- Hi.

Obviously you know I'm a comedian, short.

I told Brandon to introduce me as single, but that didn't work out.

See a nice lot of, I see a lot of high credit scores in this room.

(audience laughing) It is, you know what I mean?

I live at home with my mom.

I'm trying to come up.

Nah man, if you don't know by now, this is my home, not the wiener hut, the stage.

I've been doing comedy for six and a half years now.

Thank you.

(audience clapping) Thank you.

And you're gonna hear why this is home.

I got into comedy back in 2019.

I went through a rough period in my life for about seven years prior to that, I went through a horrible breakup.

Bad breakup, I tried everything from multiple franchises.

I kept getting fired from jobs.

Well, I wasn't getting fired, they just kept asking me to leave.

(audience laughing) I even tried when a toy store went outta business, I was gonna flip porcelain dolls to make a profit.

Cat's out the bag, I'm afraid of those dolls.

That's neither here nor there.

(person laughing) December 18th, 2018, one of my mentors passed away.

My Uncle Gerald, he actually went into the hospital for a procedure and never came back.

That same month was New Year's Eve, my parents, free tickets, gave me tickets to the Virginia Beach Funny Bone to see one of my favorite comedians, Godfrey.

And I saw a sign, I don't know it was a sign from the Lord.

I don't know what it was, but it was a sign in the bathroom.

(audience laughing) That said Comedy School, six week course, $250.

Way to advertise, I end up taking that six week course.

My father, who was a big inspiration into my life, my mother who's also a comedian, my sister, they also encouraged me to go, like I've always been funny.

I just never been on the stage funny, you know, like I grew up watching, you know, Def Comedy Jam and Kings of Comedy and Blue Collar Comedy Tour.

And seeing comedians like Martin Lawrence, D. L. Hughley, Jerry Seinfeld was like a figment on my imagination.

Like, why are these guys on the stage?

How are they so funny?

And when I took that course, I graduated, Valedictorian.

(audience laughing) Class of May.

I took that course and I was nervous when I was taking that course.

My father, I was 30 years old, my father actually drove me up there ike it was my first day of school.

Aw, thank you.

Nobody not swiping left on my Tinder profile.

No aw at all, my father took me there, and that first day of that class, my dad looked at me and said, "Hey, if you wanna do it, go for it, I'll pay half."

I kind of want him to pay half, you know, the full thing 'cause my overdraft was only 500 at time.

Navy Federals turned me up with those fees.

I graduated, I continued my education as far as comm, I ended up enrolling to a place called the on 35th Street.

So a lot of you familiar with that.

Yeah, I was underneath the mentorship and guidance of two men named James Cooper and Marlo Hargrave.

And for $5 every Thursday I got cussed out.

(audience laughing) I got tough skin now, so bring it on.

And that's where I started to really fall in love with the arts man.

Like comedy has been a passion.

You know, like standup comedy, like looking in the crowd when I can see you 'cause I got astigmatism, you too.

Right on.

(person laughing) It's always been a passion of mines and I've gotten to do a lot of great things.

And I don't know how to really describe the rush of being at home on the stage.

I don't know if it's starting by writing on the pen pad or seeing a sign in the bathroom that says comedy school for 250.

Or just performing to make you guys laugh.

And you know, COVID came and I ended up creating a podcast.

But that's not the reason why I created a podcast.

Had a bad show, I bombed very bad.

I had to rethink life.

I don't know if you guys have had a bad day, but it kind of is equivalent to you slipping in the shower and trying to grip the water.

(audience laughing) I'm not saying I did it, but I had a bad show.

I started a podcast and my dad once again was right there in my corner.

Hey son, if you want to do it, do it.

I'll pay half, cool.

I ended up getting a lot of features.

I gotta work with some of my favorite comedians in the time of COVID.

Michael Colyar DL Hugeley, Adele Givens, Martin Lawrence.

I actually got to get a little broad knowledge.

But in that same year of 2020, not only did we have COVID, we ran outta gas, Taco Bell was selling chicken wings.

We didn't know where those chicken wings came from.

(people laughing) They were good.

Questionable, but they were delicious.

My father was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.

Yeah, the doctor told him he had three months to live, but we ended up getting three years.

Three years, three years.

And like I said, he was my biggest supporter.

He would give me jokes, but they weren't funny.

(audience laughing) But he tried his best, you know what I mean?

It's an A for effort.

I just wanna let him know his $125 went somewhere.

Te thrill of comedy is one of those things I like to say is you're not just telling jokes, but you're making a connection with the crowd.

Right, I'm sharing my truth with you guys.

This is 100% me.

Comedy is something that you experience.

Like if you look around right now, right?

No matter the race, the sex, the religion, the political background, you guys are here for a story.

You got a couple of jokes thanks to this guy.

But you're all here for one reason.

That's to laugh, right?

And I've gotten to a lot of great things on this stage and this microphone is the most powerful thing in the world.

I've been on America's Got Talent.

I've been at the Virginia Beach Funny Bone.

I've been at the Mohegan Sun.

I don't have a passport, but you know, they flew me in from Chesapeake.

(audience laughing) I made her spit her drink out.

That's what I've been working on the whole time.

But I have a saying that I like to use where I say, if you're not laughing, you're not living.

Laughter is a cure, and that's one of the things that my father was doing, even in his pain.

He was laughing, he was cracking jokes.

Not good jokes, but he was still cracking jokes.

My mother, she's a comedian.

That's weird 'cause the dinner table is a big roast session.

(audience laughing) Just going back and forth.

But little does she know I pay no rent so she can't evict me.

(person laughing) But it is a great thing to do.

Anybody have a favorite comedian they wanna share?

Ron Davis, thank you.

(audience laughing) I'm my favorite comedian, you know what I'm saying?

My father's my favorite comedian.

My mother's my favorite comedian.

My coworkers are some of my not favorite funny people, but they're my favorite comedians as well too.

And that's what life is about.

It's just about having a good time and laughing.

You have to share your story.

Laughing not only cures sickness, but it helps out with relationships, friendships, outings.

You ever look in the store and be like, oh, this is hilarious.

Did they have that?

You never walked down the aisle, TJ Maxx, okay, you have good credit.

(audience laughing) You never thought about certain things, I just got the light.

But you never thought about certain things.

Like when you walk down certain aisles, you ever noticed that like you walk down the hygiene aisle, you see different names.

Like women have nice products names, they have Japanese Cherry Blossom, they have a lot of like, Midnight Summer Blue, Strawberry Eve, men, we get Duke, Hims, Everyday Man Jack, my personal favorite, you got about two more days Bit Dog.

But see the way that you guys laugh, it's the same thing that I like to do for you guys.

I appreciate you guys coming out.

I'm gonna bring back on your host.

My name is Jerome Davis.

(audience cheering)