Tony Rock is best known for his role as “Dirk,” the prototypical bachelor on the UPN series “All Of Us.” He has successfully been able to avoid the looming shadow of his older brother, Chris Rock, and claim his own audience as a comedian and actor.
Tony has been in the comedy game for just over a decade, which is the average time, it takes many comedians to work the comedy club circuit before audiences remember their names, yet Tony has been a regular at A list comedy clubs for half that time. A humble Rock says, “I’m still a baby in comedy and learning every day.”
Having a very famous brother in the same line of work is a double edged sword for Tony. Some people assume he gets shows simply because they are brothers. But the other side to that is people hold him to a higher standard. Tony maintains that he has been grinding and is earning his stripes. In fact, he insists that each of the (eight)”Rock brothers are doing well, independent and don’t need to piggyback of each other. In addition to his run on UPN, Tony has amassed other TV credits including “The Funny Spot” “Def Comedy Jam” and “The Tony Rock Project.” He admits The Tony Rock Project, although self titled is the first project he did “for the check.” “That’s the first project I did that I wasn’t behind it 100 percent, and I won’t do that again,” he states. He admits he had very little input and the show was created by the producers and they later tagged his name at the end. However he is in talks with Comedy Central to do a new sketch comedy show. Also his Comedy Central Special debuts this Friday. For Tony, he would love to do more acting, but because he has less control over the work, comedy will always come first. In addition, he says he would love to do a dramatic movie with his brother.
Judging from the many loud outbursts of laughs and the long line of fans waiting to take pictures with Rock this past weekend, the crowd at the Washington DC Improv seemed to love his antics and stories. Tony says he has grown as a person and a comic. Now he can find the non-obvious humor in typical stories. He says the biggest lesson he has learned applies to anything that you want to do. The best people are the people who work the hardest. Tony is on the road approximately 35 weekends each year. Traveling so often gets frustrating at times, but being on stage and getting love from the fans make it worthwhile. On stage he has no filters and will say whatever comes to mind. Offstage, although he is often the life of the party, he is much more reserved. He says he doesn’t curse in front of elders, nor women when he first meets them.
As for his personal life, he says he doesn’t expect to be marrying anytime soon and is still regrouping from a terrible break-up, but says he would like to marry some day and have a “gangload of kids.” Tony says he tries to be a loyal and good friend and wants to be a role model for other kids in his hometown of New York.
Be sure to catch Tony Rock and Garrick Dixon when they come to a town near you. Comedy Central Presents Tony Rock airs February 19th at 11pm EST
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