As the room full of eager patrons wait for the show to start, you can tell that there is something different about life today. We all feel a little pressure right not to get back to the things we once took for granted. Venturing inside with no mask, sitting among friends for an evening out. These are the things that we now appreciate more than ever. And as we wait for the main act to come out, you can tell people are ready to laugh.
The room darkens as the music starts and the opening act calls out his name, “Welcome to the stage, Bill Bellamy!”
The room claps with applause as Bill walks up to the stage. But the audience not just clapping to see Bill. They are clapping to have something normal back. They’re ready to feel good again, ready to have their souls fed by someone they trust. Bill Bellamy does not disappoint as he delivers joke after joke like he does every time he visits Cleveland.
“I always love coming to Cleveland,” Bellamy relates to the audience, “but I had no idea Cleveland rocked like this in the summer. I will never be back in November again!” he jokes.
The crowd claps with agreeance and the fun continue for another hour.
The stage feels like home to Bellamy, who grew up in Jersey. The 1989 high school graduate always knew he wanted to do something special. It was college where Bellamy got his break. He was asked to host a talent show for the Alpha-Phi-Alpha organization and killed it onstage.
“I must give a shout-out to one of my friends, Keith Williams, who is an Alpha, for putting me on stage. Keith gave me my first break and it has been on from there,” Bellamy said.
Bellamy broke into television when he landed an opportunity with MTV. He would later host MTV Raps and other shows while gaining a national fan base. His interview skills quickly became trusted by those who were interviewed.
Bellamy developed a rapport with his guests and quickly learned that the best way to win the trust of the people he was interviewing was to just be himself. That formula worked as Bellamy became a sought person to do most of the interviews with anyone of interest at the time.
“People started to seek me out for interviews because I would make them laugh, which would help break down their walls for the interview. That meant that I got a better conversation out of them, and the audience was able to learn more about the person I was interviewing” Bellamy explained.
While growing in popularity on MTV, Bellamy started to branch out and do other things. He started to get small parts in commercials and other campaigns from major brands.
After those opportunities, Bellamy broke into film. One of his first roles was in a film called, Who’s The Man, with Ed Lover and Dre. After getting bit by the acting bug, Bellamy started to get some interesting parts.
His next role would prove that Bellamy could act. Love Jones gave Bellamy the opportunity to play something different.
“When they asked me to do Love Jones, no one thought that I could play a negative character,” Bellamy said. “The role in Love Jones required me to be a bad person, so I had to prove I could do that, and I was able to pull it off.”
And he is right. Love Jones is a Black movie favorite because of its storyline and the actors in the film. It starred a young Larenz Tate, Nia Long, and Bill Bellamy. The film got rave reviews and is still a choice today for anyone looking for a good film to watch.
One of his most memorable performances was in How to Be a Player. Bellamy starred as the lead in the film about dating, working, and living your best life, with a little humor thrown in.
Today, Bellamy is continuing to live his best life with a gorgeous wife and two lovely kids who keep him grounded and centered. Residing in the suburbs of Los Angeles, Bellamy gets some of his material from his own life experiences.
“Kids only really are aware of what is going on when you cut the Wi-Fi off,” Bellamy joked to the audience. “It’s only after they realize that there is no connection that they come out of their rooms stunned and looking for answers as to why life has stopped.”
Bellamy’s new comedy special called, I Want My Life Back, details the things that everyone does daily.
“It’s a tribute to getting back to normalcy. Getting over COVID, the kids getting back to school, trying to make your marriage work, going on date night, back to the movies, and just living life,” Bellamy said.
I Want My Life Back can be seen on Amazon Prime, along with Bellamy’s other movies. He is also hosting a new podcast show called Top Billing, on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube where Bellamy gets back to his roots of interviewing his guests about the things that make them tick.
As of last week, Top Billing, is the number one Podcast on Apple. Bellamy’s recent guests included rap artist T.I. and comedian Tony Rock. He will continue Top Billing as he jets across the country to do comedy shows around the nation.
Later this year, Bellamy has a book coming out and a feature film scheduled for this fall called Back to The Strip — starring Kevin Hart, Wesley Snipes, BJ Smooth, and Gary Owen — where they play strippers trying to get their mojo back.
It might be fair to say that Bellamy is winning in his personal and professional life by never having any controversy around him. That is something he takes pride in and protects by living a well-intentioned life.
At the end of his show, the crowd gave Bellamy a rave review of his performance by clapping for several minutes. For Bellamy, nothing has changed in a world where everything has changed and needs comics more than ever.
