Chicago native Travele Judon has carved a unique path in entertainment by masterfully blending clean comedy with inspirational storytelling. Known as “the opener” for sharing stages with over 33 major artists including Kirk Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Fantasia, Judon is now stepping into the spotlight with his own production, The Revival Live. In this exclusive interview, he opens up about his journey from comedy clubs to major venues, his experience on “Worst Cooks in America,” and his upcoming projects that are set to redefine his place in entertainment.
How do you adjust your comedy for faith-based audiences?
Honestly, I really don’t, and that sounds crazy, but I don’t, I’m a clean comedian, I’m a storyteller, I talk about myself, and I’m very inspirational in my comedy across the board. So whether I’m in a comedy club, a theater or a church, my act is really the same. I’m not gonna look to talk about a bunch of church stuff, it’s not my spiel, it’s not what I do, but honestly, when you’re just a clean comic and just telling real life truths, it actually works wherever you go, so I don’t really adjust it. Honestly, I’m me. I push the envelope everywhere I go.
How did starting your career in Chicago shape your approach to comedy?
Starting my career in Chicago, it shaped my approach, I would say, really different, because Chicago is known for so many amazing people, from Bernie Mac to Corey Holcomb to Lil Rey to Sherri Shepherd. There’s so many amazing people, and what it makes you understand the lineage of where you come from, and kind of understand you have to walk in that same greatness. So it makes you really study the art of comedy, study your time and delivery, and just put a lot of work in your craft, because you don’t wanna be the weak link of the bunch from Chicago. So honestly, I think just being around all that greatness really kind of forced me to hone in on my craft and take it beyond serious, because I want to definitely stand out amongst legends here in Chicago.
What made you join Worst Cooks in America, and how was the experience?
Because I wanted to be on TV, that’s why. I really was the worst cook, but I’m a good eater, see, that’s my ministry, I can eat, but I can’t cook, but I just want to be on TV, because, honestly, I really don’t want to learn how to cook. No, I didn’t need to cook, I got Uber eats, I got DoorDash, got GrubHub, I don’t know how to fried chicken, I don’t need to learn how to cook, I’m fine as it is, it was the opportunity to be on TV. But I will say, I did learn a lot how to cook or whatnot, I learned a few tricks I don’t use no more anyway, but literally, I’ll be real with you, I wanted to be on TV. That’s what it was.
How do you balance comedy with spirituality while keeping material fresh?
Honestly, my materials stay fresh and relatable, because I do talk about stuff that really happens to me, and I’m very transparent now, I talk about the goods and the bad. So there are things that I’m great at, I’m gonna talk about. There are things I’m not really good at and things I’ve done that I’m ashamed of, but I feel we are all our people, we are kind of going through our own journey in life and our own faith walk, and so for me, my gift to my audience is transparency. Don’t let this mic and this stage fool you, I’m not perfect, I make mistakes every day. That’s why Jesus died for us, because he knew we weren’t gonna be perfect, and He knew that we were gonna be some messed up souls, right? And so I try to get it right, I just keep getting it wrong, though. I keep getting it wrong, but I try, but I just think people like my relatability, they like my transparency, and I think when they hear the stuff I talk about, they realize that they’re not alone, I’m just one of them.
What’s your most memorable moment opening for gospel artists?
I mean, I’ve opened for a lot of artists. I’ve opened for Ty Tribbett, Kirk Franklin, Frankie Beverly, Monique, Sherri Shepherd, Fantasia, Gladys Knight, I’ve opened for over 33 artists, that’s why they call me The Opener. I think the funniest, unexpected thing was, I was on tour with Kirk Franklin in Nashville, this is in the summer of 2019, it was just a funny thing. We was doing a dance battle to song Love Theory, and so now we’re doing this for a few cities, when we get to Nashville, unexpectedly, Kirk hops on my back, at this time you see me, I’m a little snatched, I’m a snack now, but back then, I was a whole buffet, I was 468 back then. So he hopped on my back, I grabbed his legs. I’m jumping on stage with him on my back, but it was not planned, it wasn’t discussed. It just happened.
How do you use comedy to bridge gaps between different audiences?
I mean, I think comedy bridges gaps in so many ways, from younger, older, from secular, non secular, everywhere. I say that because of the fact that comedy is universal language. People understand funny and whether you’re a person who believe in God, you love to laugh, you don’t believe in God, you love to laugh. That’s my approach, because I do have people who come see me, there are not church people too, I have both audiences. So for me, I just talk about stuff that is relatable, that is something you know me, talking about being a father, that’s relatable, even if you’re a mother, you can understand where I’m coming from, talking about being a father, or talking about being a husband or talking about being a son, we all kind of have these same roles, and so it’s important for me just to tell you about my take on it and how that looks.
How has appearing on Worst Cooks in America impacted your career?
The exposure on a big reality show like Worst Cooks, how it helped me was I started having white fans. At first, all my supporters were black. Worst Cooks’ on Food Network, which is honestly a majority Caucasian audience, I started getting booked by white folks, and white folks pay you on time, and they sometimes pay you all your money up front. My bills started being paid on time, because white folks is actually coming to my show. Black folks give you heart palpitations, because black folks, they’ll wait till the day of to buy your tickets, white folks, they’ll buy your tickets at two years early.
What’s your toughest gig story and what did you learn from it?
