Demarcus Shawn is a goofy guy – and he’s proud of that and with over 5.7 million fans, he should be. At 25 years old he’s got a bigger fan base than a lot of comedians that have been in the business for decades.
For Demarcus, comedy—or just being goofy—started out the same way it started for a lot of people that would grow up to do stand-up or go into acting – he was the little brother, “I grew up with two older brothers who were pretty popular. That’s always tough, though. So they were always, like, pretty popular growing up. So like, my known as kind of came from them. It’s kind of like stems down where they’re like, Oh, you’re so-and-so’s brother? And I’m like, Oh, yeah, yeah. So like, I’ve always been associated with that growing up. And with that, it kind of helped me to be a little bit more like, you know, be more funny and everything. I’ve always been seen as like, Oh, the funny brother of the group, you know?”
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Unlike a lot of other funny people, Demarcus didn’t really have any comedic influences growing up, he essentially just looked around and noticed the humorous, the way people walked, or the weird daily interactions we have without even thinking about them. He thought about them, “Growing up is always going to like goofy and just like mimicking things and mimicking people’s lives. I’ve always been very observant of a person…. I’ve never been this type of person that had, like a famous comedian or, you know, there was a whole bunch of comedy specials and things like that. Obviously, there’s so many great ones, but like, I’ve never been that person to watch it. So this is it’s kind of like. I don’t want to say, like more natural, like it just comes easy instead of just having like inspiration. But it comes bearing just kind of like natural to me to just like mimic something I’ve seen.
Now that being observant is essentially a day job he does try to shut off from time to time. When he goes out he tries to put blinders on, “I try not to even look at people that much outside of here, like a straight beeline for whatever I need now because I’m like, maybe I’m looking at people away from those, but I still find myself looking at people.”
@artbydemarcusshawn
Like a lot of TikTok stars he didn’t start on the site – it started on the more private platform, Snapchat with just his friends and family, “I keep only like my family and like my friends on there, which I barely used it now, but I used to create skits on there and just like have it on my Snapchat and like my close friend’s list and stuff like that and do it there.”
While some on the app will start creating sets or use greenscreens for their skits as they gain followers, Demarcus has decided to keep it simple. Like an improv comedian on a stage, he uses what’s around him – his couch, his kitchen counter or just his hoodie a bit tighter around his face to get the joke across. “I think I like the simplicity of my videos and I think also I think everybody also appreciates that, too, because like when I talk about nobody, but I’m just saying, like sometimes when creative, which from, you know, the simplicity of just being in their house and then go to a big wider production is not the same.”
@artbydemarcusshawn
Being authentic and real is how Demarcus keeps going on an app that sometimes can be rough with hurtful comments but he considers his success on TikTok a blessing, “So for me, it’s just like, you know, whatever comes with it, I’m just doing this, just really just have fun with it. Whenever it feels like it’s like a job, I have to take a break. Like, I’m like, OK, I can’t do. I can’t. I can’t make videos right now. Even if I have like so many videos on my mind where I want to create once or twice from, like a job, I’m like, No, I can’t give up it because they won’t feel authentic. So I like to make sure I’m having fun. So as long as I’m having fun with it and whatever perks come along with it, they just come and whatever. Don’t don’t. I’m just happy that I’m in this space.”
