Most students don’t go to college for people to laugh at them, but theatre junior Jeremiah Turner dreams about it. As an aspiring performer, Turner’s goal is to be a stand-up comedian and his theatre major is helping him achieve just that. 
Turner has worked hard in school to be a great performer, starting as a child in fifth grade.  However, it wasn’t until high school when he realized his true passion for the art, he said.
“My love for performing started in high school where my teacher Dr. Sibley put the love of theatre inside of me,” Turner said.
Turner knew he was interested in being a stand-up comedian because he  had a knack for comforting people. He was always quiet and reserved, and making people laugh was a way of making friends.
“At lunch, I would always crack jokes with my friends, and I realized I loved making people laugh,” Turner said. “When my friends were upset or sad then I’d tell jokes and I realized you can’t cry when you’re laughing unless you’re laugh-crying.” 
Turner took his comedic ability lightly before he considered it as a career choice. He wrote his material in his “Book of Puns” and only shared it amongst his friends. He changed his attitude only after he realized he wanted to get serious.
“As Drake says, ‘you only live once’ and you might as well make most of your life,” Turner said. 
Turner started performing his comedy in December 2017. Since then, he has had to balance a life as both a performer and student.  
“I just make it work,” Turner said. “I go to school and work in the afternoons and at night I go to different venues where they do open mics for stand-up. Then I go home and do homework and, if God willing go to bed.”
Turner performs at Spanish Moon on its Tuesday open mic nights, Station bar on Wednesdays and Happy’s Irish Pub on Thursdays. With so much on his plate, Turner also finds time to enjoy other things in his life. Within his major, he likes to do sound design and improv. He is also a photographer and has his own company.
All comedians have their own process to writing their material. Turner’s process is organic and creatively original, he said. He has a positive outlook on life and how to make it all work together. He sacrifices his time to get what’s important done and follow his dreams.
“I just analyze life, sometimes over-analyze, and look at my everyday surroundings and just find out what’s funny about this,” Turner said. “I’m a boring person but interesting things happen to me.”