We recently connected with Jarvis Bynum and have shared our conversation below.

Jarvis, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve always loved entertaining and when I was 14, I was watching a rerun of The Fresh Prince of Belair, and it was the episode where Will gets shot. One of their more heavy episodes and it made me tear up and cry a little. I was amazed at how this show that makes me laugh so much, had me crying. I remember wanting to create that feeling and have that effect on others.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

At my core, I’m an entertainer! I love people, I love performing, and I love attention! Acting is the main form of entertainment I like to provide! I did my first “legit” show as a senior in high school. It was our school musical titled “Back to the 80s: The Totally Awesome Musical”
The experience I had working on that show was incredible and gave me a legit interest in acting. I went on to major in Theatre Performance at Austin Peay State University which had a huge impact on shaping performer and person I am! From what I learned to the people I met and the experiences I had, it opened up life for me in a lot of ways that I didn’t know were possible!
Theatre taught and gave me so much and still does, but film was always what I really wanted to dive into. In 2016 I signed with The Avenue Model and Talent Agency with a very strong assist from fellow actor Don Day! Shout out to Don, he’ll always be one of my favorite people! After getting an agent, I was able to get a lot of really cool auditions and some cool bookings. I’ve gotten to do dozens of commercials and industrials, a few short films, and two feature films!
Even with all that cool stuff, the time in between can drive you crazy, so I decided to make my own content instead of waiting. With two of my really good friends Jim Seward and Laramie Lomanto, we started our own production company called Jam Jar Films! We like to specialize in comedies with heart, but if it’s a good story, we’ll tackle it!
Another big part of me is IMPROV! I’ve been a member of Nashville Improv since 2016 and became the artistic director in December of 2021. With me not doing as much theatre as I used to, this keeps me in front of live audiences on a regular basis. Joining was easily one of the top five choices I’ve ever made! I also host parties, trivia, and karaoke!
Those are my things!

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

YES! Training for film acting! Film acting conservatories! Coming from little ole Brownsville, TN, I had no idea how or where to learn how to act. I guess I could’ve googled it lol, but it just didn’t seem real. I’m more than grateful for Austin Peay and looking back, wouldn’t trade that experience, but I do wonder from time to time how’d I be if had less debt and a more direct path to what I wanted. Thank God for the 4th Wall Acting Studio!

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

That there isn’t really any kind of roadmap or blueprint to “success” in terms of commercially or financially. A lot of the times it’s just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. There are a lot of people make great money and reach high levels in their career fields, but also HATE their jobs. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do but that sounds miserable to me. I think the real success is finding a way to do what you love to do for as long as you can do it. If you can do that and also make life work, you’re successful!

Contact Info:

• Website: Nashvilleimprov.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/the_jarvis_bynum?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jarvis.bynum.3?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: https://instagram.com/jamjarfilms?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA== https://instagram.com/nashvilleimprov?igshid=MjEwN2IyYWYwYw==

Image Credits
Barb Jones Michael Gomez