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

Hi Jeff, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Taking risks is an interesting concept for me. This is going to sound like wispy posters on an office wall. But whatever you do shouldn’t feel like a risk if you feel called to do it. I’ve reframed risk as a challenge. And a challenge is motivation. I think the point is, you have to lie yourself. I’ve been a comedian for almost 20 years. From my family’s perspective in the beginning, I took a huge risk but for me it was a natural choice. I started making wands a couple years ago because I wanted a wand for myself and I couldn’t stop. It was a new addictive creative outlet. 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
So many things can shape a person’s path. Much like the paths of many, mine includes what I perceived as obstacles. As a high schooler thinking about college, I wanted to go to art school after I graduated. I wasn’t a great student at all. I was very average, a C student but I excelled at art. When I told my parents I wanted to go to art school to continue my drawing and painting pursuits, I wasn’t allowed. My mom tried to be more diplomatic and sway me to something different and my dad just flat out said no. I will spare you the exact words he used. But it included more colorful and derogatory language. So I chose to pursue graphic design at a local college. I got a graphic design job in 1999 at a newspaper and in 2004 I was told not to come back if I continued to pursue a comedy career. I was offered a guest appearance on a nationally syndicated radio show, The Bob and Tom show. I was going to miss a morning’s work and I was told, “ if you don’t show up tomorrow morning we see it as you abandoning your job.” Which in hindsight is a real asinine statement. They were just covering their ass. Even though I told them what was going on and I had 80 hours of paid time off available they chose to give me no choice. But they in fact helped me choose a life of comedy. A much easier path than fine art right? After being a comedian since 2001, the last few years i’ve started to draw again. People can find my art on Facebook at Jeff Bodart Art.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Indiana so the sights and tourist traps are limited. Although where I live is a beautiful town of 48,000 people in Columbus, IN. The headquarters of Cummins engine company. Pretty dope. Time magazine has called us “Athens on the Prairie.” We are ranked sixth in the country for our architecture. There’s a whole movie using Columbus, IN as a background and plot point. It’s pretty good. It’s called Columbus. Go figure. But if I had a friend coming to visit me here, I’d head over to fourth Street bar and tell them to look at all the buildings. Man, what a sight.

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?
Honestly there are so many people that have encouraged and mentored me. As a comedian Greg Behrendt really encouraged me to try a different style of writing and performing comedy. He noticed when offstage I’d tell him stories from my life. And he asked “Why aren’t you doing that on stage?” That opened up new avenues in my mind. When I started making wands, yes I said wands, yes like magic wands, I was looking for a new creative outlet. I’ve always been open to spiritual happenings and talking to the universe. I bought my first house in 2017 and in the garage was a workbench and I don’t know how to build anything but I thought, “hell, I bet I could make a wand.” A close friend encouraged me to keep going. I found a book titled True Wand Magick that had some really interesting information.

Website: JeffBodart.com
Instagram: @JBodart
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffbodartcomedian
Twitter: @JeffBodart
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/pages/category/Comedian/Comedian-Jeff-Bodart-206289898667/
Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/JeffBodart1
Other: https://m.facebook.com/BodartArt/ https://m.facebook.com/TarboWands/

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