Bloody Bloody Benjamin Walker's Pre-Presidential Street Hustling

Before rave reviews as the much-lusted-after star of Broadway’s incoming Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, serious roles in starry stage dramas like 2008’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses and the romance that would have him calling Oscar winner Meryl Streep “mom”(in-law), Benjamin Walker was a typical struggling performer, a Southern transplant cutting his teeth in the comedy halls of the Big Apple. (In fact, he talked about juggling stand-up and Juilliard back in 2007 when Broadway.com singled him out as a Fresh Face during his Main Stem debut performance in Inherit the Wind.) We couldn’t help wondering what Walker, now more dashing matinee idol than middling joke peddler, was like then—and fortunately, there’s YouTube, where we unearthed a few comic gems. One of our favorites is this 2006 clip of Walker alternately harassing and cajoling passers-by in an attempt to get them to check out a gig at Comedy Village. (Props to Ben for his improv skills, which turn a visit from a kid on a bike into running shtick…literally.) Watch this one for a blast from Ben Walker’s past.