In Season 1, I interviewed Keelah Rose Calloway for the podcast.  We had previously featured her story when she was living in Poland.  In her episode, she mentioned shared her experiences of going from planning a career in law to stand up comedian in Vietnam.  Yes, that’s a stretch I know and so if you haven’t heard that episode, you should visit it.

After the interview, she mentioned another fellow comedian who was living in Saigon, who she thought would be a great fit for the show.  Naturally, as you can imagine, I was intrigued because quite honestly, beyond her, I didn’t know any standup comedians – much less another one living in Vietnam.

 This is how I was introduced to JK Hobson. JK who was born in Puerto Rico, raised in New York, was a longtime Los Angeles resident before moving to Southeast Asia. In addition to creating comedic  content under the banner of  Asia Out Loud,  he is also the host of  The Outsiders Podcast and co-host of the We Outchea Expat Podcast!

And while all of that is certainly interesting,  I am going to go ahead and say that this episode is full of random musical trivia, unexpected turns and  ridiculous amounts of laughter (or at least more than normal).  Because JK has had one of the craziest career pivots I’ve ever seen and I am a professional career counselor and strategist.

I mean we’re talking going  from a death metal guitarist to a Fulbright scholar to a comedian.  Crazy, right?

JK shares his reflective thoughts on identity, colorism and  acceptance.  He also walks us through how his love affair with metal and punk started and the ways music dominated his life for a good long while.  And he shares how his comedy translates within an incredibly diverse context. 

So how does a metalhead process after their band breaks up  following a successful tour? Well, that’s what you get to find out. 

And as a quick note, the language might be a little spicy for some listeners. And  if you have kids around, you may want to listen with some earbuds.