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Benjy Bronk comedian and writer for The Howard Stern Show. He started out as a pre-interviewer and fact finder for guests appearing on the show. Howard is often annoyed by Benjy's on-air hijinks because he feels that Benjy is constantly doing schtick and not being genuine or even funny. Benjy now sits in the studio behind Artie Lange, taking the "Jackie role" of writing jokes and funny lines for Howard as the show happens.

Article from New York Post on Benjy

SOURCE: The New York Post - 12/30/01 http://www.nypost.com/living/37741.htm 11:54, 12 January 2006 (UTC) Picture of BB. http://www.nypost.com/photos/web12300153.jpg=========================...

THE NERVE!

By MARIANNE GARVEY

A classic stunt: Sneak in fast! 

- Matthew McDermott

December 30, 2001 -- We've all been in the situation: You're late for an appointment, caught in the rain and trying desperately to score a cab. But when you finally spot a taxi with its roof light on, some sleazy jerk zips past you, lunges for the door, jumps in and takes off in a flash.

What can you do besides wait for another?

Not much, according to Matthew Daus, the head of the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission, who says there are no actual guidelines or laws governing the hailing of a street cab.

Behavior, he notes, falls outside the TLC's jurisdiction.

"Although there are no regulations, it shouldn't be a free-for-all," Daus said.

Still, some New Yorkers definitely play by their own rules.

Take Benjy Bronk, a 30-year-old comedian from Manhattan. He says he applies different degrees of competitiveness to each situation. His only firm rule: "The first person who's completely in the cab should get it."

Bronk's best tip? He'll go for a taxi from either side of the car.

"People think the traditional sidewalk side is the best side, but that's the moment you can seize the opportunity, zigzag through the traffic and jump in on the other side," he said.

"Somebody doesn't have a right just because they're at a corner first," he said. "That's ridiculous."

He says he used to give a break to good-looking women, but he stopped when he realized he wasn't getting phone numbers in return.

"Now they're a challenge like the rest," he said.

Bronk does have a soft spot for the elderly and those in poor physical condition. "If someone looks over 75 and out of shape, I'll give them a break and even get a cab for them, but if you're under 70, the competition is on," he said.

(For the record, Daus says the polite and acceptable way to get a taxi is by hailing while standing on the sidewalk, and the first hail gets the cab.)

But with just 12,187 yellow cabs to service some 8 million people, rudeness will occasionally reign.

Common snatching tactics include running ahead of someone who has beaten you to a corner and coming up from behind a person about to enter and diving in yourself.

And if you're caught red-handed and asked to leave by the driver? Rule breakers suggest you pretend not to speak English. They say it works every time.

Of course, weaving through oncoming traffic can get dangerous. According to Bruce Schaller, former head of the TLC, there are approximately 50 passenger-related accidents a day in the city, which results in "thousands of injuries each year," he said.

Daus recommends using taxi stands as much as possible because they tend to provide more orderly service. Even so, sneaks will simply jump in the last cab to skip the line.

Some taxi dispatchers in Manhattan pointed to the stand directly in front of Madison Square Garden on Seventh Avenue as the most viciously competitive.

Caesar Bell, 37, a dispatcher there for five years, says he's witnessed several fights among people in line.

"The roughest crowd are the Rangers fans, they've been drinking so they start acting disorderly," Bell said. "They jump in front of the line without waiting, and sometimes I have to get them out of a cab they stole, which is nearly impossible."

One fisticuffs involved two drag queens in full makeup. "It was the nuttiest thing," he said. "I had to call the cops on the both of them; meanwhile there were two empty cabs waiting."

Elijah Miller, 24, a dispatcher at the taxi stand in front of Macy's, on 34th Street, says he's been called every name in the book - and seen every excuse for line-cutting. Among these was one woman's plea that she had to get to the hospital or she "might die."

"She had also just come out from the revolving Macy's door," Miller recalled. "And her arms were full with packages."

Bronk says that you shouldn't take cab-hailing too seriously. He says he thinks of it as a sport.

"If they bring the Olympics to New York, they should really consider entering cab-hailing," he said.

Count him among would-be competitors.

"I like the hunt of it," Bronk said. "I'm so good that sometimes I'll even run alongside a cab and sense when it will stop."

Still, not all cab hailers are so cutthroat.

Sheila Passin, a 53-year-old sales rep from Brooklyn, said she doesn't "flip out" if someone steals a cab from her.

"I'll just wait for the next one," Passin said. "Life's too short."

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SOURCE: EPD²

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SOURCE: The New York Post - 12/30/01 http://www.nypost.com/living/37741.htm 11:54, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Benjy is willing to do anything for money and/or airtime. He claimed to be so poor he had to bathe in restaurant bathrooms. He was thrown out of the Donald Trump Roast for trying to kiss people. Bronk also appeared in a PBS documentary about hotdogs. When interviewed, he acted as though he was mentally retarded.

Benjy is known to sleep up to 23 hours a day. He eats turkey-pastrami and is reclusive, exiting his apartment only to search for food.

Benjy grew up in South Carolinawhere he was the first non African American to become state hula hoop champ.

Before working on the Stern Show, Benjy lived in South Central , L.A. doing outreach with inner city gang members.