Jaboukie Young-White (born July 24, 1994[1][2]) is an American comedian, actor, and writer.
Early life
Young-White was born to Jamaican immigrants and raised in Harvey, Illinois.[1][3] He later attended Marian Catholic High School where he participated in Speech and Theatre before studying at DePaul University,[4] where he became involved in improv comedy through the collegiate improvisation program "The Titanic Players".[5][non-primary source needed] He ultimately left DePaul in his senior year to pursue his comedy career full-time.[6]
Career
2010s
Young-White performed stand-up for the first time at an open mic night when he was 19; he was hired for his first stand-up gig when he was 21.[6] He continued to perform stand-up at several bars and clubs around Chicago and New York City, and was a finalist at the 2016 NYC Devil Cup Stand Up Festival.[7]
In 2017, he was featured on Rolling Stone's "25 Under 25: Meet the Young Musicians, Actors, Activists Changing the World" list.[11] The following year, he was included in Vulture's "20 Comedians You Should and Will Know" list.[12] In 2020, Young-White was placed on BET'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".[13] Since 2017, he has performed stand-up twice on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[14][15]
On Martin Luther King Day (January 20, 2020), Young-White was temporarily banned from Twitter for posting a tweet posing as the FBI and claiming that they were responsible for the activist's assassination.[22]
2020s
On March 23, 2020, Twitter again suspended Young-White after he changed his display name and icon to that of the CNN 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.[23] His account was restored less than a day later. However, he was subsequently stripped of his verified status.[24]
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. He will write and executive produce the project.[27]
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.[28]
In 2022, Young-White had a recurring role in Rae's television show Rap Sh!t.[29] He also voice acted in the Disney+ series Baymax! and voiced main character Ethan Clade in the Disney animated feature Strange World.[30][31]
On September 30, 2022, Young-White released his debut single "BBC" via Interscope Records under the moniker "jaboukie."[32] Two more singles, "ROCKWHYLER" and "not_me_tho," were subsequently released.
On August 1, 2023, jaboukie announced his debut album, All who can't hear must feel, which was released on August 25, 2023.[33]
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