There was a time when KevOnStage was a really literal description of comic Kevin Fredericks as a hungry comic searching for stage time. Today, he would possibly as effectively be referred to as KevOnEverything. You’ll find him cracking jokes on stay comedy excursions, TV sketch exhibits, books, podcasts and nearly each social media platform you care about. From books like his 2025 New York Instances bestseller “Successful Failure” to his newest podcast, “Not My Best Moment,” the concept has all the time been about ahead momentum to breed a humorous model that, similar to his identify, continues to stay with a humorousness that in the end succeeds at being relatable.
Shifting from Washington state to L.A. along with his spouse and children to satisfy his comedy goals, he targeted his comedy on the Black church and household life in a means that hadn’t been accomplished earlier than. The end result was his breakout success with the present “Churchy” that began as a self-funded collection that was picked up by BET and not too long ago ran by means of its second season. It created a lane for him to increase his content material universe with sketch exhibits like “The Hospital” and “Safe Space” on Tubi that permits him to retain inventive management and placed on extra comedians working with veteran stand-ups like Tahir Moore and Tony Baker. The latter is his podcasting companion in crime whom he’s been touring with on the Bald Brothers comedy tour which wraps up in L.A. on the Wiltern on Sunday. Lately we spoke to KevOnStage in regards to the secret to constructing his comedy model — by being all over the place.
This interview was edited for size and readability.
I really like that it is a 12 months the place a lot is going on for you from so many angles.
It’s wild.
You’re KevOnStage, KevOnPodcasts, KevOnBooks, KevOnTV …
[Laughs] Actually KevOnEverything.
When did you resolve to go from being Kevin Fredericks — working an everyday job and doing comedy on the aspect — to turning into “KevOnStage”?
KevOnStage with Tony Baker on the Bald Brothers comedy tour.
(Joshua Gonzales )
When did you actually discover your tribe of comedians in Washington state that you simply nonetheless hang around with at this time?
In Washington state there was solely actually like Nate Jackson, he was the one working comic who was working nationally. In Washington it was me, Nate, Large Irish Jay, a comic named Terrence — these are the one folks that have been form of doing comedy persistently. After which we had the Bay Space Black Comedy Competitors, I don’t bear in mind what 12 months it was, and I met Lance Woods, who I’m nonetheless cool with. However then once I moved [to L.A.], that’s once I met Tony Baker and Tahir Moore by means of All Def Comedy. As a result of I didn’t actually do stand-up on stage that a lot once I first moved to L.A. My spouse was like, “we’re not gonna move to L.A. and then you’re on stage four or five nights a week.” And it was arduous to get on stage … it’s important to go and hang around, go to Denny’s and like hang around all night time. And [my wife] was not going for it and I had babies who needed to go to high school. So the vast majority of the folks that I do know I met by means of All Def.
You introduced up an fascinating level in regards to the way of life of comics as a result of it’s a way of life that doesn’t actually agree with every little thing else for many of the 9-to-5 working world — particularly being married and having children. So how did you then resolve to focus extra on content material creation as a method to carry out?
Effectively, curiously sufficient, it began earlier than I moved to L.A. There’s hardly any leisure alternatives in Washington. There’s very hardly ever a TV present, even taking pictures there, a lot much less a present you possibly can really audition and be on. So what occurred was we have been doing performs. We’re making an attempt to be like Tyler Perry, David E. Talbert or Je’Caryous Johnson. And we have been on our means, however there weren’t sufficient individuals in Washington to mount a profitable black play — or “urban plays” as individuals referred to as them. So we did our greatest, however even when we received 3,000 individuals, that was just for one night time. And we weren’t doing that, by the best way. We’re getting like 68 individuals. So I used to be watching a variety of YouTube on the time and I used to be realizing these individuals have followers all over the place. So I used to be like, we will do web comedy and make individuals snort on the web and hopefully we get followers all throughout the US. And from the primary two movies we did, I used to be like, overlook the play factor, I feel the web is the factor. Identical to concentrate on that. I feel we try this, we’ll construct our personal viewers, and every little thing might be simpler for us.
So far as the power to personal your content material and information nonetheless you need, how has that been necessary in your comedy profession?
For me it’s been like, “He who pays says.” Like in case you pay for it, you get the ultimate say. So for a very long time, it was by default as a result of no person’s getting paid. I’m simply making it and posting it. The primary huge factor we did that was like actually costly was “Churchy” [on BET]. And there was a variety of [money from previous brand deals] that I saved, a variety of [money from doing] Spectrum commercials that I saved. I made eight episodes of “Churchy.” And shout-out to Jamal Henderson, he helped us meet executives at BET they usually purchased it. They usually couldn’t have any inventive management as a result of it was already accomplished.
In order that’s form of a course of that we’ve repeated with [my sketch shows] “The Hospital” and “Safe Space.” We pay for it after which license it or companion with an organization and make it now. And with Tubi, they’re a bit of bit completely different. They let you’ve inventive management, even when they pay for it. They’re like “hey, we trust that you built your audience, you know your audience.” They’re the one platform that I’ve labored with that’s utterly like, “we don’t have any say-so, no notes, you don’t have to send us a script, you don’t have to send an edit for approval, we trust you.” And that’s improbable for me since you get to make it as near [the original vision] with none impurities as potential.
