Today we’d like to introduce you to J. Cornelius George.
Hi J. Cornelius, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always wanted to be a comedian and an educator. I know it sounds like a strange combination, but my two favorite things were making people laugh and learning. I realized early on in life how important laughter was to my learning process, even though most of my teachers did not see any benefit (called it distracting). I would take the notes from class or sections from the textbook and make comedy stories or jokes out of it. When I would try to use my material in class, I would get put out (Guess that stage was only big enough for one star).
After teaching for a number of years in the alternative school setting and making my students learn history while laughing (they did it for the grades) I decided that I would try to do standup comedy. This was the best/worst decision ever! I went from making students laugh to bombing on stage. So I worked on my craft and every technique learned, I found a way to introduce it to my students. I was having fun and truly enjoying being on both stages. I started to notice how much teachers were unhappy and stressed, so I started a comedy show called Laugh Your Class Off.
I started to Laugh Your Class Off just as a monthly comedy show where educators could come out and relieve stress. It has bloomed into this wonderful company that teaches Improv techniques to educators, won Film of The Year awards, host pep rallies, comedy shows, and a radio show.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Every journey has obstacles and we must make adjustments to continue the journey or it ends (I’m not ready for mine to end). The main adjustment is balancing the line between comedy and education. People give educators and comedians a hard time for every little thing. They believe in “canceling” both. I have to always be mindful of what I say or post because kids are crafty and know more about social media than I do and I never want to make them feel that I don’t believe in them.
The other adjustment that I had to make was that both of these areas are businesses and must be treated as such. You have to put in the work and that not everyone will agree with your vision, but you must find the ones that do.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am the founder of Laugh Your Class Off LLC. We specialize in helping others find the humor within. We inspire educators and students to use their gifts and talents. I am most proud of the Film of the Year awards we have won for our Anti-Bullying videos and our teen Suicide Prevention video. I am proud because these videos feature educators and students using their gifts in a positive way and many of them for the first time on camera. It was an honor to have the superintendent of the district rap a verse in the video (who wouldn’t be proud of that).
What truly sets us apart is our genuine love of people and laughter. We host a yearly comedy show during Teacher Appreciation Week featuring different comedians from across the country. As a thank you for doing such a difficult job.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite memory is sitting around my grandfather and the other preachers talking about the funny things that happened at their churches. The amount of laughter that took place during those times is what I cherish the most.
Contact Info:
- Email: educatorcomic@gmail.com
- Website: www.jcorneliusgeorge.com
- Instagram: @laughyourclassoff @jcorneliusg1
- Facebook: Cornelius George
