I've always had a passion for entertainment.
From a young age, I was always making funny videos and getting people to laugh. In high school, I was very active in improv comedy and attended a video broadcasting class my senior year. I even won an award for most entertaining feature of the year. This passion has carried on throughout my adult life and has even expanded.
Currently, I dabble in many forms of art such as music, comedy, writing, sketch comedy, singing and acting. I mainly use social media platforms, but you can occasionally catch me performing comedy at venues such as The Laughing Skull. I would much rather perform in person because it's a thrill ride, with your heart racing and blood pumping. It's the most fun to be in front of a live audience. It's hot, live and you can't delete people's responses. You must engage with the audience and work through the performance, no matter if it's a positive or negative response.
Even though I love comedy and am pursuing that in my career, music has been influencing me throughout my life. Growing up, I listened to everything from Metallica to gospel to Outkast. I was in numerous choirs in churches, schools and bands, and I started playing guitar at 13. I started with learning AC/DC songs, but I wanted to be the next Eddie van Halen.
I really found my style when I discovered Tenacious D, which combined music and comedy - exactly what I really want to embody with my art. My junior year, I recorded and wrote a song - while annoying my mother - called "The Mom Song." It was so popular throughout my high school and church that I even sold T-shirts with the lyrics on the back.
Recently, my sketch comedy videos have been taking off on numerous social media platforms. On TikTok, which is a newer platform, I have more than 2 million views and nearly 30,000 followers.
My videos all have a comedy influence, but I also try to put some fun education in them. For example, every Saturday, I release a new episode of my series "Does it air fry" where I air fry a different item, usually the one most recommended by my followers. Tim and Eric, Chris Farley and Jack Black are all huge influences of my video style.
Making people laugh is important to me because it makes people forget about their problems. It's a fun distraction when things are hard, and it makes life easier and more fun.
Everyone needs laughs in their lives.
Austin Usher is originally from Woodstock, Georgia. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram @Ihavethebeard.