Jaboukie Young-White


Jaboukie Young-White is an American comedian, actor, writer and musician.
Young-White first gained recognition at a young age as a comedian, through which he made his television debut as a guest performer on two episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. After his film debut in the black comedy Rough Night, he co-wrote the Netflix mockumentary television series American Vandal. His subsequent films included his first leading role in Dating and New York, alongside supporting parts in Someone Great and C'mon C'mon, and voice roles in Strange World and Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.
On television, Young-White played recurring parts on Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens and Only Murders in the Building.
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Early life

Young-White was born to Jamaican immigrants and raised in Harvey, Illinois. He later attended Marian Catholic High School followed by DePaul University, where he became involved in improv comedy through the collegiate improvisation program "The Titanic Players". He ultimately left DePaul in 2016 during his senior year to pursue comedy full-time.

Career

2010s

Young-White performed stand-up for the first time at an open mic night when he was 19; he was hired for his first stand-up gig when he was 21. He continued to perform stand-up at several bars and clubs around Chicago and New York City, and was a finalist at the 2016 NYC Devil Cup Stand Up Festival.
Beginning in late 2016, several of his memes, tweets, and posts went viral. He subsequently gained prominence on social media, particularly on Twitter and Instagram, where he grew a large following.
Since 2017, he has performed stand-up twice on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
As of 2018, he wrote for the Netflix television shows Big Mouth and American Vandal. In October of that year, he was hired as a correspondent on The Daily Show; he made his first appearance opposite Trevor Noah on October 11, 2018, and left in 2021.
In early 2019, Young-White was negotiating to be a lead in an untitled Bo Burnham and Amy York Rubin film alongside Danielle Macdonald.
On Martin Luther King Day, Young-White was temporarily banned from Twitter for posting a tweet posing as the FBI and claiming that they were responsible for the activist's assassination.

2020s

On March 23, 2020, Twitter again suspended Young-White after he changed his display name and icon to that of the CNN Breaking News account, and tweeting: "BREAKING: Joe Biden is not DEAD. He just getting some dick. We've all been there cnn.com", thus making it appear as though CNN had posted the tweet. His account was restored less than a day later. However, he was subsequently stripped of his verified status.
In 2021, Young-White starred in the film Dating and New York. He also appeared opposite Joaquin Phoenix in the film C'mon C'mon and had a recurring role in the television series Only Murders in the Building. He voiced the lead role of Truman in the animated series Fairfax.
On June 10, 2021, it was announced that Young-White would be teaming up with Issa Rae and her production company Hoorae to develop the book The Gang's All Queer: The Lives of Gay Gang Members by Vanessa R. Panfil into a series for HBO. He will write and executive produce the project.
On July 20, 2021, it was announced that Young-White would be writing the script for an upcoming animated feature inspired by music of the late rapper Juice Wrld.
In 2022, Young-White had a recurring role in Rae's television show Rap Sh!t. He also voice acted in the Disney+ series Baymax! and voiced main character Ethan Clade in the Disney animated feature Strange World.
On September 30, 2022, Young-White released his debut single "BBC" via Interscope Records under the moniker "jaboukie." Two more singles, "ROCKWHYLER" and "not_me_tho," were subsequently released.
On August 1, 2023, jaboukie announced his debut album, All who can't hear must feel, which was released on August 25, 2023.
In July 2025, rapper and hip-hop artist Doechii revealed that she was working with Young-White for the script of her upcoming stage show School of Hip Hop that blended live choreography and evocative visuals with cultural commentary and satire. He will be appearing in Trash Mountain, a new movie written by fellow-comedian Caleb Hearon, according to an October 2025 announcement.

Personal life

Young-White is gay, and did not come out to his parents until his 2017 debut on The Tonight Show. He is estranged from his "violently homophobic" father, but remains in contact with his mother who is accepting of his queerness. He lives in New York City.

Awards and recognition

In 2017, he was featured on Rolling Stones "25 Under 25: Meet the Young Musicians, Actors, Activists Changing the World" list. The following year, he was included in Vultures "20 Comedians You Should and Will Know" list. In 2020, Young-White was placed on BET's "Future 40" list, which is a list of "40 of the most inspiring and innovative vanguards who are redefining what it means to be unapologetically young, gifted & black".
Young-White received the 2024 Comedy Connoisseur Award at Variety's annual Power of Comedy event for his broad body of work, including stand up performances and television appearances.

Discography

Singles

  • "bbc"
  • "ROCKWHYLER"
  • "GONER"
  • "not_me_tho"