Can I Laugh On Your Shoulder?

Jul 26, 2023

This episode is a replay that originally aired on August 7, 2019. 

(Click the featured times below to jump forward in the episode)

Laughter is the best medicine, and Kevin Fredericks (KevOnStage) is here to talk about how humor can heal and bring us together. Kevin does it all. He has nearly 5 million followers and 140 million views on YouTube. He’s a fast-rising entertainer who’s already sold out a 50 city self-produced tour, written and produced several TV shows and movies, and grown All Def Digital from 300,000 fans to nearly 10 million fans. Join me in laughter for this fun show with KevOnStage.

3:45 - The Kev 101

• Kev’s first comedy show was a church talent show while in high school, and during college, he and his brother transitioned to creating plays. After some local success, Tyler Perry’s booking agent came to see one of the plays. They thought it was their big break, until they realized it would still cost $300,000 for them to produce their own play.
• Kev’s kids were young at that time, so the family decided to quit doing plays and focus on raising their children. With the rising success of YouTube stars, Kev suggested they put some funny sketches online to try and grow their notoriety and then travel to promote their plays.   
• After their videos gained immediate viral success, Kev and his team transitioned primarily to feature video content for social media.
• Kev quickly started his own channel, quit his job and added a stand-up routine to his repertoire. Making funny videos on the internet has played a huge role in Kevin’s career success.
• Kev and his family moved to Los Angeles where he worked in the TV industry, and has since gained vast experience with editing, directing, and digital media. The majority of his work now consists of producing content for YouTube, podcasts, and his stand-up routine.

13:45 – Relatable Unites   

• We are drawn together by our shared human experiences, and that is even more powerful when mixed with humor.
• While Kev is a comedian who is a Christian, he is not a Christian comedian. He makes jokes about himself, his family, his experiences, music, married life, the audience, Bobby Caldwell, etc. to reach more people and more audiences who are not all Christians.
• Kev wants to use his platform to show that you can have a good life with God. Often his fans find a good message in his jokes and relate that feeling to getting back to church.
• When Kev feels like his comedy isn’t going over well with the audience, instead of introducing shock value to his material, he’ll go back to jokes he knows go over well. In the early days, he’d just leave early. “It’s totally ok to get off the stage if you are not doing your job, which is to make people laugh.”

26:18 - Sharing is Caring

• The world wide web has allowed Kev success by building a dedicated audience online. It’s much easier to do 30 minutes of standup when the audience already knows you and likes you.
• Kev was already well-versed in stand up before his online career took off, so audiences were able to witness a well-oiled comedy machine once Kev started going viral. 
• With all the negativity you can find in social media or the daily news, Kev has used his social media presence as a platform for influencing people in a positive way. 
• Kev’s ultimate goal is to produce long-form content independently for himself as well as for other creators.

31:59 - Comedy Tour and What’s Next

• Kev is traveling with his Real Comedians of Social Media Tour with Tony Baker, TM, and Doughboy.
• On the major cities tour stops, Kev and his wife also record their podcast with the live audiences before the comedy lineup begins.
• As the lines between TV and social media are blurred, Kev is seeing continued success in opportunities outside of the traditional Hollywood route.
• Kev has a new show on Facebook Watch called Kev on Everything where he learns new skills, completely unscripted. He also plans on adding other forms of entertainment (like music!) into his stand-up shows.
• One of the greatest things about being creative and sharing creativity in the age of social media is that that the opportunities to spread your ideas have no physical boundaries. 

38:11 - Getting to Know Our Guest

• Listen to hear who Kev names as his favorite comedians and biggest influences, what song he has to sing along with anytime it comes on, and a recent joke that was a complete flop. Most importantly, you’ll hear what it means to Kev to run a business with purpose.