Now I gotta be trustworthy, once I work with BET, we had wonderful executives they usually’ve given us a variety of nice notes, however additionally they offer you some notes that you simply don’t agree with that it’s important to take. And that’s additionally a part of simply making issues. It’s not a full detrimental. Additionally they made [the show] higher in a variety of other ways. And the one factor that I’m very grateful for with our companions at BET is each word they gave was to make the general mission higher and for extra individuals to take pleasure in it. I’m a comic at coronary heart, so typically I’m loyal to the joke to a fault. The chief is like, we gotta inform the very best story — so it’s not all unhealthy. A whole lot of occasions we hear individuals bemoan partnering with individuals, and it has its negatives, but additionally my TV exec was extra skilled than I used to be at making good TV, so a few of their notes have been actually useful, and I can carry these with me once I’m making different initiatives.
“The Hospital” and “Safe Space” are each like sketch exhibits. What was necessary in regards to the codecs for each exhibits — one at a hospital, the opposite on a therapist’s sofa — that assist you to discover the humorous?
Richard Washington, who’s a inventive exec at KevOn Stage Studios, head of T V and movie, and I constructed the methods after which we enable the individuals to work throughout the methods to the very best of their character. So I feel the good half about “Safe Space” is the expertise. Such as you give them a premise, you discover the best individuals, after which they take it and make it humorous. “Safe Space” was actually the identical with “The Hospital.” Like, you recognize, we employed extra sketch writers for the hospital, however Secure House was extra improv than even “The Hospital.” We had some totally written sketches for “The Hospital,” however we didn’t persist with every little thing precisely. Some are nearly all improv. Like comic CP’s episodes, he’s simply riffing. So it’s as near a stand-up model of content material as you will get. And what I imply by stand-up is the viewers is sitting there not understanding what the individual’s gonna say. And that’s why I feel it really works.
KevOnStage recording a podcast.
(Mike Folabi)
As a creator of those exhibits, you typically maintain the door open for brand new expertise to shine. How does that assist your individual imaginative and prescient of permitting there to be area for brand new actors and comedians to return up?
I grew up taking part in sports activities after which I went into performs. And with each of these parts, it’s it’s a group setting. You want different individuals to achieve success and also you gotta depend on different individuals to do their factor. With performs, you wanna have the very best present potential. And then you definitely put all of it collectively and it’s the very best product. And I feel that’s the identical method that I take to creation. A whole lot of comedians, I’ve been advised, they received’t take the very best comedians. They’ll take people who find themselves OK, however nowhere close to pretty much as good as them.
Contemplating you put up three to 5 movies a day, how do you discover the time to provide as a lot content material as you do?
So the factor is like that is my job. And I work actually arduous. I feel individuals evaluate themselves to me, however additionally they have a job. Such as you’re considering of “how does he do this?” since you’re considering of your precise day job. For essentially the most half, I rise up and consider humorous issues to say all day. And the opposite factor is I don’t spend a variety of time enthusiastic about what I’m gonna do or modifying it in any respect. If one thing humorous occurs proper now, if I stroll out of right here and I journey and fall, I’ll in all probability make a video instantly and inside 5 minutes that video’s gonna be on seven completely different platforms. So I’m not likely valuable about what I make. And I really feel like individuals suppose it’s arduous, however this isn’t arduous for me. It’s one thing I like to do, I create freely out of pleasure. The man who runs my doughnut store who hasn’t taken a time off in 20 years, actually I used to be speaking to him about this. He by no means takes a time off. Twenty years he’s at that doughnut store, each night time at 8 p.m., he makes doughnut, getting ready for the day. Every single day at 4 a.m., he comes and bakes them. That’s arduous. To not say what I’m making shouldn’t be arduous. It’s, but it surely’s not arduous like that. Folks have arduous jobs. I simply be foolish for 2 minutes and put up it inside 5 minutes. That’s not likely arduous for me.
“For the most part, I get up and think of funny things to say all day,” says KevOnStage.
(Joshua Gonzales )
I assume you’re not getting cellphone calluses.
Under no circumstances [laughs] … I form of designed my content material to have the ability to make it simply as a result of I really feel like my method is simply inundating you with Kev. Like I need to be unavoidable. Yeah. I need to make content material on so many various subjects. It’s not even all the time comedic. I need individuals to only share you and or have a thought or make you’ve a thought. Proper now I’ve been doing a variety of podcasts. So in case you don’t observe me, however you observe for instance “The Pivot,” which I did final week they usually collab with me, now you’re seeing me on “The Pivot” or Humorous Marco or I interviewed Issa Rae for the primary episode of [my new podcast] referred to as “Not My Best Moment.” And Issa Rae doesn’t do an entire entire bunch of interviews if she’s not selling one thing. So in case you’re enthusiastic about what Issa has to say, you bought to listen to me as a result of I requested the query. So individuals rip my stuff, I’m like, “this is great!” They rip it and put up it on threads. That is like as near getting bootlegged as potential.
That’s what you need.
Yeah, bootleg me! Clearly I’d like to make the cash, but it surely’s just like the publicity will develop into capital or foreign money later. I simply need to be out right here a lot that you simply’re finally like, “All right, what is he talking about?” As a result of take into consideration what number of movies do you see in a day now. Again within the day, we used to need to be like, OK, I need to watch the movies. I’m gonna go to my laptop and go to love, I bear in mind earlier than YouTube, I used to go to Break.com and watch movies. It was a factor I did for a while after which I went on about my day. Take into consideration what number of movies you devour every day. … So that you gotta actually hit ‘em over and over before they make a decision. So that’s why I simply wanna flood you. I need you to be like, “Oh, my God, enough!”
Effectively, add yet another to the pile proper right here.
Yeah, completely. As soon as I noticed cameras right here [at the L.A. Times studio], I used to be like, “Yeah, baby, I thought this was just an interview, we got video content, baby. Let’s go!” So yeah, it’s like that’s my method. Simply maintain going — quite a bit.
