J. B. Smoove
J. B. Smoove
Jerry Angelo Brooks, better known as J. B. Smoove, is an American actor, writer, comedian, and voice actor. He began his career on Def Comedy Jam in the early 1990s. He is best known for his recurring role as Leon on the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. Smoove joined the Season 2 cast of the Fox sitcom 'Til Death in 2008, and was promoted to the main cast for Season 3. He also starred on the CBS sitcom The Millers...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActor
Date of Birth16 December 1966
CountryUnited States of America
I think comedy evolves constantly. I reinvent myself all the time. I always find a way to entertain myself because I truly believe you have to entertain yourself in order to relate it the right way to your audience.
You can't take everything that is offered to you. I pass on a lot of stuff, because I truly believe that I will shine better if I could do it 200 percent rather than do it 80 percent and make it so-so.
I love to pitch things that I believe in and products that I love to use.
Believe it or not, I write on stage. I can't write anywhere else; I have to be in a moment. I also have to challenge myself to make something funny out of a premise. I never have my own jokes written. I have to change things as I go along, and I have to entertain myself.
I believe, even when I'm doing my standup or my acting or whatever I'm doing, I believe in painting pictures.
'The ruckus' is different experiences you go through throughout your life which builds your ruckus points up - your tolerance. You've got to have a high tolerance for dealing with stuff all the time.
I steal scenes, I steal opportunities. I am the ultimate thief. I got sticky fingers, man. They all call me The Thief.
I should be European, man. I'm long and lean. I'd look good in a trench coat.
Sometimes you can make friends, and sometimes you can take friends. Sometimes people want to be friends with you, and you gotta be like, 'Okay, I can deal with this person's personality and be their friend, but not necessarily do I have to change who I am. I'm not gonna change myself to be their friend.'
When I first started doing comedy years ago, I used to be the biggest Michael Richards fan. I used to love this dude. He was on a TV show called 'Fridays,' and man, he was tall and lanky - and I was tall and lanky. I love physical comedy, and he was a physical comedian, and I said, 'Man, I love this guy.'
It's great when a director like Cameron Crowe can take what you do and fit it into what he's doing. If someone's a fan of you already, they can take what you do and make it work for what they're doing. You don't know their vision, and you're thinking, 'How is this guy going to take what I do and make it work in this movie?'
Kids love me. I can bounce back and forth. I can discipline kids, and I can get into the mind of a kid. In my brain, I consider myself the ultimate video game player. The ultimate snack maker.
When I started stand-up, the first thing I did was to take an improv class.
Remember Tupperware? That was the toughest stuff ever. Why can't they make a phone out of Tupperware?