Biography
Kenny Bhan began acting in plays in elementary school, and started doing close up magic in middle school. In high school the Navy recruited him into a special program. And during college he received a scholarship to study acting at the University of Oxford in Great Britain. While training in Oxford, his teachers included Gary Sinise, Kathleen Turner, John Barton, Sir Derek Jacobi, Fiona Shaw and Ian Wooldridge. He was cast as the lead "Aimwell" in George Farquhar's "The Beaux Stratagem" performed at Balliol College. Today, he holds a B.F.A. in acting from Howard University, where he took "Creative Drama" with classmate, the late Chadwick Boseman, who offered Kenny a role in his original play, "Hieroglyphic Graffiti" while at Howard.
He's worked with Kelsey Grammer, Fred Willard, Patricia Heaton and Josh Gad directed by James Burrows in "Back to You" at Twentieth Century Fox. He plays a resident doctor in "The Good Doctor" directed by Lance Daly and winner in the Tribeca Film Festival. He supports fellow actors, Orlando Bloom, Rob Morrow, Troy Garity and Taraji P. Henson in this feature film thriller, by John Enbom. He was cast as series regular "Sterling Raffey" in the TV sitcom "The Trainer" opposite Barry Williams, Tarneisha Stimage and Alice Walker. The project was created, written and directed by Richard Alan Elias, who later gave Ken a 'producer' credit for going above and beyond his top billing role. He plays a spiritual life coach "Pradeep" in the feature film "Bad People" written and directed by Alex Petrovitch. Alex noted audiences often commented Ken's scenes are among the funniest parts of the movie. He appeared in the popular TV series "Lie to Me" where he played a lab technician opposite Tim Roth and Erica Christiansen. He's a villain in feature film "Kings of L.A." portraying "Samir" opposite actor William L. Johnson with Michael Paré, Paula Jai Parker, Alimi Ballard and directed by Van Elder. Ken's also an expert in "drifting" cars, which means skidding them sideways around a perfectly. Ken's driving skills have been featured in a number of film and television projects. Early in his career, he appeared in "Sex and the City" playing a taxi driver, giving Sarah Jessica Parker and Bridget Monaghan a ride in the episode "Running with Scissors" In downtown Manhattan, directed by Denis Erdman
We recently had lunch, talked about interesting vehicles, entertainment projects and he shared a few magic tricks while gabbing extensively about his favorite four letter word, which I'll come to later. I began scribbling notes about his early acting work, which began in Theatre. He was offered the lead role of Aladdin in Klassika Theatre's production of "Aladdin" while at Howard University and was in "Julius Caesar" at the Washington Opera, part of the Kennedy Center Complex. He was given the lead role in "Dancing with the Devil" where he was able to play a version of Mephistopheles, the devil himself. Ken assures me, the "devil" is a challenging role. Later he was back at the Kennedy Center as "Malik" in the world premiere of "Chump Changes" an original play written and directed by Alan Sharpe. This time the stage was the prestigious AFI Theater. Ken joined the Screen Actors Guild while working on the television show "The Young Americans" on the WB Network, a spin-off of "Dawson's Creek." He developed his technique with the aid of professors Mike Malone, Kim Bey, Mark Jolin, Timmy Ray James and Dr. Vera J. Katz within the Fine Arts program at Howard. Dr. Katz would later praise his work as organic, vulnerable with humor throughout. Commenting, "He's a master at improvisation." Ken's first TV commercial was for professional basketball team the "Washington Wizards" and he would go on to book three more commercials while attending college. His commercial credits include Wendy's, AT&T, Geico, Cox Communications and many more. Upon graduating with a B.F.A. in acting he set off on a cross country drive to Los Angeles settling in Venice Beach. He trained with acting coach Bernard Hiller in Burbank, California. It prompted Bernie to describe his work as "an Oscar-worthy performance" during a scene portrayal from the popular play "Boy's Life."
When he's not on a film or television set, you can find him performing stand-up in local comedy clubs like The Comedy Store, Laugh Factory, Improv, Flapper's and The Ice House. He also likes tinkering with cars, adding custom features that can do things like brew a cup of tea, inflate your tires, and keep all your stuff in place while "drifting." His latest addition is a mini refrigerator and spirit’s bar located in the trunk, for tailgating. He enjoys stunt driving and he was featured in a video by hip-hop artist "ScHoolboy Q" along with his custom convertible, where he does a massive burnout. He's a car guy, and oddly, has an immaculate driving record with zero tickets over the last ten years, even though he often drives from Los Angeles to Annapolis, Maryland, and back again. I asked him how many times have you driven across the country? He answered, "At least fifty, maybe a hundred. Every time you drive across the country, you usually have to drive back, so you double the number. " I replied, "Let me guess, math?"
Ken has a unique secret related to a deck of cards he carries in his pocket, so he can perform magic, wherever he goes. He enjoys performing close up magic at the world famous Magic Castle which started after his submission tape was watched by Jack Goldfinger, Director of Entertainment at the Castle. His magic is all based on quantum physics and his favorite four letter word, which is math. Yes, math. He says "Math never lies" and underneath his quirky persona, his quirk is he's a genius with an I.Q. of 150 and hasn't worked a regular job in twenty years because he has his own investing business, and teaches people how to make money with a portfolio. Who taught Ken math? It's mostly, his father. Born Kenneth Mark Bhan, in Washington, DC, he's the son of mechanical engineer Chander Bhan and writer, Esme Evelyn Bhan. Chander Bhan has been recognized in "Who's Who in the World" as well as "Who's Who in the East" and "Men of Achievement" for his work in engineering efficiency with IBM and Honeywell. His mother, Esme Evelyn, was selected to be a fellow at Harvard University in Cambridge and is a published writer and archivist. She also worked at the Smithsonian Institute for a number of years. His Indian parents emphasized the importance of education and pushed their son to achieve a perfect score on his math SATs, which attracted the military. During high school he was recruited by the Navy to join a special program at the United States Naval Academy. He began training to be an engineer, and continued for three consecutive years during high school, taking evening and summer classes, usually at Michaelson or Rickover Hall, at the United States Naval Academy. Ken enjoyed drifting his car around the base and got into trouble on more than one occasion while at the Academy for "car shenanigans" by military police when he was sixteen. Luckily his intellect prevailed and he received an endorsement from Senator Barbara Mikulski to officially enlist. However, his eyesight which required glasses, prevented him from serving active duty. Ken was actually relieved and quickly enrolled as an acting major at Howard University and earned a scholarship to train with the British American Drama Academy (BADA) at Balliol College at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. A trifecta of polar opposites when it comes to universities and institutions around the world. Thank goodness LASIK eye surgery came when it came, otherwise Ken’s acting could have been lost forever. Kenny says "comedy is timing, which involves math. So does "drifting" cars, magic and sex... and just about everything else if you think about it." I nodded yes, after all, he’s a math genius. If I disagree, he would prove me wrong on the spot, and somehow make me like it.
"So that’s why you’re so weird!" I commented and he replied, "precisely."
That’s Kenny Bhan in a nutshell, completely unfiltered, completely truthful and uses his intellect to make his life, and those around him, a perpetual party. If you have a chance to meet him and he asks if you want to see a magic trick, my advice is to say yes. I'm not very good at math, but I consider it a mathematical certainty, he'll blow your mind. I know because he did it to me.
