Meet Jed Doherty

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jed Doherty a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jed, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Prayer. I entered human services after college, working with kids who had been committed to the juvenile justice system. It seemed like the perfect place to spend a few years while I considered if I had a calling to become a priest in the Catholic church. A few years turned into 8, and all that time working in the field I was pretty burnt out. I went on retreat with 25 other young men considering the priesthood. At the start of the retreat a priest asked me if I had asked God if He wanted me to the a priest. I hadn’t. That night I did and the answer came back pretty clearly, no, that was not His plan. I left the retreat, sad, angry and a bit scared. I knew I could not return to what I had been doing. I prayed and asked God what was I meant to do. After that prayer I opened the newspaper and through teary eyes saw an article announcing that Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus was in town holding auditions for Clown College that day. I looked up to have Heaven and said, “dude, you have got to be kidding me!” With absolutely no idea what I was getting into I attended the audition. I stood in the center ring, in the middle of the Boston Garden, a place where I had watched all my sports heroes compete, and I was making people laugh. I knew at that moment that I was meant to be a clown.

It took me a few years to figure out how to make a living as a clown, and with the support of my beautiful wife I spent the next 35 years traveling and performing throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Central America, bringing a smile to millions of faces

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I launched the Reading With Your Kids Podcast in 2017. I know that my very good relationships with my now adult children was built on a foundation of reading together. I launched the podcast to encourage families to read together every day and build that special family bond. And while I knew that in addition to building that bond reading together helps kids learn how to read, I had no idea of the myriad other benefits kids, and parents, get from reading together every day.

And I had no idea how much I would come to love hosting the podcast. I learned with the help of LeVar Burton that hosting a podcast is truly is another type of performance.

One day my son texted me from out of the blue to say “you should have LeVar Burton on your podcast”. I said I agree, but I should also have a million dollars in the bank, neither one of those things is going to happen. But after a few minutes I thought “what is there to loose” and set out to find a way to invite LeVar on the show. To my genuine surprise three days after reaching out LeVar accepted my invitation.

LeVar was amazing. Kind, generous with his time, very open, honest and authentic. At one point in the interview I asked him where his love of literacy came from he immediately answered “My Mom” and as he said those words I could hear him switching into performance mode. He was no longer just answering a question, he was telling a story in a compelling way that would capture the audience’s attention and keep them enthralled. That gave me permission to also switch into performance mode, and it was so incredibly cool to be performing and creating content with one of my favorite actors.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Listening. Whether it is on stage listening to an audience, listening to a volunteer on stage with me, or listening to a guest, I think it is vital that I listen to what they are saying and responding honestly. (It is also incredibly important for me to listen to my beautiful wife and kids)

Sharing the spotlight. When she was 12 or 13 my daughter made a very important observation. She told me that I was very different than other clowns and magicians in that my show wasn’t about “look at me, look how cool I am”, my show was about bringing someone on stage and turning that person into the star of the show. I try to do the same thing with all the guests that come on my podcast.

Being comfortable being uncomfortable. It is so easy to get into a rut, just doing the same things you are comfortable doing over and over again. I love to challenge myself, whether it is performing for an audience that is way older than my typical demographic, perform for an audience that does not speak English, or reaching out to a Hollywood icon and invite him on my little podcast. You never know how strong and capable you are unless you stretch.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

Without question the most helpful and important person in my life is my beautiful wife. She has encouraged me in every project and crazy idea I have come up with.

I am also thankful to many of the mentors I have had in the world of performing. Trent Arterberry was very helpful early in my stage career, offering me this very sage advice – “You are entering show business, and show business is two words, and business is the bigger of those two words because if you don’t take care of business there ain’t going to be a show” Teller, of Penn and Teller, was also incredible helpful to me. I entered show business as a clown doing lots of slapstick. Kids loved it, the teachers and principals who hired me didn’t. So without any experience, and without any confidence in the field, I started to explore the world of magic. After seeing Peen and Teller perform I had a chance to speak with Teller. I told him I loved the levitation illusion they performed. Teller very graciously told me of the props and knowledge I would need to perform a similar effect. Learning that illusion helped take my stage show, and my confidence, to another level.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.readingwithyourkids.com
• Instagram: @ReadingWithYourKids
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/readingwithyourkids
• Linkedin: Jed Doherty
• Twitter: @Jedliemagic