We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jamil Burger a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jamil, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Who knows maybe my parents. Like most people, I believe my resilience comes from the challenges I faced growing up. I wasn’t always great at things, but I learned early on the importance of persistence. One of the toughest experiences I had was doing stand-up comedy for 8 years, where I got booed for the first 4 of those. It was brutal, but it taught me to embrace adversity as an opportunity for growth. Just when I felt I was finally hitting my stride and landing big shows, the world turned upside down with COVID. Like so many others, I had to pivot, and that’s when I discovered voice-over. At the end of the day, I’ve learned that life moves forward, and so must you. Resilience, for me, is about accepting setbacks and using them to push you toward your next step.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I feel like I have two identities sometimes. Most people know me for voice-over, but before voice-over was even a dream, I spent my career doing stand-up comedy. My name is Jamil Burger, though I used to go by Comedian Jay Burger. I’m from East Orange, New Jersey—born and raised, on the playground where I spent most of my days (It’s a fresh prince of bel air joke), if you couldn’t tell, I did stand-up. I got my start at an open mic at Essex County Community College when I was 19. Those 4 minutes changed my life forever, I BOMBED YO! To bomb as a comedian means your jokes don’t land, and you get no laughs (you’ve probably just experience this with my fresh prince joke) You’d think that would be enough to scare someone away, but for me, it was different. A man came up to me after the show, shook my hand, and told me that even though he’d had a rough day, my jokes made him feel better. That meant a lot to me. From that moment, I was hooked.
As I mentioned before, the pandemic changed my life—just like it did for so many people. It made me reflect deeply on my purpose, and like many others, I had to deal with depression. But now, here I stand with a career in voice-over, teaching others about the craft. I’m currently working as an operations manager at a school called Closing Credits that specialize in teaching voice over and helping teach the next generation of voice-over artists. My journey has been one of unexpected twists, but I’m grateful for how it all led me here
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Resilience: As a stand-up comedian, I learned to bounce back from failure and trust me there were a lot—whether it was bombing on stage or facing rejection. Not booking a gig or being ghosted by agencies Resilience has been crucial in both my comedy and voice-over careers. My advice to those early in their journey is to embrace setbacks as part of the process. Don’t let them define you; let them motivate you to keep going. You’ll hear this a lot but remember it’s a marathon not a race. Don’t be in rush the opportunities will come I can’t tell you when, but they will come, the worst thing you can be is unprepared. Take your time and grow what you’re striving for will always be here later.
Adaptability: Life, especially during the pandemic, taught me the importance of adapting. I had to pivot from comedy to voice-over, which was a huge shift. Being open to change and willing to step outside of your comfort zone is essential. My advice would be to stay curious, try new things, and don’t be afraid to change direction if it feels right. Life can take in some crazy directions be open-minded to it
Connection with Others: Whether through humor on stage or storytelling in voice-over, connecting with people has always been a priority for me. In comedy, I learned how to read a room and adjust my performance, while in voice-over, I focus on bringing authenticity to every character I play. Building relationships with mentors, peers, casting directors, and your audience is vital. My advice is to surround yourself with supportive people who inspire and challenge you to grow. Hell, I akin the position I’m in now because of the people around me.
For anyone just starting, focus on building these qualities. Keep learning, keep pushing through challenges, and always seek out ways to connect with others in your craft. People are going to doubt you; they’ll say all the negative things but keep practicing. Success is born from failure. Practice your craft and never turn down a chance to flaunt your talents and grow. In comedy, I would always say, ‘Treat a crowd of 3 like a crowd of 300,’ so when you get to that big stage, you’ve already practiced for it.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
I believe there’s value in both approaches, but it’s important to prioritize your strengths while also being mindful of the areas where you can improve. Focusing on your strengths helps you build a solid foundation in what you’re already good at, which builds confidence and allows you to stand out. I see a lot of voice-over students talk about the qualities they love in other actors, but I ask: What about your own? You’ve been speaking your whole life. Learn how to master your own voice, and if you have an accent, embrace it! Your accent makes you unique.
At the same time, it’s crucial to recognize and address your weaknesses—especially if they’re holding you back from reaching your full potential. For example, in my journey from stand-up comedy to voice-over, I relied heavily on my comedic timing, storytelling, and ability to connect with an audience. Ironically, all of those skills started off as weaknesses. I was an introvert in the beginning, people made fun of me cause my name was Burger now its a tattoo as reminder of what I went through and something I’m proud to be known by. I wasn’t really funny at first and if you ask my wife and brother, I’m still not lol can I add a lol? I’m adding an lol. I got booed for four years straight, but I learned to turn those moments of failure into growth. I also had to invest time in developing my technical skills in voice-over, which were outside my comfort zone at first. Things like breath control and articulation—let’s be real, I wasn’t the best at that when I started (I’m from the streets, yo! And my culture growing up wasn’t really focus on articulation nawimean fam. It means know what I mean, a little street slang for you). But I kept at it, and eventually, I learned how to bring a character to life while being myself. At first, I was frustrated because I wanted to be good at everything right away, I had already spent nearly a decade in one field, I didn’t have time to start fresh. However, by focusing on my weaknesses, I expanded my versatility and opened up new opportunities in my career.
My advice to anyone starting out is this: Play to your strengths, but don’t neglect areas where you can grow. You can’t expect to be an expert overnight, but small, incremental improvement can make a huge difference. A friend of mines Evan Michael Lee once said, ‘Do one thing a day that’s the bare minimum, and you’ll be surprised by how much ground you can cover in a year.’ Whether it’s finding an audition, updating your resume, or listening to a commercial, small actions make a big difference, even if they seem insignificant at the moment. I hope to see you in the booth one day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jamilburger.com
- Instagram: the_real_burger
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamil-burger-1810ba220/
- Twitter: BurgerVO
- Other: https://www.closingcredits.com/
