We recently connected with Ty Mclaurin and have shared our conversation below.

Ty, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

So in 2014 I was working a regular job, 9-5 Mon-Friday. A local country bar I frequented decided to buy the space next to them to start a comedy club. They approached me to be the manager just because they thought I could be professional and they had noticed I was good with people. I knew nothing about comedy and had never even been to a comedy club. I worked that job for 3.5 years, learned a lot about the industry and met several famous comedians.
In 2021, I moved from my hometown Winston-Salem, NC to Charlotte NC, and left a corporate job at home for a bartending job in the big city. One of my first bar shifts, a gentleman came in and we started talking about life. He stated he was a popular DJ and podcast host. I told him I worked in entertainment for a while as a comedy club manager. He then invited me to be on his podcast discussing comedy. Our podcast made it around the neighborhood of the bar where I worked. A craft cocktail lounge was next door and their event coordinator heard the podcast, he then approached me about starting a comedy night at their lounge. We had the first show in June of 2022, and I hosted simply to save on the budget, I had never been on stage before. My set went so well the Headliner for the night, nationally touring comedian Tyrone Burston pulled me aside and said “Bro, that was crazy good. You would be crazy not to be traveling and doing this full time.” Almost 2.5 years later, Stumptown Comedy Jam has turn into the best independently produced shows in the greater Charlotte area per consensus. And I am traveling doing 10-12 shows a month, Over 50 shows this year so far, and Ive been to five different states.

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 am working comedian out of Charlotte, NC. I once studied to be a pastor, I was a medical interpreter for a while, but I mostly worked service industry jobs throughout my life. Good connections and happenstance, or maybe we should call it Divine Providence landed me in the world of Comedy. I now perform stand-up 10-12 times a month all along the southeast region of the US.

I am the originator, producer, and running of host of Stumptown Comedy Jam, an independently produced monthly comedy show at Stumptown Station Craft Cocktails in Matthews, NC. This show sells out every month and provides our region’s best comic artists with an amazing place to be hired and perform their art. In 2022, we had no budget, no production, no stage, and no name. Now in 2024, we have a fully produced show with a DJ, sponsorship, sellout crowds, and our first A-list comedian is booked for the month of October.

I am most proud of how life’s curveballs derailed me and threw me off track, but ultimately landed me right where I was supposed to be. The only thing I did on my end was prayed for the will not to give up, and God gave it to me. A near death experience combined with the death of two close friends and a family member in 2021 ultimately propelled me from a routine of normality and regularity to a life full of artistic expression, passion, and a different trajectory overall. My current projects as a comedian and comedy producer were all borne out of the worst time of my life. The will to never give up is essential because what awaits the other side of your pain is what you are destined to have in the first place.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being an artist or creative is that everyday you can just wake up and be YOU. You can be you in thought, dress, word, and deed. You’re not someone’s employee, you’re not having to abide by rules and protocols to stay employed and hope someone higher up likes you. You can just be YOU. The freedom in just being yourself is so peaceful. And the thought that my jokes, which are a combination of my feelings, thoughts, and experiences, can make someone laugh AND return a modest profit to me, is amazing-its fulfillment.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

When I first got into comedy, a close friend said “Why are you doing this?”
My response was “I would like to make an impression on the history of a beautiful art, and practically I would like to provide for myself while doing so”

Now I would say that I yearn for the art of comedy to have a stronger place in this world, for hardworking comedians everywhere to have opportunities they would’ve never had otherwise, to provide for myself, make an impression on the art, and hopefully make the world a better place-because it’s smiling at my jokes.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ty_mclaurin_jokes
• Youtube: Ty McLaurin Jokes