Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jevon Johnson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jevon , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I started doing comedy very late by most standards. Most comics start in their teens or early 20’s. I started at 35 and was already married and had two children. Honestly I never thought comedy would be the path I’d take but I’m so happy I found it. As a husband and father you put everyone before yourself and you can end up trying to find something, or a space that is just for you. This is where I was when I found comedy and it was a saving grace for me.

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.

I have always been a performer for as long as I can remember. Music is actual my first love. I used to love to sing and dance. Kids used to hate to see me walk into birthday parties because everyone knew I’d be winning the dance contests. I actually thought I’d be a singer when I grew up, but then puberty hit lol. My voice changed and that was that lol.

But like I said I have always been a performer. As I look back, I see now that God was preparing me for where I am now. When I was as young as 5 years old, my grandmother would volunteer me to sing solos in church, read scripture or even hosts events like the Pastor’s Anniversay.

As I got older I fell in love with hip-hop. I idolized dudes like Big Daddy Kane, Jay-Z and Notorious BIG…. I’m a Brooklyn baby so you understand. lol. I was actually a pretty good rapper (I still get busy when one of these young cats try to test me lol) and probably would’ve gotten a deal if I wasn’t so girl crazy back then.

Fast forward, I’m 35, married with two beautiful kids. Working a job I hate and not feeling fulfilled at all. One day I’m talking to my daughter. She was probably 6 at the time. She was feeling down because she had a dance performance and didn’t feel like she did her best. I was telling her to never dim her light and that she has to go after what she wants and always give 100% . If she doesn’t, her life will be full of regret. As I’m listening to myself talk, I’m feeling very hypocritical. Here I am with all this talent and I’m sitting here at this job I hate, not doing anything I love anymore. I noticed in that moment that something had to change.

A few weeks later, one of my closest friends invited me to a comedy show that his co-worker is hosting. At this point in my life I had never actually been to a comedy show. As we’re sitting there, I’m watching the comics and thinking to myself, “I’m funnier than all these dudes. If they can do this for a living, so can I”. Now I have never wanted to be a comedian but I’ve always been funny. Growing up in a tough neighborhood in Brooklyn, I got picked on a lot. I was a smart, nerdy kid with ridiculously thick glasses. So you know I got snapped on a lot. Once again, I didn’t know it then but God was preparing me for my future career. As a result of being picked on so much, I developed extremely thick skin and also an ability to come up with some really quick and funny comebacks. Now some of these comebacks weren’t said aloud because I didn’t want my teeth knocked out lol.

As I got older, snapping on people and finding humor in any situation just became natural to me. While riding the train to work, I’d look around and roast people to myself throughout my commute and man these jokes were fire lol.

One night, we go to another comedy shows hosted by my friend’s co-worker. The co-worker’s name was Joe Hill. After the show, I go to Joe and tell him I’d like to try stand-up. He told me he had another show in two weeks and he’ll let me open the show up and do 5 minutes. I was like, two weeks? Nah bruh I need a little more time to prepare lol. He laughs and tells me I can do the show that was coming in two weeks. I prepare, write my jokes and don’t share anything with anyone, material wise. I tell friends and family that I’m doing comedy for the first time and everyone that I tell laughs. My wife asks to hear some of my jokes and I don’t share any of them with her. The night of the show comes, I have a lot of friends and family there and the crazy thing is, most of them where there to see me fail and laugh at me, not my jokes. What’s crazy is, I wasn’t nervous. I was excited. I couldn’t wait to get on that stage. I went on and I killed it. It went 100 times better than I could’ve ever imagined and that was the start of my comedy career!

Most people say they do comedy because they love to make people laugh. This is true but comedy is therapy for me. It’s something that’s mine. Where I can be me, tell my story, bring people into my world, in my way. I love being in a room full of happy people and knowing I added to that joy.

Comedy has ignited something amazing in me. I have always wanted to be an actor as well and through comedy, I’ve been able to act, write and produce. My style of comedy is very high energy and physical and that comes fro my early years of song, dancing, rapping etc. I always did everything with very high energy and I call my style of comedy “High Voltage” Comedy.

I know we live in a time where age is a factor in everything, especially when you’re an artist. People always tell you, “oh you’re too old to do that”. I want to be an inspiration for people that find their gift, or path later in life. I want them to see me and know, God’s timing is perfect!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Everything I do is to provide a better life for my family. Anyone that knows me, knows that my family is my world. My wife, children and my mother bring me so much joy, so my motivation everyday is to give them a life that is full of an abundance of good things. I’m very blessed to be able to provide for them but I want to do much more. I don’t want finances to ever be a concern. My family supports me so much, so I want to give them the world.

My mother has always been the person who has made me feel like I can accomplish anything. When I’d come home from school felling sad because I got picked on, she’d always lift my spirits and make me feel so confident. When I became a man, my wife became that for me in a different capacity. As a father I want to show my kids to live life in a way where you intentionally and unapologetically go after what you want. I don’t want them to live in fear. Walk in faith and believe you can do anything. So all these things push me. When I’m tired and want to give up, I think about the example I have to continuously set for them.

My family has made so many sacrifices for me and have lifted me up during tough times, I have to “make it” for them!

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Understand that your journey can be lonely at times. It’s your dream and not anyone else’s. Just being fully transparent, there was a time in my comedy career where my wife wasn’t as supportive as I needed her to be and I couldn’t understand it.

I spoke to one of my mentors about it and he said to me, “Jay this is your dream, not hers”. That really gave me a different perspective. I felt like she didn’t believe in me before but it wasn’t that, she was scared. She didn’t sign up to marry a man that wanted to chase a dream at 35, she wanted security.

I spoke to her at one time about quitting my job and doing comedy full time, because I felt like my job was getting in the way of my dream. Man she was not supportive of that idea at all lol. I didn’t understand it then but I get it now. I had to first show her I was dedicated to my dream, I had to show her the work I was putting in but also continue to provide for our family. I still work a 9-5 now but I’ve learned to let my job support my dream. It’s hard and tiring at times but my family is good, so I’m good.

As I started taking my creative passions more seriously and started being more strategic and dedicated, I have seen my wife’s support for me grow immensely. She’s my biggest cheerleader now and it makes the journey much easier. It ain’t easy at all but it’s much easier lol.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @jevonmjohnson
• Facebook: JevonMJohnson
• Youtube: Jevonmjohnson