Jaboukie Young-White (born July 24, 1994) is an American

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

, actor, and writer.

Early life

Young-White was born to Jamaican immigrants and raised in

Harvey, Illinois Harvey is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 20,324 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Harvey is bordered by the villages of Dixmoor, Illinois, Dixmoor and Riverdale, Illinois, R ...

. He later attended Marian Catholic High School where he participated in Speech and Theatre before studying at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...

, where he became involved in improv comedy through the collegiate improvisation program "The Titanic Players". He ultimately left DePaul in his senior year to pursue his comedy career full-time.

Career

Young-White performed

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

for the first time at an

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether t ...

night when he was 19; he was hired for his first stand-up gig when he was 21. He continued to perform stand-up at several bars and clubs around Chicago and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and was a finalist at the 2016 NYC Devil Cup Stand Up Festival. Beginning in late 2016, several of his memes, tweets, and posts went viral. He subsequently gained prominence on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

, particularly on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, where he grew a large following. In 2017, he was featured on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s "25 Under 25: Meet the Young Musicians, Actors, Activists Changing the World" list. The following year, he was included in ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

''s "20 Comedians You Should and Will Know" list. In 2020, Young-White was placed on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

's "Future 40" list, which is a list of "40 of the most inspiring and innovative vanguards who are redefining what it means to be unapologetically young, gifted & black". Since 2017, he has performed stand-up twice on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

''. As of 2018, he writes for the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

television shows ''Big Mouth'' and ''

American Vandal ''American Vandal'' is an American mockumentary television series created by Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda that premiered on September 15, 2017, on Netflix. The series is a parody of true crime documentaries such as ''Making a Murderer'' and '' ...

''. In October of that year, he was hired as a correspondent on ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

''; he made his first appearance opposite

Trevor Noah Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African-born comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and former television host. He was the host of ''The Daily Show'', an American late-night talk show and satirical news progra ...

on October 11, 2018, and left in 2021. In early 2019, Young-White was negotiating to be a lead in an untitled Bo Burnham and

Amy York Rubin Amy York Rubin is an American writer and director. She has directed multiple episodes of television series, including the award-winning pilot of the Netflix series ''Dead to Me''. Rubin began her career in comedy. She wrote, created and directe ...

film alongside

Danielle Macdonald Danielle Louise Macdonald (born 19 May 1991) is an Australian actress, known for her lead roles as Patricia "Patti" Dombrowski in the drama film ''Patti Cake$'' (2017), and Willowdean Dickson in ''Dumplin (2018). She is also known for her ro ...

. On

Martin Luther King Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and sometimes referred to as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monda ...

(January 20, 2020), Young-White was temporarily banned from Twitter for posting a tweet posing as the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

and claiming that they were responsible for the activist's

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

. On March 23, 2020, Twitter again suspended Young-White after he changed his display name and icon to that of the

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

Breaking News account, and tweeting: "BREAKING: Joe Biden is not DEAD. He just getting some dick. We've all been there cnn.com", thus making it appear as though CNN had posted the tweet. His account was restored less than a day later. However, he was subsequently stripped of his verified status. In 2021, Young-White starred in the film ''

Dating and New York ''Dating and New York'' is a 2021 American comedy film written and directed by Jonah Feingold in his directorial debut. It stars Jaboukie Young-White, Francesca Reale, Catherine Cohen, Brian Muller, Jerry Ferrara, Arturo Castro, Taylor Hill, ...

''. He also appeared opposite

Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academ ...

in the film '' C'mon C'mon'' and had a recurring role in the television series ''

Only Murders in the Building ''Only Murders in the Building'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman. The ten-episode first season premiered on Hulu in August 2021. The plot follows three strangers played by Steve M ...

''. He voiced the lead role of Truman in the animated series '' Fairfax''. On June 10, 2021, it was announced that Young-White would be teaming up with Issa Rae and her production company Hoorae to develop the book ''The Gang's All Queer: The Lives of Gay Gang Members'' by Vanessa R. Panfil into a series for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

. He will write and executive produce the project. On July 20, 2021, it was announced that Young-White would be writing the script for an upcoming animated feature inspired by music of the late rapper

Juice Wrld Jarad Anthony Higgins (December 2, 1998 – December 8, 2019), known professionally as Juice Wrld (pronounced "juice world"; stylized as Juice WRLD), was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He was a leading figure in the emo rap and ...

. In 2022, Young-White had a recurring role in Rae’s television show ''

Rap Sh!t ''Rap Sh!t'' (pronounced "Rap Shit") is an American comedy television series created by Issa Rae for HBO Max. The show is produced by Hoorae Productions and 3 Arts Entertainment and centers on two Miami-based rappers (portrayed by Aida Osman ...

''. He also voice acted in the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

series ''

Baymax! ''Baymax!'' is an American superhero science fiction comedy streaming television series of short films created by Don Hall that premiered on Disney+ on June 29, 2022, featuring the Marvel Comics character of the same name. The series is a ...

'' and voiced main character Ethan Clade in the Disney animated feature '' Strange World''. On September 30, 2022, Young-White released his debut single “BBC” via

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

under the moniker "jaboukie."

Personal life

In late 2017, Young-White came out as

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

during his first appearance on ''

''. He clarified that he identifies as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

in his second appearance on the program in late 2018. He is of Jamaican descent but often jokes that he is Italian. He has two brothers, Javaughn and Javeigh. He is an uncle to Adeya, the child of his brother Javaughn and singer

Kehlani Kehlani Ashley Parrish (born April 24, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. Kehlani is originally from Oakland, California, and achieved initial fame as a member of the teen group Poplyfe in 2011. In 2014, Kehlani released the ...

. He has a Rottweiler named Callaloo.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

Discography

Singles

* "bbc" (2022) * "ROCKWHYLER" (2022)

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young-White, Jaboukie 1994 births 21st-century American comedians American people of Jamaican descent American television writers Comedians from Illinois DePaul University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) American gay actors American gay writers LGBT African Americans Gay comedians LGBT people from Illinois Living people American male television writers Male actors from Chicago People from Harvey, Illinois Screenwriters from Illinois 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers 21st-century African-American writers American male television actors 21st-century American male actors African-American male writers