Checking in With Jeremiah Watkins: From Father to Bros

As some may already know, we have fol­lowed Jere­mi­ah Watkins for many years now and these Moon­tow­er check-ins are becom­ing some­what of an anthol­o­gy, as our own Valerie Lopez puts it. I like to think of them as a com­e­dy phys­i­cal for a phys­i­cal come­di­an. We check the pulse of Watkins’ career each time, only to find that it’s stronger and health­i­er with each exam..I mean inter­view. Maybe I’ve tak­en this anal­o­gy too far. We last spoke with Watkins in April of 2019, but thanks to the pan­dem­ic, we obvi­ous­ly missed our 2020 appoint­ment. So how did Watkins fare in a time when so many were locked inside their homes? He cre­at­ed and thrived.

Watkins con­tin­ues to snag amaz­ing guests for his pod­cast Jere­mi­ah Won­ders, when Covid pre­cau­tions allowed, he resumed host­ing his sig­na­ture show­case Stand Up On The Spot at the Com­e­dy Store, and he still holds his title as Mosh Pit, the pop­u­lar road­ie and sax­o­phone play­er for The God­damn Com­e­dy Jam. These are the things that remained from the BC (before Covid), but so much has changed for Watkins per­son­al­ly and professionally.

In April, Watkins released his Ama­zon Prime spe­cial, apt­ly named Jere­mi­ah Watkins: Fam­i­ly Reunion. Per­haps that title was prophet­ic, because on the same date as its release, Watkins and his wife wel­comed their first child (it’s a boy!) into the world. Talk about hav­ing a good day!

But amidst the pan­dem­ic, a lot of things in the com­e­dy world seemed to shift, and when Tony Hinch­cliffe announced his move to Austin and, along with it, his long-run­ning show Kill Tony, Watkins could not make such an abrupt move and his many char­ac­ters on that show would have to find anoth­er out­let (besides Jere­mi­ah Won­ders). Some­times when the com­e­dy gods close one door, they open an incred­i­bly suc­cess­ful win­dow. For Watkins, that win­dow came in the form of his lat­est pod­cast and show, Scis­sor Bros and more sketch videos, includ­ing the ​‘How to Get Fired’ sketch series with Josh Wolf . As he puts it, ​“I’m always look­ing to fill my sched­ule and time with some­thing new and creative.”

What had start­ed out as a guest spot on Jere­mi­ah Won­ders, Stee­bee Wee­bee (broth­er of Bob­by Lee) and Watkins had cre­at­ed an alter­nate uni­verse answer to Andrew San­ti­no and Lee’s pod­cast Bad Friends, but unde­ni­able chem­istry, some very strate­gic plan­ning, and the har­ness­ing of one algo­rithm led to a huge hit. After just twen­ty-five episodes, Scis­sor Bros had 50,000 fol­low­ers on YouTube. This year’s Moon­tow­er pre­sent­ed the oppor­tu­ni­ty for Scis­sor Bros to come to Austin and the show was so much fun, I’m still reel­ing. Watkins and Stee­bee Wee­bee not only have that chem­istry with each oth­er, but it spills out into the crowd and the con­nec­tion with fans is infec­tious. There are no pas­sive par­tic­i­pants at a Scis­sor Bros show…you become immersed, and you should def­i­nite­ly put it on your Moon­tow­er 2022 must-see list (yes, we’re already call­ing it…they will be back).

But how have all these changes affect­ed Jere­mi­ah Watkins on a cre­ative and per­son­al lev­el? As we have watched the evo­lu­tion of Watkins in the last five years, he has gone from the ener­getic eager ​“say yes to all oppor­tu­ni­ties that come your way” to the ener­getic eager ​“be selec­tive and judi­cious with your time and the way you spend it.” Watkins appears to be focused more than ever on the goals he’s set forth, but in find­ing the work/​family bal­ance, that focus has been honed to a much fin­er pre­ci­sion. His goal of being on a sketch show is still alive and well, whether it be an SNL or one of his own cre­ation. Giv­en our time in watch­ing Watkins devel­op as a cre­ator and per­former, I’m pulling for the lat­ter because I guar­an­tee you it’s a show you’d nev­er want to turn off.

Fol­low Jeremiah

• Web­site — www​.Jere​mi​ah​Watkins​.com
• Twit­ter — @jeremiahstandup
• Insta­gram — @jeremiahstandup
• Face­book — Face​book​.com/​J​e​r​e​m​i​a​h​.​W​a​tkins
• Youtube
  • Scis­sor Bros — Youtube​.com/​S​c​i​s​s​o​rBros
  • Jere­mi­ah Won­ders — Youtube​.com/​J​e​r​e​m​i​a​h​W​o​nders
  • How to Get Fired Series — Youtube​.com/​J​e​r​e​m​i​a​h​W​a​tkins

Jere­mi­ah can be seen and heard:

• Debut Spe­cial: Jere­mi­ah Watkins: Fam­i­ly Reunion (Ama­zon, Google Play, Apple TV)
• Pod­casts (avail­able on Youtube and your favorite pod­cast player)
  • The Scis­sor Bros
  • Jere­mi­ah Wonders
  • The Build­ing Years
• Album — Regan and Watkins (2019)
• Host­ed Shows — Standup on the Spot at The Com­e­dy Store
• Video Series — ​“How to Get Fired” video series fea­tur­ing Josh Wolf
• Road­ie ​“Mosh Pit” for The God­damn Com­e­dy Jam

Fol­low Com­e­dy Wham on Twit­ter, Insta­gram, Face­book, Youtube, Twitch, and Dis­cord. Search for @ComedyWham to find us!