Meet Jordyn | Entertainer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jordyn and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jordyn, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking has always played a huge part in my creative career. I grew up in a very unsupportive family. I knew what I was supposed to be from the time I was a very small child, maybe four or five years old. I knew that I was supposed to be an entertainer and that I was supposed to make a big impact in the world, and I never let that get beat out of me. No one in my family wanted me to pursue music or anything creative. They begged me to be a nurse or something normal. So I struggled and I took massive risks. I paid for theater college on my own with student loans I am still paying off. I went broke countless times and sometimes had to add flax seeds to my food to make it fill me up more because I couldn’t afford anything. I tried to become a stripper to support myself. When I was 24 I took the biggest risk of all and moved to LA from Philly on a cross country train with $200, 2 bags and 2 packs of cigarettes with no real plan besides to crash on my friends couch, do shows and make music. I wound up homeless for a long time and it was incredibly dangerous but I wound up creating 2 seasons of a comedy interview show and bringing my fundraising variety show Queerspace out there, and it still happens out there in LA to this day. Those are just a small few of the ways that taking risks has been a part of my career. It’s all just been one big leap of faith.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What sets me apart from other creators is a level of honesty and realness in my work and performances that I haven’t really seen in many other entertainers. I am proud of my ability to tear my skin off onstage and show people the size of my feelings. I have always been an extremely sensitive person, and I have been through a lot in this life and I put that all into my work. I think that is really what got me to where I am. Even if people haven’t been through the same things I have, there is a vibration that comes across from honesty in performance that people can feel. I may not always sing beautifully or hit all the right notes, but the way I perform will impact you in some way. I think all good art does that. It might make you feel disgust or sadness or loathing or whatever, but I think good art is art that makes people feel. I want people to know that if they have enough passion for what they do, they can make their dreams happen. You don’t have to have any support around you, a healthy family life or money. It might take you longer than some people, but if you’ve got that fire in your gut you can make it happen for yourself and it will be so much sweeter when you do.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If someone I love was coming to Philly for the first time, I would take them to where I grew up in Fishtown. My neighborhood has been massively gentrified over the years, so I would show them all the things that still feel like home in Fishtown. I would take them to Palmer Cemetery and show them where my family is buried. Get some water ice at one of the dinky little joints I’ve been going to since I was a kid. I would show them the Chucky doll that this one couple keeps in their attic window and tell them the fake story I’ve told countless people that this couple had their first child die and that sometimes you can see the ghost of their kid looking out the window. Play in the playground. Show them the real Fishtown.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give a shoutout to Frank Tartaglia. Rest in peace buddy. He believed in me when I was first coming up in the Philly scene and told me I belonged in LA. I was playing shows at his venue Connie’s Ric Rac all the time and he told me I could crash on his couch until I got my feet on the ground out there. Then when he picked me up from the train station, he told me he had a buddy who wanted to make my show, and hooked me up with this gorgeous, Hollywood level studio that made my show for free. I couldn’t believe it! A whole team of people who believed in my vision were there waiting to help me make my show. If it weren’t for Frank, my life would look really different right now.

Website: patreon.com/bowlandbreffix

Instagram: instagram.com/thejordynmusic

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theJORDYNshow/

Image Credits
John the Con Genevieve Muree Brunoroids Adam Boren Bennett