We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brandon Bruffett. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brandon below.
Brandon, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I had done music event production & promotion for organizing edm & hip-hop shows for years. I was used to being behind the scenes, but i left the music up to others. In my late 30’s, i was going through a pretty dark time with depression. I had always been a huge fan of comedy, but it got to the point where I couldn’t watch a comedy special without crying. Id start one & the announcer would say “ladies & gentlemen, please welcome to the stage..” & od just lose it. I couldnt figure out what the problem was so i just attributed it to the depression. One day I was listening to Jordan Peterson & he said “when you come across something that makes you well up, that’s the thing you have to walk through.” A few days after that, the girl I was dating told me she wanted to take a position in Chicago, that she wanted me to come with her & that there was this place there called The Second City. She knew nothing of the history of Second City, but my dad brought me up on SCTV so I took it as a sign. I signed up for a couple of classed at the Second City Training Center & took off to Chicago. She & I parted ways, buy I’m still in love with comedy. Best decision I ever made!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a stand-up comedian, writer, show producer, podcaster & all around funny person based in Baton Rouge, LA. I began performing comedy in Chicago, IL in 2018 as a student at the world renowned Second City Training Center focusing on stand-up & storytelling. While is Chicago I immersed myself in the city’s bustling open mic scene. Wanting to take full advantage of so much access to stage time, i soon found myself doing 13-15 mics a week. By the time i left Chicago & headed back to New Orleans, where i was residing at the time, i was a decemt enough comic that the folks in NOLA really took notice & i was invited to start hitting the stage at several booked shows around city. I was dating a traveling nurse at the time, so we moved around a good bit. After a few months in New Orleans, we headed out to northern California. I landed a gig as an opener at Woody’s Brewery in Redding, CA, which was one of only 2 spots for comedy in that town. But I was fortunate to get to play some spots in Sacramento, San Francisco, Freemond, Richmond, Mt Shasta & Chico during my stay in California. I have since found himself performing across the country, from Chicago to New Orleans & as far west as San Francisco, CA & Eugene, OR in venues including The Second City, The Laugh Factory, Howling Wolf & The Comedy Bar. By the time I made it back to New Orleans I was a fairly seasoned comedian. I became a regular face on stages around town, both at open mics & booked shows. I’d love to give a big shout out to Red Bean, Carrey B & Nature Boy over at Comedy Gumbeaux. Those guys, Red Bean especially, put my in some roles of responsibility & on stage with some names that really made me show up & grow up. Because of them I’ve been blessed to share the stage with Sean Patton, Craig Robinson(Pineapple Express & Hot Tub TimeMachine), Punkie Johnson(SNL) & Rob Kazi just to name a few. I’ve been fortunate to run a couple of podcasts; Under the Influencers, which I hosted solo & Putting the FU in FUnny, which I co-hosted with my partner, Pickle. I’ve recently relocated to Baton Rouge, LA, which has been a great move for me. The city doesn’t have much of a comedy scene, but I’ve been embraced by the best in the city(lots of love to my Mid City Live family!) & there are a few of us who are working on making the Baton Rouge scene more active. I’ve teamed up with partners Casey Evans & Justin Burnett to form Free Agents Comedy & I’m proud to say that our very first event, Shh.. A Comedy Speakeasy, a collaboration with Gloria McConnell (Black Dress Productions), was a smashing success & hopefully the first of many sold out shows to come. We have given birth to Baton Rouge’s newest open mic comedy night; the Hit With A Brick open mic at Brickyard South, which kicked off with great reviews & participation from some of the top comics in the city. I will be starting a recurring indepentent show called Putting the FU in FUnny starting in December. Then, the Free Agents Comedy team has got our sights set on making 2025 the busiest year in Baton Rouge comedy history, as well as putting in some miles on the road doing out of town dates. I’m very excited to see where the next year takes us! I’m also trying to up my social media numbers, so if you’re interested in watching us build, please follow me across social media at:
BrandonBruffettComedy
I would really appreciate the love & support.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
As I stated earlier, I’ve had some issues with depression over the years. Substance abuse is also a big part of my story. The combination of the two conditions has definitely done it’s share in hampering my progress as a comedian. From “not feeling up to it” to not giving it my all to being a little looser than I probably should’ve been at times to just not rising to the occasion & living up to my potential, mental health & addiction have been a huge obstacle along the way. Anyone who suffers with these conditions knows what I’m taking about & I know, for sure, that I’m not alone. 2023 was not a good year for me. I was spiritually & emotionally bankrupt. I couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t not do drugs & drink & I was barely getting booked. I was hopeless & I was unraveling fast. I woke up on a daily basis wishing that I would die. That feeling stayed on top of me so long that, on the morning of December 29, 2023, I finally gave in & attempted suicide. Needless to say, I survived, but I wasn’t immediately happy about it. Life was looking pretty bleak. I had no money, no job, no hope & no faith. I thought I had destroyed any chances I might have had in comedy. The only thing i knew for sure was, if I was gonna be alive longer than I planned, everything had to change. After spending New Years Eve in the trauma unit, followed by a few days in the psych ward, I checked myself into Woodlake Recovery Center for 28 days of much needed help & set about the mission of getting my life together. After rehab, i moved i to a sober livi g house & I got involved in my local recovery community. I got serious about the 12 steps of AA & started working with others who needed help. Oddly enough, since I started working the program I haven’t thought about killing myself one time. I am happier, healthier & more spiritually fit than ive ever been & I’m solely focused on making every part of life better for myself as well as those around me. The cherry on top, I am a much better comedian sober than I’ve ever been & I’m booked & busier than any time in my career. I’ve got a whole bunch of projects on the horizon & a much better outlook on the future. But most importantly, I’m looking forward to living, laughing & making the most out of every day.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
It seems to me that laughter is the most unifying sound on the planet. No matter where youre from, or what language you speak, you understand laughter whe. You hear it. It transcends borders like nothing else. Unfortunately, we are living in a time of ridiculous sensitivity. It’s gotten to the point where comedians are often under fire for simply addressing certain topics. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve told race based jokes(not racist jokes, race based jokes) & black folks in the crowd are dying laughing while white folks are wondering if it’s OK to laugh. We need to understand that just because a comedian addresses things such as race or gender or sexuality does not automatically make that person a bigot. My goal is to build a diverse audience who understands that I am exploring thoughts & trying to find the funny in touchy subjects that others may be afraid to tread into. I want to see rooms with diverse representation letting their laughter flow freely in stead of holding back & questioning the motives of comedic exploration
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandonbruffettcomedy/profilecard/?igsh=MXh0YjhmcThndjJlcw==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/5FCaKHtXuayExqMS/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@brandon_bruffett_comedy?si=DA57tF6LusFRbX1n
Image Credits
Nkechi Chibueze
Casey Evans
Catherine Copeland
Brandon Bruffett