As part of We Own The Laughs.com’s Comedian of the Day, have a few laughs and get to know comedian Imin J. Love. The Sacramento, CA native shares some of his favorite moments in stand-up comedy and explains how he always owns the laughs.
Name: Imin J. Love
Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/Snapchat/Tik-Tok: @IminJLove on all platforms
Years in Comedy: 7 years
Comedic Influences: Mike Epps, Wil Sylvince, & Jamie Foxx
Favorite Comedy Album: Richard Pryor “Live On The Sunset Strip”
Favorite Comedy Special: Eddie Murphy “Delirious”
Favorite Comedy Movie: (Top 5) The Wood, Harlem Nights, Nutty Professor, Friday After Next, & Scott Pilgrim VS The World
Favorite Comedy TV Show: (Top 5) The Jamie Foxx Show, The Boondocks, The Chappelle Show, Key & Peele, & Black Jesus
Favorite Comedic Character: Cletus Klump
Favorite City to Perform In: Las Vegas, Nevada
Favorite Topics to Joke About: My Family
Favorite Type of Audience for a Comedy Show: Any Audience with a pulse
Favorite Comedy Club: Punch Line Sacramento
How did you discover your passion for comedy:
Big Black Comedy Show on DVD (2004). My friends from high school and I still have inside jokes from those sets to this day.
What do you remember most about your first time performing stand-up comedy:
It was a drunk crowd in New Orleans, I told a terrible joke about how many Air Bud movies there were.
How would you describe your comedic style:
An observational post-modern Afrocentric take on day-to-day life. If Seinfeld & Jammie Foxx did the fusion dance then drank a 12oz redbull you would get me pretty much.
Describe your process for comedic writing:
Writing is a perpetual state of being for me. I make notes about a subject that amuses me on a daily basis, it’s also a cathartic practice that can help someone with a busy mind sort through their thoughts and emotions.
Describe the comedy scene in your area:
Competitive, Honest, and Inspirational.
How do you judge success in the world of comedy:
Success is a subjective continuum. A series of short term goals coming to fruition can yield outcomes worthy to be deemed successful. Having a better performance than my previous one is how I’m currently measuring success.
Who are some of your comedic peers that you enjoy watching perform or inspire you personally and professionally:
Kiry Shabazz, Taylor Evans, Robert Omoto, Regina Givens, & Benton Harshaw.
What’s been your most memorable moment in comedy:
Being able to pay my rent strictly with money I made telling jokes for the 1st time.
What have you learned most from your failures in comedy:
I’ve learned that the individual you would like to present to others is often not the person you’re perceived to be. The truth is usually somewhere in between.
How do people react toward you when they realize that you can make people laugh:
From my experiences, humor disarms people who intend to connect with you. I think tension is eased in social situations once an attempt at humor has been made (whether the joke is good or not).
Describe building a career in stand-up comedy:
Building a career in comedy can seem like traversing a tunnel with no clear end in sight. In my opinion, once someone has a steady frequency of paid opportunities to get on stage they can start calling their journey a “career” regardless of how modest the pay may be.
If you could change one thing in the world of comedy, what would it be:
Nothing. If I could change something I would have started doing stand-up earlier in life.
Best advice you’ve ever received from a comedian:
I’ve been told to be honest with myself and reasonable with others. This has served as conventional wisdom in my life.
If you were releasing a comedy special this week, what would it be called:
“Pay Back” written and performed by Imin J. Love
Funniest encounter you’ve ever had with a celebrity:
I won’t name this celebrity, but they farted in a crowded elevator and insisted that we all agreed that we didn’t smell it. Not really funny as much as it was a weird move on their part.
Weirdest place you’ve ever performed any form of comedy:
At my grandfather’s funeral. The Jokes were mixed in with kind words about his life.
A Imin J. Love Fun Fact:
I pledged Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated at Dillard University (New Orleans).
Where would you like your laughs to take you:
It has always been my dream to be a writer on a late night talk show. I would also like to direct films. Movies have been a reliable source of joy in my life. My early home life was mostly defined by family issues and events that forced me to embrace a more adult view on life. I believe we are all able to gain perspective on our places in the world through lessons made available to us in a good story, there’s no better way to tell a story than through the visual medium of film.
What would you tell a potential comedian if they ask you how they can own the laughs:
They can own laughs by making peace with the person they’ve become up to this point in their life and share their experience on stage until it’s funny.
What are your thoughts on the future of comedy:
I believe that being a Stand-up Comic will be viewed as a vocation similar to an independent contractor offering services in the near future.
If you could write an episode for ONE classic TV sitcom, which show would it be:
I would write an episode of “Atlanta”.
In this episode Earn has moved Vanessa and their daughter Lottie to Los Angeles. They move into a neighborhood where they are the only black family. All of his neighbors present as leftist, tolerant white counterparts but occasionally display their general lack of understanding for black people and their culture. Earn and Van have a mounting suspicion that the president and several other members of their HOA are trying to make them move out of the neighborhood. Their suspicions are amplified after discovering that unidentified individuals have been entering their new home without their permission. Earn must decide to either stay and defend his home against his seemingly colt-like group of neighbors or move to a neighborhood with a more familiar demographic.
Meanwhile, Alfred (Paper Boy) collaborated with an artist years ago but their song was never released. This artist decided to use Alred’s verse on a different song years later, said artist has since gained a massive following but has also made some remarks publicly (both political and racial) that Alfred does not agree with. The song quickly shoots to #1 on billboard and is the most popular song in the world. Alfred must decide to either stand firm in his beliefs and oppose the artist publically or say nothing and use the success of the song to further his rap career.
This episode will be called “Red Line”
If you could choose ONE comedy club and THREE comedians to perform with on your perfect comedy show, how would it go:
The Club would be The Comedy Cellar. The line up would be myself, Wil Sylvince, Roy Wood Jr., & Aziz Ansari. The Styles compliment each other in my opinion.
What’s next for you:
I wrote and co-directed a 4 part short series called “Overqualified” that is currently in post-production. I am also casting for a short film called “The Finisher,” which I plan to begin shooting this summer.
Why should a person always laugh at life:
I personally don’t see a better alternative.
Follow Imin J. Love’s comedic journey on these social media websites:
Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/Snapchat/Tik-Tok: Imin J. Love
Youtube: Imin J. Love
