Today we’d like to introduce you to Jimmy Brennan.
Hi Jimmy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My name is Jimmy Brennan. I was born James Aspell Brennan IV to a large Irish Catholic family in Los Angeles, CA only to be relocated to Charleston, SC when I was nine years old.
Coming from a “lace curtain” Irish family, there was pressure to be something, anything. I spent a large majority of my life pretending to be the person my family wanted me to be; ironic that I would one day become an actor.
Although in college, I majored in Political Science, because at the time I was under the impression that lawyers made a difference for good, I never went to law school. My family accepted that as long as I chose another hamster wheel acceptable to them. So I did, and that wheel was commercial real estate. Through a series of unfortunate events, I one day realized I was settling in so many ways. The biggest of those events was the loss of my high school best friend to the South Florida pill mill epidemic via an accidental drug overdose.
I realized that life was too short to settle for what everyone else tells you you need or want or love. When I was 29 years old, as my commercial real estate career crumbled, my friend asked me “what would you do if you do anything?” I said, “I guess I’d be a stand-up comedian and an actor”. He said to me “then that’s what you have to do”. The next week my mom sent me an email with an ad for an audition for a local church commercial, so I went and I got it. In fact, I did a few “gigs” for the church and then the media director asked me if I had any formal training and I said “no” and he said, “maybe you should consider acting as a career.”
I had no idea the journey that I was about to set in motion, but I went out and found the best acting coach and director in South Florida. Jane Kelly of The Actors Workshop of South Florida changed my life. I tell people the best way I can describe what she did for me in one sentence is she “revealed me to myself” and made me realize I had such a passion for acting and comedy and being an artist. I worked with Jane for 5 beautifully hard years. Jane Kelly was a London Globe Theater-trained actress and director, who spent time as a casting director in Los Angeles. She was tough but she brought the best out of me.
She and I didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye in terms of where I should concentrate my time, comedy or drama. Stand up or Theatre? Unfortunately just before COVID hit, my mentor, director, and friend, Jane Kelly, had a cancer remission and she passed away during quarantine. If it wasn’t for the love of my life, Amanda Stratemeyer(and all her support), I would never have been able to be where we are today on this journey. After I lost my mentor, I decided it was time to go all in and we packed up our life, including our two 75-pound pitbull terriers, and moved to Las Vegas, NV.
After spending about 18 months in Las Vegas, we decided the rent had gone up far enough and we wanted to go nomadic to be able to travel through the country in search of the best comedy scenes in the USA. I’m calling it the Great American Comedy Tour. I went traveling through Utah, and headed to Salt Lake City when I realized Founders Day was in July, on top of the 4th of July; so the RV parks were a bit pricey for a comedian’s budget.
Because there were no available long-term RV sites, we decided to head down to Arizona until it cools down up there.
We’ll be back soon enough though as the Tour continues…
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
No, it has not been the smoothest, to say the least; but the path less traveled is the bumpiest, and that’s the one we need.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a comedian traveling the country in search of America’s greatest comedy scenes, but since I’m living this tiny life along the way I’m also documenting that on my youtube channel.
I’m proud that through all the covid and all the events in my life, I’m here. I’m making my dream happen and it’s never more beautiful than when I can do it with the most beautiful girl in the world at my side.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
If you’re in it for the money you’ll never get the honey. God’s plan is the only plan; the sooner you realize the better. AND You have to be all in; you can’t be an actor who also works on Wall Street. One step at a time, one gig at a time, one dream at a time.
Contact Info:
- Website: BrennanProductions.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/officialjimmybrennan
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Officialjimmybrennan
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCpb26RPCxwdnsfcIiDJRxTg
