Roy Norris Wood Jr. (born December 11, 1978) is an American humorist, stand-up comedian, radio personality, actor, producer, podcaster, and writer best known for his correspondent appearances on ''

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form fro ...

''. A native of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, Wood was raised in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, and

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. After graduating from

Ramsay High School Ramsay High School is a four-year magnet high school in Birmingham, Alabama. It is one of seven high schools in the Birmingham City School System and one of three International Baccalaureate schools in the Birmingham metropolitan area. Originall ...

in 1996, Wood began his career in stand-up comedy as the opening act for

Tommy Davidson Thomas Davidson (born November 10, 1963) is an American comedian and actor. He was an original cast member on the sketch comedy TV show '' In Living Color'', Mitchell on ''Between Brothers'' (1997-1999), Dexter on '' Malcolm & Eddie'' (1999-200 ...

. He had a position as head writer on the

WBHJ WBHJ (95.7 FM) is an urban-leaning rhythmic-formatted radio station that serves Birmingham, Alabama. In 2005, it also began broadcasting in IBOC digital radio, using the HD Radio system from iBiquity. It is owned by SummitMedia along with ...

radio series ''Buckwilde Morning Show'' from 2001 to 2006. Wood has been featured on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

series ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

'' in 2010 and the TBS

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

Sullivan & Son ''Sullivan & Son'' is an American sitcom created by Steve Byrne and Rob Long that was broadcast on TBS. It starred Byrne as Steve Sullivan, who surprises his parents when he leaves his job as a corporate lawyer to take over a bar owned by his ...

'' from 2011 to 2014. He currently hosts two podcasts for

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

: Roy's Job Fair and Beyond the Scenes. Wood was honored at ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

s "12 Rising Stars of Comedy" in 2008 and the 2010

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the Un ...

Young Alumni Awards. Since 2015, Wood has served as a correspondent for ''The Daily Show'' on

. He hosted the fourth season of Comedy Central's ''

This Is Not Happening "This Is Not Happening" is the fourteenth episode of the eighth season and the 175th episode overall of the science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. The episode first aired in the United States on February 25, 2001, on the Fox Network, ...

'' from 2018 to 2019. In addition to his ''Daily Show'' appearances, Wood has starred in the stand-up comedy specials ''Father Figure'' (2017), ''No One Loves You'' (2019), and ''Imperfect Messenger'' (2021). He has also been featured in television series and movies.

Early life and education

Wood was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, New York. His father, Roy Wood Sr., was a

, radio broadcasting and journalism pioneer who covered the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

; the racism encountered by African-American soldiers in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

; the Soweto uprising; and the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia). The conflict pitted three for ...

, among other topics. His mother is Joyce Dugan Wood, a college administrator. His paternal three times great-grandfather, Sam Wood, was born c. 1790 in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. His parents separated for a time, and Wood lived with his mother in

. When Wood was in the second grade, his parents reconciled, so the family moved to Birmingham; they lived on South Park Road in Birmingham's West End neighborhood. His half-brother is Roy L. Wood, a news anchor. Wood attended Central Park Elementary and Center Street Middle School. He graduated from

in 1996. In 2001, Wood received a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

from

Career

Before Comedy Central

While in college, Wood worked as a morning news reporter for

, radio station WBHJ 95.7 Jamz Hot 105.7. He began focusing on a career in comedy after filling in for the station's in-house comedian,

Rickey Smiley Broderick Dornell Smiley (born August 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, actor, and radio personality, known for his prank phone calls. The calls feature Smiley disguising his voice and carrying on a conversation with th ...

. In 1998, when he was 19, Wood began his career as a standup. Wood recalls that he passed on his midterm tests, essentially failing the semester, in order to open for

. Wood spent his last two years of college doing dishes on the weekends. In 2001, after graduating from college, Wood returned to Birmingham and became the head writer/producer for the ''Buckwilde Morning Show'' (

95.7 JAMZ), a position he held until 2006. He continued working in radio, providing prank calls and content to various morning shows nationally and contributing to

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film ''Ray'', for which he won the A ...

