Watch: Comedian Skipfrombk on what inspires him in comedy
Skipfrombk is an up and coming comedian who inspires to do more
Howard “Skip” Nedrick Jr. is an up and coming comedian, actor and host, best known as Skipfrombk. Skip is the founder of “Covealpha’,” a thriving podcast that entertains his followers on the latest trends in the Black community. Skip discusses with theGrio why stand up comedy is his calling and why it inspires him to keep grinding.
“The following is a transcript of that conversation.”
Skip Nedrick: [00:00:12] How are you guys doing? My name is Junior a.k.a. Skip from B k? I am a comedian hailing from Flatbush, Brooklyn, and I’m here to discuss the good, the bad and everything in between when it comes to comedy, you know, broke me a little bit of coin. I’m still broke when I’m trying to make the funny into, like, you know, critically acclaimed specials in the future. So tune in. [00:00:32][20.4]
Nedrick: [00:00:37] So, yeah, I know you guys are tagging along and you’re just like, “What is this orange book very important to me?” I cannot lose this book. This is like my scrapbook for jokes. So any time I’m outside, I put this in like one of my back pockets with a pen, and I just take any notes of anything that happens. So I really want to make three seafood dishes. What can I do with some jokes around there? Right. Or if there’s a situation where I had a conversation with someone, what can I make for that conversation? That’s like a story that I can make funny. I think everything in life has humor in it, and the whole thing is just jotting it down because our mind is going so fast that we don’t remember anything that happened probably in the last hour, though. Like I bet you don’t know what you have a reckless, you know, like, I don’t know, had for breakfast. Now I really don’t know where I have a record that’s really concerning. I’ve got to write that down. A lot of people confuse what an open mic in a show is. An open mic. It’s like you get to see an open practice at meetings. It’s testing out moves. It doesn’t mean that’s what they’re going to do in a real time show, but it’s for them to, like, flex their muscles. All right. These are some jokes that are good. Decent jokes are in development, and these are some concepts that I want to work on to see if there’s something funny in it. And the show is a real game. Why people? [00:01:44][67.1]
Nedrick: [00:01:46] You have to be funny. Like there’s no do over. Like you have to kind of like put those hours and reputation in to like, be ready for those big moments. So I think there’s a lot of comedians that can be the first person out or the last person out that’s going to give you that gut wrenching laugh each time. So I think that’s like my goal. I think right now where I am, I’m pretty much like a guest. Mild features like I can open, I can be in the halftime, but like that headlining spot, a little bit more work. I need a little bit more work, more polished, more panache. But I think that’s why you have mentors. [00:02:20][33.3]
Nedrick: [00:02:21] And the more we were skins and we have like that, we go and we were doing nothing with tomfoolery. [00:02:25][4.0]
Nedrick: [00:02:28] A Were you? We tried to think back to the idea, back to the kids. If I was wasteful, I would spend like, I’m only just playing video games. I could go on the side, hustle like Megaman X wasn’t that serious about. [00:02:44][15.5]
Nedrick: [00:02:46] What inspired me to become a comedian. Watching comedy, especially when I was a kid, I was watching things I wasn’t supposed to be watching. But there is something about people being on stage, being the focal point and making people just laugh like you are from the time that they start for like 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour. You’re really captivating a crowd. You’re making them laugh, they’re forgetting about their troubles and you’re feeling just good inside. What do I enjoy most about being a comedian? There’s going to be good times. I’m making a lot of people laugh, and it’s gonna be time I get crickets or I get boos. I think it’s just a learning aspect. But I’ve learned a lot from the time that I started comedy in my mid, mid to late twenties and now my early thirties are just like learning myself as a person. And it made me a better person because I have to really show people this is what I’m going through in life. This is what I have seen and this is where I should share with you to be better people at the end all, be all. Are there any obstacles that I need to overcome to become a comedian? I’m just learning how to just be myself. I’ll be on stage. And the second thing is finding the right people. I think that’s what makes you take it to another level. And comedy is just, you know, kind of understanding who you are and then just networking appropriately is what you do. I don’t know if you’ve heard that. What do you think is the reason? [00:03:57][70.9]
Nedrick: [00:04:07] I think my dream of making it in comedy is really is the goal of I want three really critically acclaimed specials, being able to create amazing comedy shows that put on upcoming talent and just getting that type of buzz where like when I come into like a city and people want to see, Oh, this is how it’s get from UK network on the go, bringing some jokes and some laughs. So I really want to say three specials that are really good. I only want to do three. I think anything more would probably dilute the talent and just continue to host and produce really strong comedy shows. I think the best advice I can tell anybody when it comes to doing comedy is go see like your local comedy Open. Mike Maybe just go to a show and just like, say, into the audience, just take people’s brains after the comedians go after that. But I feel like the only way you can start doing something is really just take baby steps, really just buy a book, read about it, do a class, do a comedy class. Like really just put yourself out there. Because no matter what, nothing happens when you get there. Kind of like dictating what you do in your life. Nobody starts off good. And I think, yeah, I think that’s a cool thing to remember. Like, everyone starts off as a novice in the game, nobody comes into it being super great. So the only thing that matters is the journey. I think everyone looks at the end of like, I’m trying to be famous and rich and just be super successful. But if you don’t enjoy the journey at the end of the day, then what’s the point of doing it? It’s kind of you just doing it to do it and then it’s not any fun and then you’re not going to get good at it. So that’s it. [00:04:07][0.0]
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