Empowering Black Women In Comedy: Kevin Fredericks Partners With Patreon To Amplify New Voices In Stand-Up – Essence
In the disorienting early months of the pandemic, when the world was merely trying to stay afloat and survive—and not everyone ultimately did. When grocery store visits were socially distanced, and the pace of life slowed down, unable to process our anxieties in real-time, we fixated oddly on the things we could control—hoarding toilet paper and such. What began as survival mode against the immediate threat of the coronavirus evolved into a collective catalyst for introspection and societal examination. The murder of George Floyd sparked global protests against racial injustice, while the continued unfolding of the “Me Too” movement highlighted systemic misogyny and sexual abuse.
In 2020, amidst this collective existential crisis, Kevin Fredericks had a “come to Jesus” moment of his own. “I’ll be very honest about what happened during the pandemic,” he said. “I take comedians out on tour. I took Tony Baker and Tahir Moore, but I didn’t take any women out. I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong. I was just looking out for my boys. A lot of my women friends are mothers, so I thought, ‘I don’t want to ask them because they have their kids to worry about.’ Then Lee, one of my homegirls, said, ‘Yeah, but Tony and Tahir have kids too. You’re excluding women, but you give men an opportunity to figure it out. You’re not giving women that same opportunity.’” For Kevin, the revelation exposed how seemingly benign actions can perpetuate gender inequality.
The realization led to immediate rectification. “From that moment on, I have been intentional about looking out for black women,” Kevin told ESSENCE. “Angel [Laketa Moore] hosted the first tour after that. On the next tour, Mel Mitchell was the host, and I’ve had at least one woman on every tour since then,” he shared. “When I was doing Keep Your Distance [comedy shows] around the pandemic, I said, ‘I don’t care what I do; I’m going to have at least one Black woman on each show, if not more.” The stand-up comedian, content creator, podcast developer, influencer, author, and filmmaker known as KevOnStage has held to that promise across all his platforms.
This summer, he is taking his mission to elevate the talents and voices of Black women a step further. In partnership with Patreon, he will host KevinAndFriends: The Specials at Flappers Comedy Club on July 22nd. The event will be available on his Patreon and will spotlight four incredibly talented comedians: Mel Mitchell, Grace Johnson, Paris Sashay, and Ty Davis. “These people are hilarious,” Kevin shared. “They’re all phenomenal comedians. Grace, I followed on TikTok, and her stand-up is fantastic. Mel Mitchell is a brilliant content creator and comedian, but she is also equally talented at stand-up. Ty Davis is one of my favorite people and stand-ups. And Paris, she did my first show clean, and she was hilarious, and then I saw her on a non-clean show, and she was equally hilarious, which is very hard to do.”
The Patreon partnership expands Kevin’s capacity to hire incredible comedians, allowing them to bring their authentic selves to the stage. “Just like how BET’s Comic View and HBO’s Def Comedy Jam used to do, the hope is that you enjoy their special and follow them,” Kevin said. “When they come to your town, go see them, buy their merch, subscribe to their podcast, or watch their videos. They all create content on social media, so share some of that love and energy.”
A longtime disciple of Patreon’s subscription-based model, KevOnStage understands the platform’s power to build community and support. “I think the best thing Patreon has given me is freedom,” he said. “It allows me to create what I love and what my audience enjoys. Luckily for me, those are one and the same.” His ‘Stage Krew’ is notoriously loyal, a trait he doesn’t take for granted. They’ve enabled him, he says, to not have to chase Hollywood: “I already have a loyal audience.”
That solid foundation fuels his broader mission to uplift others, just as others have uplifted him. “Black women have always looked out for me. It is time for me to return the favor,” he said. This dedication is evident in his upcoming projects, such as shooting a hospital show on his Patreon next week, where he ensures gender parity in casting—”for every man I cast, I have a woman cast, so it’s almost 50/50.” He continued, “For me, the responsibility of my platform is to “big up” Black people, but specifically look out for Black women, whenever and however I can.” It’s just one of many concrete examples of how Kevin Fredericks’ philosophy applies, in real time, to his work.
