iam_robcampbell
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- iam_robcampbell
Writer, Actor, Comedian, Musician, Father, and MORE 💯 I am EVERYTHING that I am ✨
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A little bit about Rob
Well..I guess I’ll start at the turning point, of my aspirations to have a career in entertainment. It was Friday March 13th, 2009, the day that my daughter died. Aim’eea Abigail (Abby) Campbell. Her first name is pronounced (Ah-may-yah). I knew that was going to be a pain in the ass for her once she got in school, so I already had her covered with her middle name, being her nickname...lol She never got a chance to go to school though, she was still born at just about 8 months. She was my first child, and I was looking forward to being a Father so much. Making preparations for her room, buying clothes, books, ect..I was devastated when we lost her. On top of that, less than a week later I lost my job. I was working the B-shift at a CNC machine shop and they told me since she wasn’t actually born, I would’t be allowed the same grievance time for losing a child, but they could give me a day off. That next week, when I called in the day we were having the memorial service for her, the next day after when I went in, they coincidentally were short on work and had to let me go. Was better off not working for that type of a company, but none the less, I started drinking a lot more than I ever did, smoking like a damn chimney, and was falling into depression.
I had never had so much free time on my hands, and other than writing and making beats, I certainly wasn’t making the best of it. I had roommates at the time, they were also creative entertainers, so creating with and around them is kind of what kept me going for a while. I would always make parodies of songs that were on the radio when they played around the house, just for laughs, never thinking about actually recording or making videos for them. They even used one of the hooks for a Parody I randomly came up with, at a Step Show they hosted at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. I was making breakfast one day, while “Throw some D’s” by Rich Boy was playing on the radio and said “In the Kitchen making that, bacon with the flapjacks, got some french toast, tell me where the syrup at, Throw some cheese on them grits”. My cousin Dash and my brother from another Willie Styles wrote the verses, and the rest was history. My cousin would always tell me I needed to do comedy, he was a part of a sketch comedy team and would constantly tell me “Rob, your’e funnier than 90% of the people I know who are doing this” and it was what I needed to be doing. My excuses were always I had to work, I had responsibilities, and I was a rapper, what I look like doing comedy?..lol Well after being on unemployment and on auto-pilot around the house for months, I was all out of excuses. My cousin asked me to just come to ONE rehearsal, and if I didn’t like it, he wouldn’t bother me about it again. So I took him him up on the offer, What did i have to lose at that point?
The rehearsal with the Etch-A-Sketch comedy was actually exactly what I needed. It was my first time getting out the house and hanging around people other than close family in months. The energy was great, and there were a lot of funny talented people that were a part of the cast. I had so much fun, I started writing jokes and sketch ideas and was looking forward to coming back to the next rehearsal. My first show as a part of the cast was that same week. LOL Thursday’s at Venu Resto Lounge. It was hottest live show weekly show happening in the City at the time. Packed and sold out every week after the first couple months of the cast and promoters building it up. I was nervous and excited for some reason. I was playing the role of a customer coming to see an herbal doctor with a ge***al infection...lol “You know how people get crabs, and it itches and burns?” I said to the woman playing the role of the doctor, as I moved uncomfortably grabbing my crotch. “What do it mean, when you take a p**s, and spiders come out your dick?” The crowd chuckled. “Spiders?”, she said. “Yes, Charlotte’s web is on my nut sack right is what I’m saying”. The audience burst out laughing, the rest of the scene went great, and my mind starting filling with the possibilities of this being something I could actually do. Fast forward to 6 or 7 months later of doing improv and sketch comedy on stage every week, rehearsing a couple times a week, writing and creating sketches, trying stand up a couple times and doing well, I had grown hilariously confident at doing comedy on and off stage.
Then some more adversity struck. My Aunt Gina needed a kidney transplant, in order to live, and she and my family did not have all the finances for the operation. My Mom had been supportive of my new ventures in comedy and performing arts, and she came up with the idea of doing a benefit show. It was my first production. My teammates on the comedy team joined me to put on the show as well as a few other local performers I had built relationships with. We were able to raise more than enough to assist with a successful transplant but also some finances to take care of monthly bills and needs for the time she would be out of work. My other Aunt Millie was the one who donated her own kidney for the transplant. It was then, in that moment when I was standing on stage with them at the end of the show as the audience cheered and my family shed some tears of joy, when I knew that this wasn’t just a hobby. It was purpose. I could make a difference in the lives of my family, community, and more with my new found passion. Not just making people laugh, which was great, but making a real difference at the same time. For the previous 5 or 6 years I had grown into a loner. Even when I was around people I still felt alone. I grew up fast and had a lot of responsibilities at a young age but those are stories for another day. Essentially, it just made me very serious most of the time, defensive, and I cared too much about what people thought of me. Reserved in expressing my creative thoughts, sharing jokes, or even just being jovial. Those days were over. I was finally starting to be me, the new me. Well, the real me.