's Foxxhole station on

Sirius XM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

. Wood released three prank call CDs: ''My Momma Made Me Wear This'' (2003), ''Confessions of a Bench Warmer'' (2005), and ''I'll Slap You to Sleep'' (2007). Wood's pranks have been featured on numerous hip-hop mix tapes. In 2007, Wood moved to Los Angeles. In 2010, Wood finished third in the seventh season of NBC's ''

'' and began hosting his own morning show, ''The Roy Wood Jr Show''. The show garnered top ratings and won 'Large Market Morning Show of the Year' from the

Alabama Broadcasters Association The Alabama Broadcasters Association (ABA) represents radio and television broadcasters across the U.S. state of Alabama. It is affiliated with the National Association of Broadcasters. Every year the organization presents the ABBY (Alabama's B ...

for several years. From 2011 to 2014, Wood appeared on the TBS sitcom ''

''. He had a guest starring role in the first season, but was then promoted to series regular for the second and third seasons. ''Sullivan & Son'' was canceled in 2014. In 2013, Wood's first stand-up comedy CD, ''Things I Think, I Think'', was released. In 2015, he was cast by ABC to play alongside

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...

in the comedy pilot ''Delores and Jermaine''; the show did not make it beyond the pilot stage.

At Comedy Central

In 2015, Wood joined ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

'' as a correspondent. Wood moved to New York City to take the job. Wood has said that his background in standup coupled with his degree in journalism prepared him for the job. Wood said that his work doing guest roles in sports on ESPN and related companies prepared him for ''The Daily Show'', giving him experience with acting, timing, and building characters. His first

stand-up special, ''Father Figure'', premiered in 2017, with an extended uncensored album of the same name released by Comedy Central Records. In 2017, he was named the new host of

's storytelling series ''

''. Wood's second

special, ''Roy Wood Jr.: No One Loves You'', premiered in 2019. Wood has appeared as a comic on many late night talk shows, including the '' Late Show with David Letterman'', ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airing from January 3, 2005, to December 19, 2 ...

'', ''

Chelsea Lately ''Chelsea Lately'' is an American late night comedy talk show created by Brody Stevens and hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler which was broadcast on E! The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and was produced by Handler's production company, Border ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

'', ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second ...

'', '' Late Night with Seth Meyers'', and '' Conan''. Wood has performed for the troops on numerous

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

tours in the Middle East and the Pacific Islands. In 2018, it was announced that Wood planned on shooting a TV show in Jefferson County, Alabama. The pilot, called ''Jefferson County Probation'', started shooting in May 2019. As of March 2020, a completed pilot for the show, now called ''Jefferson County: Probation'', was shot for

, with the show in development. The show, created in collaboration with Aaron McGruder (''

The Boondocks Boondocks are remote, usually brushy areas. Boondocks may also refer to: * The Boondocks (band), an Estonian rock band * ''The Boondocks'' (comic strip), a comic strip by Aaron McGruder ** ''The Boondocks'' (2005 TV series), the television ser ...

''), is about two probation officers in Jefferson County, Alabama. It is loosely inspired by a 1998 experience Wood had as a 19-year-old college student, when he was arrested for stealing $400 to $500 worth of blue jeans and was sentenced to probation. In 2019, Wood did a series of YouTube videos centered on the

Popeyes Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., also known as Popeyes and formerly named Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken & Biscuits, is an American multinational chain of fried chicken fast food restaurants that was formed in 1972 ...

chicken sandwich craze called ''The Coalition (Chicken Sandwich Coalition)''. In 2021, he was a guest on the PBS series '' Finding Your Roots'', where he described how he unexpectedly got probation at 19 for using credit cards he stole while a mail sorter for the US Postal Service to buy fashion jeans, and where it was revealed that he was a distant cousin of Congressman and civil rights activist

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

Honors

* 2008: ''

'', 12 Rising Stars of Comedy * 2010:

, Young Alumni Awards: A 40/40 Celebration

Selected publications

* * *

Selected filmography

* 2001: ''

Showtime at the Apollo ''Showtime at the Apollo'' (formerly ''It's Showtime at the Apollo'' and ''Apollo Live'') is an American variety show that first aired in syndication from September 12, 1987 to May 24, 2008. In 2018, the series returned on Fox with Steve Harvey ...

'' TV series – self * 2012–2014: ''

'' TV series – Roy (33 episodes) * 2003: ''

Star Search ''Star Search'' was an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 2929 Productions from 2003 to 2004. On both versio ...

