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Don't be average
Message of comedian/motivational speaker Josh Shipp

By: Jonathan Mohr, Macomb Eagle

What would it be like to travel all over the world, appear on stage with Bill Cosby, give motivational speeches to one million people, write a book and host a reality television show? Pretty awesome, right? Most people would be thrilled to accomplish all that in their lifetime.

Josh Shipp is only 23, and his biography already includes all of the above. The good news for parents of Macomb High students is on Monday, February 17, Shipp is coming to MHS to give their teenagers a little insight into how he's accomplished it all.

The California based comedian/motivational speaker has a simple message for teenagers, but it's life-changing. "I try to just come back to one saying...'Don't be average,'" Shipp said. "They don't have to be average in anything that they do."

Of course, many parents have been repeating that same phrase to their children since they were old enough to understand spoken words. Whether it's their parents or a motivational speaker at a school assembly, most teens simply roll their eyes at what they consider adult rhetoric. So how does Shipp get his message of "Don't be average" across to a tough audience?

"The style of what I do...really dates back to when I was in high school and we'd have a lot of speakers that would come to our school like I'm going to do (in Macomb), " Shipp explained. "I remember sitting there as a 17-year-old student, and, of course assemblies were great because you got out of class, right? Everyone loved that. And there were no seating assignments, so you could sit next to your buddy who you got in trouble with all the time, and draw on yourselves, and try to set each other on fire or whatever. I remember there would be these speakers that would come in and I could see that they had a good mesage, but they just had no idea how to reach the teenage audience. I got so frustrated with that because I just wanted to change this whole stigma of what a motivational speaker or school assembly was about."

In order to reach teenage audiences Shipp said, "About the first third of my presentation is...kind of like being at a comedy club. It's just very fun; the audience is laughing. Then what I like to do is just hit them...with my serious message and it's really interesting to watch. People are just roaring with laughter and then there's absolute silence."

Shipp uses a lot of personal illustrations to drive home his message. To say he didn't come from a "Leave it to Beaver" type background would be a drastic understatement. "I've never met anyone related to me, at all," he explained. "My birth mom was 17 years old when she got pregnant with me and left me at the hospital when I was born. The same thing was done to her. She was birthed by a teenage mom and was left at the hospital."

"Throughout my life, I grew up in various...foster homes. Some of the foster homes were great and some...were not so great. I experienced some abuse. I definitely dealt with a lot of depression, and became pretty down on myself and actually tried to commit suicide a few times." Because of his background, he said he understands "it's very easy for people to think when something bad happens that (it) must be our fault. I think that's true whether we're young or adults."

"In high school, I was kind of the class clown," he continued. "I often would get kicked out of class for my...behavior. Then I remember when I was 17, someone told me about a classed called DECA. It's... a student leadership organization," he explained. Shipp was drawn to the class because he heard it was easy, they served cookies, and he could get out of school an hour early.

Through DECA, he found he had a gift for entertaining and inspiring audiences. Soon, a career was born. "Someone saw this class clown who had a gift for reaching his peers - maybe not in the best way - but thought that...I'd be able to use it in a positive way. That's...how I got started."

It wasn't long before he became the DECA president in his home state of Oklahoma. His talent began drawing attention and it wasn't long before invitations to speak began pouring in from all over.

His fledgling career exploded when he was asked to open for Bill Cosby at an anti-violence rally. "Someone heard about what I was doing and thought it would be neat to have a younger person open up and warm up the audience; someone that they could relate to," Shipp explained. That was definitely one of the biggest events I've done and that was...really a launching pad for me."

He's also had the opportunity to host a reality television show, a program titled "Prom Date." "It was kind of like 'The Bachelor' or 'The Bachelorette,' except it had more of a teen spin on it," Shipp said.

"The...tag line was 'prom date - where one lucky girl chooses from ten eligible guys her perfect date for the prom.'"

"It aired mainly in the Midwest, because that's...where the program was based out of," he said. "We also broadcast it online. It was another medium for reaching people. It was...more just a straight-up entertainment thing, but I think it was pretty neat as well."

Shipp has also delved into writing. He has co-authored three teen leadership books and is currently finishing the manuscript on his first solo project, appropriately titled "Don't be average."

Commenting on the reason he decided to write a book, Shipp said, "Oftentimes when I go out and speak, people want to be able to take that message home or they want to hear a little more that I don't necessarily have time to share. The message in that book will be very similar to what I do at events. It'll be funny. It'll be..one-third comedy book, one-third self-help book for teens, and one-third...sharing my story." "Don't be average" is tentatively scheduled for release sometime around summer 2005.

Both the printed word and television are part of the larger goals Shipp has set for himself. "My goal in life is to entertain, inspire, and empower teenagers. I can't necessarily be everywhere in all times and all places and I'm not going to come to every teenager's school. I wish I could, but I'm not going to. Mediums like my book and television are great ways to reach a mass audience. That's something I want to pursue more and more."

Shipp said he now travels approximately 100 days per year, speaking at all kinds of youth-related events. He's been married for about two years and his wife is able to go with him approximately 60 percent of the time. "That's really cool that she's able to come along with me and support me," he said.

Since he's only 23, Shipp knows he's got a long career ahead of him. He plans to keep following the same course he's been on since he first entered DECA. Speaking of his life, he said, "I absolutely love it. I think it's important to love what you do and as long as I love doing it, I'll continue to do it. I feel very fortunate to have gotten started as such a young age, because there's just a lot momentum building that needs to happen and I've already kind of taken care of that."