So I think I heard what some of our comedians say, I’ve never bombed, if you never bombed, you never been a comedian. I’m sorry, every comic has had a rough crowd, me, I think one time it happened, I just didn’t read my audience, and sometimes you may have, this is what I’m gonna say tonight, this is the script, but you gotta read your audience, you have to read the room. You have to get into the art of listening and responding, and that night, instead of me listening to, all right, this is actually working, leaning towards that. No, I kept going back to, this is what I’m gonna talk about, this is the layout. And I realized that had I just continued my pivot, when I was pivoting a little bit, I had them coming in to me, they were opening up, but then I let it go and went back to this.
What motivates you to keep pushing boundaries in your career?
Well, what motivates me to be really different to everybody else is just that, I don’t want to be what everybody else is. When I first thought of comedy in 2009, I wanted to be the next Steve Harvey, but I realized he was already taken, so it’s I want to be the first Travele Judon, and that’s why I’m always calling myself as the greatest comedic entertainer of all time, and what that is, is my show. You see me and performing, it’s not just comedy, it’s comedy, it’s music, it’s dance, it’s a spectacle, and so I think just trying to get to latch on to something different, to see something different in a marketplace, I think different is good, and also different as me. So I think that’s really what it is. It’s just, be different, but be you, because everybody else is taken.
Would you consider yourself like Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer?
I feel what’s already known don’t have to be said, I ain’t gotta tell you I’m an entertainer, because when you see my show, you know, oh, he’s an entertainer. I hear it all the time, “Oh, you put on a show, you’re an entertainer”. I know, but I think I’m a mix of people, though, because I’m a storyteller, but mixed with showmanship, because I pull for so many different things, and it also in my mind, where I see comedy, where I see entertainment, it’s just so different. I always just see, how can I make something bigger, better? How can I make this a bigger idea? How can I really blow it up?
Tell us about your height and experience doing splits on stage.
I’m six foot four, I’ve bust way between to many pair of pants to count, but I was worse in high school. I used to do drummers, I used to bust my pants every single week, and I remember the lady, Mama Conway, used to be tired, “big man”. I mean, she started buying thicker, thicker thread, I didn’t know it had thicker thread, but it didn’t work, because by the time end of the game, big old hole, I’m out here just selling it out, but now I don’t be busting pants no more, I think I got it down to science.
What’s next for your career?
We talked about this before, so I have a lot going on right now, you see me wearing my shirt, The Revival Live. The Revival Live is my new production I’m doing, we just shot the special for it. Special, dropping it in the spring of 2025 and look out for that. It’s gonna be a major platform. The Revival Live, I had Tamar Braxton performed The Revival Live, Leandra Johnson, Zacardi Cortez, Molly Music, Darius Brooks, all were at my Revival Live performing, and it was an amazing, amazing time. Also, we just wrapped up the film of my new reality show, we call the docuseries, The Opener, and it just really follows me as a guy who’s trying to move from the opening spot to the headline spot, and it’s a story of me really tapping myself and being better mentally, physically and comedically.
How do you give back to up-and-coming comedians?
Honestly, nobody gave me a shot, they sold me my shot. Okay, so with that being said, how I pay it forward is I actually give shots. I don’t send my invoices, no shade to other people, but I don’t send somebody a $45,000 invoice to come be on my tour. I just say you want to be on the tour? You be on the tour, I ain’t gonna pay you because you got to do your dues, but I’m not going to actually try to make you become bankrupt either, to make you get your shot.
How do you balance family life with your career?
Honestly, I’m not a good example of that yet, balancing work and family, I’m a horrible example. I haven’t learned that, if I just be open and transparent again, I haven’t learned how to do that yet because me, for example, when I was doing The Revival Live show seven days a week, dance rehearsal, vocal coaching, vocal rehearsal, band and vocal rehearsal, tech, rehearsal, lighting, rehearsal, light and design rehearsal, this was my life. So I’ll be lying to you, “Oh, you do this, you do that”, I’ll be giving advice I don’t follow myself, because literally, I only know one speed and it’s all out.
What inspired you to pursue comedy?
So I think there’s two, because the first thing was, people always thought it’s funny, and I enjoy making people laugh, but I didn’t have the faith that I could do it. So was when my nephew passed in 2009 he was hit by a car. He was only 11 years old, and when he got hit by a car, my mindset was, he’s 11 years old, every hope, dream, aspiration, they died with him, and yet I’m still here. So I dedicated my life from that point up, I’m gonna live my life to the fullest, and I’m gonna fight for what I want.
Do any of your children show interest in entertainment?
So I got my children, all are characters. My oldest daughter, Shariah, she definitely wants to be an entertainer, but I don’t, if I’m being real, I love my baby, I don’t think she had the work ethic for it. I think the one who’s going to be better than me and come after me would be my youngest. Zoe, I know it’s funny when we do The Revival Live, my daughter’s like, “Daddy, I want to have background dancers and singers too”. I’m like, Zoe, just finish third grade, let’s start there, let’s finish the math problems, get that little ELA going before you try to tell some jokes.
Where can fans connect with you on social media?
You can find me on all social media, Instagram, comedian Travele Judon. On Facebook, I got two pages. one I don’t really use, so the one that got more followers on it, or follow both, who cares? I don’t use Snapchat, Twitter’s wasting my time. I’m working on Tiktok, but you follow me on Tiktok too, Travele Judon.
