Meet TaSh Elzie | Creator, Educator, Entertainer

We had the good fortune of connecting with TaSh Elzie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi TaSh, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important factor behind my success is that I do not fit in a mold. I consider myself a “now that I have you here” type of person. On Tiktok, I have over 111k followers even though I do not have a niche. I tell jokes, lip sync, work out, and perform comedy duets with friends, but I take advantage of the attention from those things to talk about things like human rights, mental health, and social justice. “Now that I have you here and listening” let’s talk about The Crown Act.

There are three things that usually happen after that: 1- my viewers are surprised and happy to find someone who is like minded, 2 – the viewer was made to think of something in ways they haven’t thought of it before because they grew to trust me, or 3- the viewer is immediately outraged and offended that someone they thought they trusted is bringing attention to heavy subjects. The third type of viewer usually ends up going on rants in my comment sections which counts as engagement and triggers the apps to feed my content back into the algorithm. That brings in more followers.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I wanted to be a comedy writer and wanted to be behind the scenes in entertainment. I have social anxiety and ADHD and always imagined that I would struggle in front of others if I was the focus. My friend Michelle, that I’ve had since high school, said “How will people know your comedy voice if you’re not performing?” I was hoping that it would happen through osmosis, however Michelle convinced me to sign up for some comedy classes with Leslie Wolff in 2018 and that started me on my path. Through those classes, I realized that I have a unique perspective and personality and I could organically make people laugh. I started performing at comedy clubs around Los Angeles, including the Hollywood Improv and The Comedy Store until the pandemic made me stop.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My best friend would know that I am a bit of a homebody and hopefully give me a list of places they are making me go. However, if they do not, on their first day I would take them to the beautiful LA Arboretum. It’s a great place to visit and take pictures. Then we would go get ice cream from Jeni’s or cake from my favorite bakery Phoenix Bakery in China Town.

I’ve lived my whole adult life in Long Beach and I would love to take my friend to some of my favorite places there. We’d go to Aguas Way for Tacos and agua fresca, The Good Bar for drinks and vibes, and then Long Beach Exchange for some light shopping.

I’d also make it a point to take them to The Nest in Bellflower for shrimp and grits and bacon waffles.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to thank Darshawn Hooker aka The Elf of Mental Health for recommending me to Shout Out LA and for being a friend who makes others feel seen and safe.

Instagram: Carnival Jedi

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/tashelzie

Twitter: @CarnivalJedi

Other: CarnivalJedi on Tiktok Cheat Codes Podcast Show Link https://open.spotify.com/show/7vQBfOKWsdnYVkLrermilu?si=7912bd7853d848c9