Page 44 - Provoke Mag Vol6

Knoweth:You Got the “Juice”
-Andrea Pernell
We are all destined for something. The reality of it is that it could be a tragedy for some and greatness for oth- ers. Much to my delight, I had the honor of interviewing Demetrius “Juice’ Deason, creator of LayUps2StandUp and longtime friend of Russ Westbrook! He, who took what would have surely been a tragedy for someone else and turned it into greatness. Sit down kids and let’s con- verse about human alchemy.
Given the circumstances:
Comedy comes from a dark place with the intentions of making the world a lighter place; agree or disagree? Agree, I wouldn’t say always. I definitely think the inspiration comes from some dark places and from there you make it light.
Juice, or Mr. Deason, as I decided to call him for our chat, had that to say about his comical inspirations.
Do you feel like the back injury was a true failure; be- cause I have to disagree! It more so represents the place of where I was in my life. I didn’t know what I wanted to do or where I was then, not knowing what I was going to do next. As I was transitioning into comedy, I had to put that feeling in a narrative of being lost and having to fig- ure out. What will I do now since basketball won’t work? When you say failure, you think disappointments, let downs and not knowing what to do. I want people I talk to, to feel that as a relatable point. I don’t think I truly failed, it is just in that point of life and my situation I felt failure and from there I created something out of that.
When you were feeling the feelings of hopelessness, what was it that kept you going and pushing through to the next day? My mom, brother, and sister. It got to a point where my mom was so sick she nearly passed away. She was a functioning alcoholic and drank from the time she had me until just about 4 years ago. One of the conversations that we had before all of this, while she was stressed about where would we stay and keeping up the finances, I told her, please stop drinking and I will figure out a way. I can’t stop now, I do it for her, for my family. I feel like everything happens for a reason. I don’t know if I would go as hard as I go if I didn’t do it for them.
What was your ‘Why Not” moment? Do you remember what you were doing or where you were when you said, I can’t play basketball, but I am funny, so I am taking it to
the stage? It was more of a situation that I was forced 44 Provokeusmag.com
into. I have a friend that was a comedian and he always told me to try it and I would say Nah. I went to one of his shows and there were about 300 people there. He had booked me, and I didn’t know it. Next thing I know they are calling me to the stage. Long story short they prepped me, I got up there and I freestyled. I got enough nods that it was encouraging. What is so crazy is that the guy that got me on the stage doesn’t do comedy any- more. He was done about a year and a half later. He says that he was only in the game to get me started and he still comes to support me for some of my shows.
Be Vulnerable and change the game:
Being that you have spoken about having your issues with speaking and reading when you were younger, do you ever feel overwhelmed or anxious on stage? Or do you flow with it naturally and joke about it as mistakes happen? It’s a combination. When I am on stage I am excited, and I am ready to see what happens. I take the good with the bad, I am just expressing myself. I just try to find ways to improve how I’m telling my story.
Side note: The BEST people can laugh at themselves