On an average day, Ben Bailey drives a yellow cab around New York City, asking passengers trivia questions and doling out dough for his show, “Cash Cab,” on Discovery Channel.
But Thusday he steps out of the cab to be a featured speaker at the Taxi and Limousine Commission Driver Recognition Ceremony, at Top of the Rock (at Rockefeller Plaza), an event held to salute the best city drivers.
Ben Bailey
AGE: 38
JOB: Cab driver, host of Discovery’s “Cash Cab” (Mondays at 6 p.m.)
HOURS/WEEK: Over 40
TIME ON THE JOB: Three years
You went from limo driver to being host of “Cash Cab,” a trivia game show that takes place in an NYC cab.
How did you get discovered?
They did a nationwide casting call for the host. I was brought in because [the producers] had spoken to comedy clubs in New York, and they said, “Ben Bailey used to drive limos, and he’s a funny fellow.” So I went in, and I auditioned four or five times, the last of which was in a minivan, which I drove off the curb in the very beginning of the interview. I was like, “Can we start again?”
You had to take an official taxi cab test to drive a cash cab. Was it hard?
I thought maybe I could just take the test and pass it because I knew the city pretty well, but I was wrong. One of the questions was: “If you’re at 161st at Broadway, what bridge do you take to get to Yankee Stadium?” There were four possible choices, and I had never heard of any of them.
Did you pass the test?
I had to get a 70. I got a 92.
What rules wouldn’t the average rider know about?
There’s a law that if I make eye contact with a customer, and it’s understood between us that I’m going to pick them up, I can’t pick anyone else up.
Who was your craziest contestant?
I picked up a huge guy, as tall as me, about 6-feet-6, and he probably weighed 350 pounds. He was wearing a purple velour rabbit suit and 5-inch plastic heels. And he kept calling me “babe.” He got out and didn’t play. He realized what was going on and I guess he didn’t want to be on TV in his rabbit suit.
Have the lights and music that go on when riders get in the cab ever scared anyone?
One time this woman just started bawling. She looked at me, and I said, “You’re in the Cash Cab!” and she just started crying. She had just had a really rough day. She was from out of town and trying to get to a job interview and had been dropped in the wrong neighborhood by a cab driver already. So she was at the end of her wits by the time she got into the Cash Cab.
What’s the largest sum won in the Cash Cab?
We have a new record as of about three weeks ago. It’s $4,100, [won by] a couple of bus tour guides here in New York.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
bruce 10.09.08 at 4:50 pm
do they get to keep the cash?
whitney 01.01.09 at 1:44 pm
Bruce, have you ever seen Cash Cab? Yeah. They get to keep it. If you can find episodes online or anything like that you should watch a few. It’s a fantastic show.
Bill B 01.16.09 at 11:27 am
It looks like it to me that the money he hands out is bogus. It has pixs on the money of non presidents.
Miranda 03.11.09 at 12:16 pm
the money they hand out is fake, but they mail you a check later. My friend was on it once
Anonymous 04.28.09 at 11:11 pm
Has there ever been someone one the show twice?
george 09.20.09 at 7:40 am
I have watched Cash Cab many, many times. Every single time that a contestant elects to use their “mobile phone shout-out option”, the person being called ANSWERS ON THE FIRST RING! I know of no one who has ever called someone and they answered on the first ring. Heck, the preponderence of the time, you get voicemail!! Gotta be staged.
george 09.20.09 at 7:50 am
It the show filmed in a studio, or is it actually filmed on the streets of New York? Also, every time a contestant, or contestants, is picked up, they always ask for a destination that is roughly 38 blocks away. I mean, what happens if the rider, or prospective rider (contestant), only wants to go eleven (11) blocks to their destination. The show seems so phony. Pretty much always a 36 to 40 block ride! Furthermore, I have been to New York City many, many times and ridden in many, many cabs. If a driver took his eyes off the street, and looked sideways as many times as the Cash Cab driver does, there would have already been a lot of wrecks on the show!!!
lwilliams 09.22.09 at 1:17 pm
George: It’s not that serious, I’m sure the show is edited. The driver of cab does indeed have a hack license, and he’s the sole driver of the cab they use for the show. I’ve never seen it while on the road, but look out for it. The medallion is 7N78.
nyctaxiphoto 09.23.09 at 8:53 am
although it is most likely -very most likely- staged, it is actually a licensed cabbie, driving a medallion taxi. they are driving through new york, but the contestants are pre-arranged, and so there is no hurry to drive through the streets in a quick pace, therefore, the driver can look to his side as many times as he likes. he is driving very slow, and rarely does he pass other vehicles. he is also followed by a film crew in a van behind him.
nyctaxiphoto 09.23.09 at 8:54 am
I wanted to be on the show, but I didn’t know who to ask, they didn’t look like they were taking customers. any real cabbie would’ve been desperate to pick somebody up.
Valerie Cooke 11.24.09 at 11:57 am
I would like to know where Ben Bailey obtained the question for which the answer was Nelson Mandela which aired on the Cash Cab show on November 23rd 2009.
The answer which was given by Cash Cab was definitely wrong!
Where is this information?
Please reply, and please repeat the question.
Valerie Cooke.
RUDY 11.27.09 at 9:31 pm
DEAR BEN ,IF 1 DAY U FINISH WHIT ,, CASH CAB,, MAYBE U BE A FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF THE NYC TAXI DRIVERS UNION. WE NEED U BEN !!!!!!!
Luis 01.03.10 at 1:12 pm
Two questions :
who makes the questios and the answers you do?
Who is the sponser(s) for the money?
jim white 01.22.10 at 2:13 pm
you can add a feature and keep the qaudience interested with just a simple change.
when contestants elect NOT to try the video bonus, give them their $$$ and then play the video “just for chuckles”. this would hold the audience and give a better sense of closure to the game. if the contestants get it correct, for no $$$, give them a T-shirt or cap.
anonymous 02.25.10 at 6:30 pm
Has anyone ever said, “No, I do not want to play, but thanks anways.”