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Barry Rothbart

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Barry Rothbart
Rothbart backstage at comedy show
Born1983 (age 42–43)
Forest Hills, New York, US
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • filmmaker
  • actor
  • writer
Websitewww.barryrothbart.com

Barry Rothbart (born 1983) is an American comedian, filmmaker, actor and writer based in Los Angeles. He was named one of Variety magazine's "10 Comics to Watch" in 2013.[1] He played Peter Deblasio in 2013's The Wolf of Wall Street, Kevin on ABC's Downward Dog and Bert on Showtime's Kidding. As a documentary filmmaker, he created the 2025 Audible Original documentary series Searching for Allan Rothbart, co-directed the 2014 feature Hungry, and produced, co-wrote and shot the 2026 SXSW Jury Award winner Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story.[2][3][4]

Early life

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Rothbart was born in Forest Hills in Queens, New York.[5] He is Jewish.[6]

Rothbart's father, Allan Rothbart, was a bookmaker for the Gambino crime family who told his son he was a music producer and Jon Bon Jovi's manager.[2][5] Allan was arrested in 1997 and admitted his role in the operation, after which Rothbart, then in high school, did errands for his father's illegal sports betting business.[5][2] Allan died of cancer in 2007.[2] Rothbart later discussed the story on This Is Not Happening with Ari Shaffir[7] and made it the subject of his 2025 Audible series Searching for Allan Rothbart.[2]

Rothbart briefly attended the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he started doing stand-up.[5] He transferred to Pace University to study business, then left after a year to study film at Hofstra University.[5] He took classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre before focusing on stand-up.[5] After seven years performing in New York, he moved to Los Angeles.[5]

Career

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Stand-up and acting

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Rothbart started out in commercials and found early success there.[5] In 2011, he made his stand-up television debut on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[8] In 2013, Variety named him one of its "Top Ten Comics to Watch."[9]

In 2012, he was cast on the revival of Punk'd but was fired after four episodes after his management team leaked news of his role.[5] In 2013 he played Peter Deblasio in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street. In 2014, he released the stand-up album Streets of Fire on AST Records.[10]

He played series regular Kevin on ABC's Downward Dog (2017) and a recurring role as Bert on Showtime's Kidding (2019). His film roles include The Lovebirds (2020), Vacation Friends (2021), and Who Invited Them (2022).

Filmmaking and producing

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Rothbart co-directed, produced and edited the feature documentary Hungry with Jeff Cerulli. The film follows competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi and his dispute with Major League Eating, and premiered at the DOC NYC film festival at New York's IFC Center in November 2013 before a 2014 release on VOD platforms through FilmBuff.[11][12]

In 2025, Rothbart created, wrote, hosted and produced the ten-part Audible Original series Searching for Allan Rothbart, a co-production with Campside Media. The series investigates his late father's secret life as a Gambino crime family bookmaker, drawing on cassette tapes Allan recorded on his deathbed.[2][13]

In 2026, Rothbart produced, co-wrote and served as cinematographer on Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story, directed by Ayden Mayeri. The documentary, which follows four childhood friends whose homemade preteen album became a cult internet hit two decades later, premiered at the SXSW Film & TV Festival, where it won both the Jury Award for Documentary Feature and the Audience Award.[3][4][14] The film was produced under his production company Handsome Boy along with Grief Party and Extra A Productions.[3]

In 2014, Rothbart co-created and co-produced the Comedy Central digital series 300 Sunnyside.[15]

Podcasts

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Rothbart hosted Saving the World with Barry and Lucas with Lucas Neff, a free-flowing conversation about people who want to save the world.[16] He was a guest on the Shoot This Now podcast, where he told the story of working as a videographer at a nudist colony for gay men over fifty.[17]

He co-hosts The Podcumentary with filmmaker Jeff Cerulli, a weekly podcast about documentary films and the people who make them.[18]

In 2025, he created, wrote and hosted the ten-part Audible Original Searching for Allan Rothbart, a co-production with Campside Media.[2]

Filmography

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Films

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Television

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Discography

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Albums

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  • Streets of Fire (2014)

References

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  1. ↑ Blair, Iain (July 17, 2013). "How Barry Rothbart's Ad Lib Skills Impressed Martin Scorsese". Variety.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Searching for Allan Rothbart". Campside Media. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "'Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story' Review: Doc Celebrates Girlhood". The Hollywood Reporter. March 18, 2026.
  4. 1 2 "SXSW 2026 Film and TV Awards Winners List". IndieWire. March 19, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "BA #240: Barry Rothbart". the Box Angeles podcast. August 13, 2018.
  6. ↑ @barryrothbart (April 25, 2011). "If you feel sort of Jewish, do you have to say Jewish-ish? Cause that's how I feel" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ↑ Comedy Central (February 13, 2015). "This Is Not Happening - Barry Rothbart - Going to Atlantic City with Papa - Uncensored" – via YouTube.
  8. ↑ Davidson, Phil (August 27, 2013). "Talking to Barry Rothbart about Leno". Splitsider. Archived from the original on May 4, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Barry Rothbart". Barry Rothbart. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  10. ↑ Davidson, Phil (December 1, 2014). "Keeping Busy with Barry Rothbart". Splitsider. Archived from the original on January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  11. ↑ "HUNGRY". DOC NYC. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
  12. ↑ "DOC NYC: HUNGRY". This Week in New York. November 13, 2013.
  13. ↑ "The Weekly Download: What's New In Podcasts This Week". Podcast News Daily. August 15, 2025.
  14. ↑ Swanson, Charles (April 7, 2026). "Four Santa Rosa girls made an album 25 years ago. Now it's a cult favorite and the subject of a documentary". The Press Democrat.
  15. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (June 9, 2014). "Comedy Central Renews 'Inside Amy Schumer,' Orders Two Series". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Saving the World with Barry and Lucas". Starburns Audio. Archived from the original on September 3, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Barry Rothbart Explains His Job at a Gay Nudist Colony (Shoot This Now Podcast)". TheWrap. January 27, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  18. ↑ "meet the hosts". The Podcumentary. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
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