Junior transfer student and Creative Writing major Brody Sparks isn’t your run-of-the-mill college student. He also happens to be a rising stand-up comedian. He started performing at the Clark Bar in Champaign his freshman year of college, a month before his 19th birthday. He also started his own comedy club called, “The Blind Pig.” “Between us and the Decaturian, I’m actually not old enough to be at “The Blind Pig,” because you have to be 21,” Sparks said.  Sparks started out all over Illinois, but it wouldn’t have been without the push of his ex-girlfriend.

“[She] uncovered my work when she was on my laptop–I left a document up. I never told anybody I was writing for stand-up, and then she talked me into going to an open mic and performing,” he said.  Stand-up comedy has helped Sparks evolve into the person he is today.

“I was a very introverted person, I had no self-confidence whatsoever, and then friends that had known me my entire life started going to my shows, like, ‘Wow, Brody, why don’t you speak up more, because we think you’re funny!’ And it helped me break out of that shell,” he said.  Sparks admitted that he was extremely nervous for his first show and still gets nervous. “It’s something you never get over, and if you do get over it, there’s no point in doing it, because that’s the rush,” he said.

Some of Sparks’ comedy mentors include twin brothers, Jesse and Justin Tuttle, and Andrew Hicks. “[The Tuttle’s] own a company called ‘C-U Comedy,’ which puts on several shows in Champaign, Urbana. They’ve given me so much guidance, they’ve really been kinda mentors to me. They’ve helped me be the man I am today and same with Andrew Hicks. He runs a company called ‘Soapbox Stand-Up,’ and he’s given me several opportunities to perform longer-form stand-up,” Sparks said.

When asked what Sparks’ particular stand-up style was, he described it as constantly changing.  “[It’s] almost as if I have manic depression, which I don’t. I’m a very sporadic guy. I don’t like to stick to only one art form, or one way of performing that art. So, it’s really just depending on my mood. Sometimes I’ll go up and I’ll tell one-liners, and I’ll do that for the entire show. And then, the very next time you see me, I’ll do a very emotional piece of material that’s very heartfelt,” Sparks said,   But, the main key for Sparks is to stay true to himself and perform genuinely.

“I purposely don’t plan for shows until a few hours before, because I have to decide what kind of mood I’m in. If I’m lying to myself about what my mood is, and I’m going up and doing material that’s not true to me in that moment, then why would I waste the audience’s time if I’m not into it?” he said.  Sparks’ favorite comedian of all time is Bill Hicks.   “I actually have a tattoo on my right arm of a microphone and it says, ‘It’s just a ride,’ on top of it. Bill Hicks was one of the first truth-telling comedians. He was willing to go against the social norms and stand up for what he believed in, and that’s actually why I got the tattoo, ‘cause it reminds me, ‘don’t let anyone censor you.’ You have to be willing to change your ideas and you have to be willing to evolve your ideas, and that’s one thing that he really stood for, was not just evolution as a society, but evolving yourself as a person,” he said.  Other comedians who Sparks looks up to are Louis C.K., Bo Burnham, and Richard Pryor.

“[C.K.’s] material is just so heartfelt, it’s so true, it’s very self-deprecating. But he plays off of emotion better than any comedian I can think of. And now, flipping to a completely different side of the spectrum, Bo Burnham. I love him. He’s just so creative. He transcends stand-up and he makes it an experience. [Pryor] talked about the most personal stuff he could talk about: his addiction to crack, the time he caught himself on fire and had to run out in the middle of the street. Then he talked about his recovery from crack… But, he always made it seem silly. The most serious things: talking about his relationship with his mother, talking about everything–he made it silly and he made it relatable to anybody, even people who normally wouldn’t think about that part of society,” Sparks said.

Between Hicks, C.K., Burnham, and Pryor, Sparks has a lot of role models he strives for, because to him, stand-up isn’t just a hobby, it’s a way of life.

“I can’t imagine what my life would be without it. I haven’t been on stage in three weeks, ‘cause I wanted to take time off when I started at Millikin, and I have not felt myself at all. The great thing about stand-up is unlike any other form of writing, or any form of art, you get constant feedback every time you go on stage and I’m a very analytical person, and if I have an idea, I wanna talk about it on stage to see what other people think about it. And, if people don’t laugh, then it wasn’t a good idea, or maybe it was just an idea that was good, but I just need to learn to express it another way. I really feel like anything that I do in my life thrives more when I’m doing a lot of stage time. It’s almost like a meditation for me. I’m not Brody Sparks if I’m not on stage,” he said.

Sparks is interested in starting up a radio show at WJMU on campus and is in need of a co-host.

“If there’s anyone who would be interested in doing a comedy-based show, I don’t wanna do only comedy all the time, but even when I’m talking about serious topics, just naturally, my inclination is to make it funny. So, if there’s anyone who would be interested in being a co-host on a show here, I’d be glad to do that,” he said.  For more information Sparks can be reached through Facebook or Twitter @Bsparks24.