We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kris Bell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?

Something I learned before working for myself, not only as a creative, but also owning a handyman business with my best friend is if you’re willing to work as hard as you do for other people, you should be willing to work twice as hard for yourself. Take a chance on yourself, instead of working yourself to death to make someone else rich, find what you love to do and go for it! There will be tough times and plenty of rough patches, but at the end of the day you worked towards your goals and got that much closer to achieving your dreams! There’s no perfect formula on how to do it, you just have to take the chance on yourself.

Kris, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

For those who don’t know who Kris Bell is, I’m a large event emcee, actor, and stand up comedian! I’m The Grand Duke of Spook, The Monster of Scaremonies for the CreepyCon Halloween and Horror Convention, and most recently the Writer/Director of the upcoming horror film “What Dwells Beneath”. I broke into the creative space at a young age, I’ve always loved entertaining people in some form my entire life. There are many avenues I’ve gone down over the years to chase my dreams from theatre to pro wrestling to comedy, emcee work, and acting! I like to think I help people forget their problems, even if its only for a brief time, I can put smiles on faces. I really love what I do and I don’t think I could imagine doing anything else, but being an entertainer. I’ve been very fortunate to have such a supportive fiancé through all the years of me trying different things, as well as, having a very talented network of friends and peers that have helped me with numerous projects! I choose who I work with very carefully and keep a very small circle of people I trust, I’m very lucky to have the people in my life that I do. The things I would like people to take from my craft is just the fun energy that I put into it. I hope people enjoy following me and watching the things I do! I love creating new weird and wild things to unleash on the general population and hope the people out there keep wanting to see more!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The fact that there’s no right or wrong way to be a creative person. There’s no manual or instruction booklet with the perfect formula of steps to take to be perfect at it. You get to learn and evolve every day! You get to decide your schedule, your content, your live show, there’s no limit! Sometimes it’s so scary to put things out when you worry about how it might be received, but as long as you’re having fun, you’re happy, and you’re not hurting anyone then it doesn’t matter what everyone thinks! Be the person you want to be, be confident, and be kind.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Actually support your artists and creatives! Shop at local businesses for gifts and everyday items, go to that indy movie premiere, check out that open mic or locals showcase in your town! Share events and content on your platforms, even if it’s something you can’t go to maybe one of your friends finds it interesting and you’ve connected a new fan to an artist! Check out the local craft markets and conventions, don’t try to talk over that band or comedian at the bar you’re in, buy that piece of artwork! When you put that money and support back into your actual community instead of huge corporations you support your local economy! You have the power to help an artist grow to limitless heights, we can all help each other grow. There’s a common misconception that there’s only room at the top for a limited few, the truth is if we spent less time working to be better than one another and started working together to build off each other there’s no telling how much we could grow! Don’t be a jerk, be easy to work with, and be appreciative of the people who helped you along the way! Be grateful for the hard work you’ve done for yourself and proud of the help you’ve been able to give others. It’s only a competition if you make it one.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegranddukeofspookofficial/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KrisBellKomedy
• Other: TikTok: The Grand Duke of Spook

Image Credits
Image of Kris in Make Up with Fire behind him and Kris with Roswell – Mallory Bertrand Photography Grand Duke of Spook Logo by JimmyJam BoomBam Kris on Stage – CreepyCon Halloween and Horror Convention