'' TV series – Comedian Semi Finalist * 2005: ''

Premium Blend ''Premium Blend'' was a stand-up comedy series created and directed by Paul Miller that aired on the American cable television channel Comedy Central from 1997 to 2005. In 2005 the show was changed, and now known as "Live at Gotham". The show w ...

'' TV series – self * 2006: '' Bob & Tom: Standup Sitting Down'' TV movie – writer * 2006: ''Bob & Tom: Standup Sitting Down'' – writer * 2008: ''The Funny Spot'' TV series – writer * 2008: ''

Def Comedy Jam ''Def Comedy Jam'' is an HBO television series produced by Russell Simmons. The series had its original run from March 7, 1992 to May 2, 1997. Simmons was inspired to make Def Comedy Jam by The Uptown Comedy Club in Harlem, New York and Jerry L ...

'' TV series – writer, self (1 episode) * 2010: ''

'' TV series – self (5 episodes); writer (4 episodes) * 2015–present: ''

'' TV series – self, correspondent, various characters * 2015: ''Delores & Jermaine'' TV movie – Jerome Sr. * 2017: ''Impractical Jokers: After Party'' TV series – self (1 episode) * 2017: ''Let's Fix Sports'' TV series short – writer (1 episode: "Roy Wood Jr: Kill The Kiss Cam") * 2018–2019: ''

This is Not Happening "This Is Not Happening" is the fourteenth episode of the eighth season and the 175th episode overall of the science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. The episode first aired in the United States on February 25, 2001, on the Fox Network, ...

'' TV series – host (20 episodes), writer (2 episodes) * 2018: '' The Detour'' TV series – Kevin (1 episode) * 2019: ''Roy Wood Jr.: Snitch Cop'' TV movie – Snitch Cop * 2019: ''The Death of Dick Long'' – Dr. Richter * 2019: ''Roy Wood Jr.: The Avenging Ones'' TV movie – Luke Rage, writer * 2019–: ''

Crank Yankers ''Crank Yankers'' is an American adult puppet television show produced by Adam Carolla, Jimmy Kimmel and Daniel Kellison. It features actual crank calls made by show regulars and celebrity guests, while re-enacted onscreen by puppets for a visu ...

'' TV series – self * 2019–2020: ''The Coalition (Chicken Sandwich Coalition)'' TV short videos – writer, creator, voice * 2020: ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...

'' TV series – Grant (1 episode “

Something Unforgivable "Something Unforgivable" is the tenth and final episode of the fifth season of the AMC television series ''Better Call Saul'', a spin-off series of '' Breaking Bad''. The episode aired on April 20, 2020, on AMC in the United States and Canada. Ou ...

”) * 2020: '' The Last O.G.'' TV series – Runson (1 episode) * 2020: ''

Space Force A space force is a military branch of a nation's armed forces that conducts military operations in outer space and space warfare. The world's first space force was the Russian Space Forces, established in 1992 as an independent military service. ...

'' TV series – Liaison Bert Mellows (2 episodes) * 2020: ''The Opening Act'' – Gary * 2020: ''Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party'' TV series – self (1 episode) * 2021: ''

Only Murders in the Building ''Only Murders in the Building'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman. The ten-episode first season premiered on Hulu in August 2021. The plot follows three strangers played by Steve M ...

'' TV series – Vaughn (1 episode) * 2022: ''

Confess, Fletch ''Confess, Fletch'' is a 2022 American crime comedy film directed by Greg Mottola, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Zev Borow. Based on Gregory Mcdonald's 1976 novel of the same name, the film stars Jon Hamm, Lorenza Izzo, Marcia Gay Harde ...

Movie - Detective Monroe * '' BET's ComicView'' TV series – self * '' SportsNation'' TV series – self * TBD: ''Jefferson County: Probation'' – producer, writer

Stand-up specials

Selected discography

* 2003: ''My Momma Made Me Wear This'' CD * 2005: ''Confessions of a Bench Warmer'' CD * 2007: ''I'll Slap You to Sleep'' CD * 2013: ''Things I Think, I Think'' CD

References

External links

* * *
Roy Wood, Jr.
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Roy Jr. 1978 births Living people African-American male comedians American male comedians Last Comic Standing contestants Male actors from Birmingham, Alabama Florida A&M University alumni 21st-century American comedians Comedians from Alabama Ramsay High School alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people