Chicago-native, Los Angeles-transplant Leo Flowers will bring his unique set of comedic skills to Koot’s Saturday night for a pair of shows.
“I’m fundamentally a storyteller,” Flowers said. “You’re going to hear stories about me being paralyzed twice, mom sending me news I can’t use and what I’m learning from counseling inmates and married couples.”
Flowers has honed his humor-crafting skills over two decades of telling funny stories as a professional comedian. His professional journey started in 2002 with a paid performance at Zanies comedy club in his hometown of Chicago.
“I always told funny stories and jokes as a kid,” he said. “It was a way of disarming bullies and making friends.”
After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Ball State University, his interest in helping others led him to earn a Master’s Degree in Counseling/Psychology.
“When you're the oldest son and have to serve as a mediator between your mother and youngest sister, you develop counseling skills very early,” Flowers said.
His counseling skills and his desire to help others led him to two additional professional endeavors as a life coach and podcaster. Flowers said he doesn’t use his life coach clients’ shared stories as comedic material.
“Trust is the foundation of any relationship. My coaching clients trust in the confidentiality of what they share,” Flowers said. ”What I talk about on stage is based on my own personal experiences and/or what I read or hear in the news/books/podcasts.”
His highly rated suicide prevention podcast, ‘Before You Kill Yourself’ is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. As his podcast description states, “Leo Flowers has a Masters in Counseling/Psychology and is a stand-up comedian, so he knows exactly why he's depressed. Join him while he interviews other mental health experts, comedians and best-selling book authors as they destigmatize mental health and teach you how to thrive.”
“The goal of my podcast is to help people feel less alone,” Flowers added. “To feel like someone is sitting with them in the darkness and also to remind them that our emotions, feelings and experiences are fleeting. Not permanent. So let's bask in the ridiculousness of it all.”
While at Ball State, Flowers played college football and he said that experience, too, informs his comedy.
“Football has definitely shaped my comedy because my comedy does focus on physical, mental and relational health,” he said. “Football teaches all three or at lease has been the foundation for how I engage in those three areas.” continued Flowers.
In addition to comedy, life coach duties, and podcast preparations, Flowers’ will soon publish a self-help book sharing more details about his 5-step daily mental health protocol.
“I'm writing about daily habits or JERMS (Journaling, Exercising, Reading, Meditating, Self-Talk),” Flowers said. ”Struggling with depression and anxiety, my daily JERMS keep me grounded and connected.”
Leo Flowers has appeared on ‘Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen’. He has toured on the ‘Shaved and Depraved Comedy Tour’, hosted both MTV’s ‘Sports Blender’ and Starz ‘Staan’ ‘Dup’, and was featured on ‘Last Call with Carson Daly’, on NBC. Most recently he’s appeared on Comedy Central’s ‘This Week At the Cellar.’
When asked what he was most proud of in his work, Flowers replied, “being interviewed by the Anchorage Press.”
