About the Author

Born in Lancaster Massachusetts in 1954, Al Joyce was stealing bikes in the neighborhood by age 6 and by 10 had progressed to breaking into houses. So beings what would become a life of crime, drug & alcohol addiction, failed relationships and a string of personal disappointments.  Fast forward to his final release from The Worcester County Jail  in 2001, you have record consisting of over 73 arrests, arraignments & indictments, 7 incarcerations, 17 detox & recovery facilities, and time accumulated behind bars of close to a decade.

With his last arrest in April 2001, came his first day of sobriety, and a glimmer of hope. Through perseverance, 12 step work, a return to honest labor, and tremendous laughter, Al Joyce has managed to string that first day into over eight years clean and sober. It is this amazing journey of a life controlled by a needle and gun to a life free of drugs, alcohol, and crime and full of friends and humor that become the back drop of Al Joyce’s comedy and message of recovery. Now a professional Recovery Stand-Up Comedian and Motivational Speaker, Al Joyce, works under the name, Felon O’Reilly.

Al Joyce aka Felon O’Reilly, has toured the country performing his comedy, along with his experience, strength, and hope from the nightclubs of Boston and Los Angeles to Recovery Conventions, and back into the confines of the prison walls.  His early comedy roots began in Portland Maine on the stage of the Comedy Connection, where he once worked as a handy man and prop builder for the comedy acts coming through. He has co-authored a book with writer Sandie Webb, Laughing on the Inside, The Life and Crimes of Felon O’Reilly; a stable in treatment centers and prison libraries alike. He is currently the subject of a documentary film, Stand-Up Convict, filmed by Ben Kahn of Flying Fish films, and slated to be release in early 2010.  A second book, The Audacity of Dope, is currently in the early stages.

For Al Joyce, his true dedication and passion lie in working directly with fellow addicts and alcoholics as they struggle to get and remain clean and sober. Over the past five years, he delivered his story to countless youth groups, organizations working with troubled teens and high school classrooms. He brings his story directly into the Criminal Justice System, not only speaking at Prisons but assisting in Training Programs for Professionals working with criminals and addicts.  Mr. Joyce has been a lecturer at the US Justice and The Federal Board of Prison and Parole Conferences. The shifting of public policy in the criminal justice system from one of incarceration to one rehabilitation and recovery has become the mission of Al Joyce’s message.  It is his hope that many of misconceptions of and stigma surrounding the disease of addiction will be revisited by those with who shares his very personal, sometimes tragic, and often courageous and always humor filled story.