Brandon King takes the phrase “all the world’s a stage” to heart. The Portage native has always had a life-long passion for stand-up comedy, and he’s working hard to turn it into a full-time career.
His love for comedy began as a child, long before he even knew where his passion would take him.
“I grew up watching Kings of Comedy tapes and loving comedy without even realizing it. I used to get in trouble in school for repeating Bernie Mac jokes and not realizing what I'm doing,” King said.
King then had the chance to test his skills when the talent show rolled around his senior year of high school.
“We have a senior talent show for theater, and they wanted everybody to do a senior talent. Everybody knew I could play drums. That's something everybody knew I could do. I wanted to show them I could do something different. And everybody said, ‘do stand up to stand up, do stand up,’” King said.
King’s biggest inspiration when it comes to comedy is his family. He said his mom introduced him to comedy, and he credits his dad for his good sense of humor. His main source of inspiration, though, comes from his grandmother, otherwise known as “Big Mama.” King says she is the funniest person he has ever met.
“I watched her fall down some stairs one time and then watched her get up and crack a joke about it. That's just the kind of family I come from,” King said.
King likes to incorporate his family into his jokes as well. He says every story he tells is inspired by real-life events.
“I tell this one joke that everyone loves. It's about my dad and how my dad was an old man. My dad was 50 the year I was born. I talk about how most kids grew up playing with GI Joes, but that wasn’t me. I didn't grow up playing with that stuff. I grew up playing with blood pressure machines and diabetes machines. Like I shouldn't be checking my blood pressure at nine,” King said.
King’s love for comedy is no joke, as he sees it as his full-time job.
“Comedy is my life. Comedy is my career. I always tell people I have no plan B because I believe in my plan A so much, so hard,” King said. “This is my plan, A, B and C. No matter what, I'm going to be an entertainer, because I feel like this is something I was born to do ever since I was a child. I'm going to be here to entertain people. You can even ask my mom and anybody else in my family, and they’ll say ‘Brandon has always been the one to entertain somebody.’ It's like something that's a part of you. All you do is think comedy, you breathe comedy. If you want to be good at it, that’s all you can do. Comedy occupies my mind every second.”
Despite the hardships, King is still working hard at his dream because he knows the payoff will be worth it.
“It can be rough at times, especially, as you know, the money is not where it is in comedy right now. I took a big leap with just becoming a stand-up comedian, but that's what it takes. Once I get to that point, it'll be worth it. It’s just like starting out at the bottom of a barrel at any other job, you just got to work your way to the top,” King said.
In addition to his own stand-up work, King is also a part of the comedy group Run the Light Media.
“It's me and two other comedians. It’s myself, Alan Ford out of Chicago, and Michael Banks. He lives in Portage, but he's from Noblesville. We’re all young comedians in this area that just took a leap of faith. Alan's the oldest at 30 and I'm the youngest,” King said.
King said they are going on tour next month, and the group enjoys performing at places where stand-up comedians aren’t normally found.
“People aren't showing those places as much love, and the audience loves it. That's why I like to do the little shacks and bars where no one's going, because they'll appreciate it,” King said.
“We’re just young comedians who are sticking together. We've been to New York together. We're putting out projects together. Alan has two comedy albums out. We're going on tour next month. We're just doing a lot of things,” King said.
In addition to touring, Run the Light media also holds shows every Monday night in Alsip, Il at 7 p.m. which are open to anyone looking for a good laugh and a good time.