girls Gone | Himself | |
2009 | Coma, Period. | Dan Humford | Ten episodes |
2009 | Outer Space Astronauts | Commander Cake | |
2010 | This Week in Comedy | Himself | |
2011 | The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest | Himself | Six episodes |
2012 | Key and Peele | Campaign Advisor / White Guy in Negraph Commercial | Two episodes |
2012 | First Dates with Toby Harris | Brad | |
2013 | Rob Delaney Live at the Bowery Ballroom | Live performance special available on Netflix | |
2014 | Life After Beth | News Anchor | |
2015 - 2017 | Catastrophe | Rob | Co-creator, co-writer and main cast |