Rory J. Scovel (born August 6, 1980) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He released his first stand-up comedy album Dilation in 2011. He has since released the stand-up specials The Charleston Special (2015), Rory Scovel Tries Stand-Up for the First Time (2017), Live Without Fear (2021), and Religion, Sex, and a Few Things in Between (2024).
As an actor, he began his career as part of the main cast on the sitcoms Ground Floor (2013–2015) and Those Who Can't (2016–2019), co-starred in the romantic comedy film I Feel Pretty (2018), and also appeared in and wrote for the comedy series The Eric Andre Show (2012–2016). In the 2020s, he created and starred in his Comedy Central series Robbie (2020) and starred in the Apple TV+ series Physical (2021–2023).
Scovel first performed comedy in December 2003 at an open mic night in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He had just graduated from college and was working as a cameraman at a local television station WSPA. The following year, he moved to Washington D.C.,[6] where he performed for three years.[7] He then moved to New York City, where he performed for three years until he moved to Los Angeles, where he now lives.[7]
In 2010, he performed his first set for a late night show on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The following year, Scovel performed on Conan with comedian Jon Dore using the premise that the show had accidentally booked two comedians;[9][10] Scovel would go on to perform on and be interviewed by Conan many times in the following decade. Scovel also released his first stand-up album with Stand Up! Records, Dilation.[5][11] Scovel and the record were named by The Huffington Post as one of fourteen in their "Guide To New Comedy Albums of 2011".[12]
In 2012, Scovel was named among the 10 Comics to Watch by Variety magazine.[13] In April of that year, his set was featured on Comedy Central's The Half Hour. In 2013, he performed a show at the performance venue at Third Man Records, Jack White's record label.[14] The live show was recorded to tape and transferred to vinyl. There is no digital version of this recording.[15][16] White would later executive produce Scovel's 2017 special for Netflix.
In 2015, Scovel taped his first hour-long stand-up special at the Woolfe Street Playhouse in Charleston, South Carolina;[17] the special was aptly named Rory Scovel: The Charleston Special. In 2017, his next special, Rory Scovel Tries Stand-Up for the First Time, was released by Netflix.
Scovel's breakthrough acting role was as Harvard in the TBS sitcom Ground Floor.[1] He was a main character for both seasons of the show, which aired from 2013 to 2015. Following the cancellation of Ground Floor, Scovel joined the main cast of Those Who Can't, which began airing on TruTV in 2016, reprising his role as Principal Quinn from the 2013 Amazon film of the same name. He had various small acting and voice acting roles throughout the 2010s, including recurring roles on MTV's Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous, NBC's Undateable, and TBS' Wrecked. Scovel had a small role in Demetri Martin's indie comedy film Dean. He had a supporting role in the 2017 wide-release comedy The House. Notably, he starred as the main love interest in the 2018 Amy Schumer comedy film I Feel Pretty.
Scovel was part of the writing staff for the second and fourth seasons of The Eric Andre Show, which aired in 2013 and 2016, respectively. He was featured in the show's "New Years Eve Spooktacular" as well as an episode in season two where he played the fictional Chef Rory Scovel.
In November 2018, it was announced that Comedy Central had green-lit an eight-episode scripted television series produced, co-written, and starring Scovel, called Robbie.[23] In a February 2020 interview, Scovel disclosed that the show had been produced and was looking for a distributor.[24] On May 6, 2020, Comedy Central announced that Robbie would premiere later that week. The show premiered on May 7, 2020, at which time Comedy Central released the series in its entirety on its streaming platform and YouTube. Robbie is Comedy Central's first binge-release.[25] Recently, Scovel played the lead in the Chris Blake quarantine comedy, Distancing Socially filmed remotely using the iPhone 11. The film was acquired and released by Cinedigm in October 2021.[26]
