{{short description|American stand-up comedian and writer (born 1972)}} {{About|the American comedian|the American politician|Leo E. Allen}} {{Infobox person |name=Leo Allen |image= |caption= |birth_date={{birth date and age|1972|7|5}} |birth_place=Massachusetts, U.S. |years_active= |occupation=Stand-up comedian, writer |birth_name=Leopold Rufus Allen }}
'''Leopold Rufus "Leo" Allen''' (born July 5, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and writer from Detroit, Michigan, known as one half of the comedy team '''Slovin and Allen'''.<ref name="NYT.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/magazine/23funny_humor.html |title=Blind Rage, The New York Times | first=Leo | last=Allen |work=The New York Times | date=April 23, 2006 | accessdate=May 7, 2010}}</ref>
== Career == Allen has been performing stand-up comedy since the late 1990s. In 2001, Allen, along with his writing partner, Eric Slovin, appeared in their own ''Comedy Central Presents'' special,<ref name="comedycentral.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.comedycentral.com/comedians/browse/s/slovin_and_allen.jhtml |title=Comedy Central, Comedians A-Z}}</ref> which featured sketches such as "Time Machine" and "Turkey Slapper". Slovin and Allen went on to write for ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2002 to 2005.
He appeared in the 1997 comedy film ''Who's the Caboose?'' starring Sarah Silverman, which featured early movie appearances by several comedians.
A veteran of numerous New York City comedy clubs and alternative venues, Allen performs both solo and as part of the duo "Slovin and Allen". He has toured with comedians such as Eugene Mirman, Demetri Martin, Todd Barry, Michael Showalter, and others. He hosts "Whiplash" at the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theatre in NYC, for which he was nominated for a 2009 ECNY Award for Best Host.
Beginning in September 2005, Allen set a personal goal to read 100 books in one year. Halfway through the project, he cited as favorites ''The Ginger Man'' by J.P. Donleavy, ''The Master and Margarita'' by Mikhail Bulgakov, ''Don Quixote'' by Miguel de Cervantes and works by Octavia Butler.<ref name="npr.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5508995|title=A Standup Guy Who Is Serious About Books, NPR.com|website=NPR |date=25 June 2006 }}</ref>
Allen's writing has appeared in the ''New York Times Magazine''. His television credits include ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', ''Funny or Die Presents'', ''Comedians of Comedy'', ''Human Giant'', ''Michael and Michael Have Issues''.
Allen co-starred in the comedy series ''Jon Benjamin Has a Van'', which ran on Comedy Central for one season in 2011. He was also the show's co-creator and executive producer.
Allen was a writer and executive producer on the first season of IFC series ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'', which aired in 2012. He guest-starred on the third episode which aired on June 22, 2012, playing a man who eats bicycles.
==References== <!-- See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags --> {{reflist|2}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|1179485}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080115175728/http://www.slovinandallen.com/ Slovin and Allen] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20071117020027/http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile MySpace Page]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Leo}} Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American comedians Category:21st-century American male actors Category:21st-century American male writers Category:21st-century American screenwriters Category:American comedy writers Category:American male comedians Category:American male screenwriters Category:American male television actors Category:American male television writers Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television producers Category:American television writers Category:Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners Category:Comedians from Massachusetts