Jaboukie Young-White continues to put in the work, amidst his comedy ascension – Vanyaland

The rising stand-up standout showcases his versatility in his new half-hour Comedy Central special

At just 25 years old, Jaboukie Young-White has already had quite the comedy career. From writing gigs on hit Netflix series American Vandal and Big Mouth, to a correspondent role on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and not to mention consistently being touted as one of the best young comics in the country, the Harvey, Illinois native has put the work in since his mid-teen years to get where he is now.

Now, as he is set to kick off the latest season of Comedy Central Presents on Friday (October 18) with his first non-late night TV spot, Young-White is of course excited to see some of his extended work out there. After looking it over himself, though, hes even more excited about the evolution his comedy has gone through over the past 10 months since recording the set.

It was nice to have the time to stretch out a bit and do a set longer than a five minute late-night set where you get the audience going, and then youre gone, Young-White tells Vanyaland. Looking back at it, though, having taped it earlier this year, a lot of the jokes on there have evolved, and there are other jokes Im doing now that have sprouted out of jokes I do in the special, so I find myself wishing I could go back in time and add that tag or do that bit a little longer. But thats just par for the course when you put something in stone for posterity, and Im still truly grateful that I had the opportunity to do this.

Reflecting on the work it took to bring the finished product to fruition, Young-White embraced the process of trimming the fat from his set, and while he does acknowledge that it was in no way easy to do, it was a creatively rewarding experience that ultimately brought the set that we will see to its finest form.

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It was challenging, but also a fun exercise in killing your darlings, says Young-White. The original set was about 40 minutes or so, and I feel like the end product was a lot sleeker and meatier than what I was originally working with, and the exercise of making it what it turned out to be was honestly really fun.

Sure, he chalks up most of his success to pure luck, but having accomplished so much in such a short amount of time in the scene since 2015, it also helps that Young-White knew exactly what he wanted to do very early on his teen years.

I had been performing throughout high school, so speaking in public with the intention to entertain was not foreign to me, so I feel like that gave me a real leg up, says the Illinois native. I also think there was a lot of invisible work that I put in when I was starting out in stand-up that was discredited because I was young, which I get, because I would be pissed too. At the same time, though, its nice to look back and flex on all of those dudes who would rather stay mad.

The way Young-White sees it, the half-hour special is a great summation of where he currently resides in his career. Whether it be the fairly even distribution of social commentary and everyday observational humor, or the changing of material up until the morning of the recording and the attempt to never tell the same joke twice, the DePaul University alum is always looking to keep his comedy evolving and always in the moment.

That doesnt mean he isnt ever looking back to see how hes grown as a comedian, and how his surroundings have influenced him since hitting the ground running with stand-up while still in college, during a time in which political activism and social upheaval really began to take shape.

I started doing comedy in a very politically-charged environment, and I definitely think that some of the stuff I do is in conversation with that, and some of it is just nonsensical shit, but if its something Im experiencing, its going to work its way into my stand-up, in a way that I may or may not be aware of. It may or may not be intentional, but whatever it is, I always make sure that it comes from a very real part of me.

First and foremost, Young-White wants to make you laugh with his special. Its always been his goal and passion to entertain and to share the absurdity he finds in his thoughts. But, if you happen to get something a little bit deeper out of it, given the political and social topics he actively explores, by no means does he see that as a loss.

Its so hard for me to pinpoint something that I hope people take away from my work, but I always know what Im trying to do, and whatever way people wind up taking that can be so many different things, says Young-White. I really just hope that people laugh, and maybe see something in a way they hadnt seen it before, or thought something they hadnt thought of before, and show people something new while making them laugh.

Comedy Central Presents premieres tonight at 11 p.m. with back-to-back episodes featuring Jaboukie Young-White and Vanessa Gonzalez.

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Jaboukie Young-White continues to put in the work, amidst his comedy ascension - Vanyaland