Rising Stars: Meet Jimmy John Misty of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jimmy John Misty.

Hi Jimmy John, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started doing comedy in Asheville, NC, and then I moved here during the pandemic. When the world was slowly re-opening, I went to a couple comedy open mics to keep doing regular stand-up, but pretty quickly I lost whatever little bit of a stand-up voice I had. So I retreated and reevaluated and came back to comedy a couple years later with some weird songs and a fake name. There was a music-centric open mic at Southern Feed Store in EAV that did an email pre-sign-up style show, and I brought a couple songs there and got re-hooked on doing comedy.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s actually been a super smooth road and I have never faced any hesitation or self-consciousness ever next question please. No just kidding. I was very scared to be The Guy with The Guitar at the Comedy Open Mic because being Different is Scary. But I’m so fortunate to be in Atlanta, because Atlanta comedy has a wealth of incredible musical comedians like Good Cop, Rad Cop, Gabbie Watts, and Peyton Johnson – they gave me a lot of inspiration and proved to me that you can get hard, legit laughs while singing and playing an instrument, and it’s not “less-than” or cheesy or invalid.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I do comedy folk-rock music where there’s jokes and funny stories in my lyrics and sometimes on stage I shake my little butt. I’m proudest of songs like Laptop in the Bathroom, The Ballad of Dave & Buster, and Who Brought Tums (to the Club)? because they have the most jokes and funny-punch-moments, but overall I think I’m proudest of my drive to write more and more and make my stuff as funny as it can be based on audience responses (and non-responses!). What sets me apart from others is my previously mentioned little butt.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
When I was 6 I was an Elvis impersonator, and truly there is still a lot of Elvis in what I do. I wore outfits, I obsessed over my set list, and I cared deeply about doing well onstage, and all of that is still true for Jimmy John Misty. Then at age 9 I decided that doing Elvis was for babies, because when you’re 9 anything you did 3 years ago is kids stuff because now you’re a fully grown 9 year old. So then I did theatre in middle school and high school and got a lot out of that. My small public high school had an improv troupe that I performed in for all 4 years, and that’s where my passion for live comedy really started. I think I’ve always been into an old-school showbiz-y razzle-dazzle type of broad performance, and because I grew up loving TV and movies and SNL, I always had an eagerness to gather and use specific references and joke formulas for my own performances.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimmyjohnmisty/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JimmyJohnMistySucks
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/jimmy-john-misty/albums

Image Credits
Photo #1 by Nathaniel Booher