Jeremiah Watkins and Avery Pearson join comedic forces to go a Thousand Percent
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The lengths comedians will go — and the places they’ll perform — in hopes of a big break should be the subject of a scientific study one day. It’s the type of dedication only learned through countless hours onstage. And yet, some stand-ups still feel success should be given to them, while others do the work, find their people within the community and take it.
Jeremiah Watkins is a name many comedy fans — especially those in L.A. — should recognize. Once the band leader for the podcast “Kill Tony,” Watkins keeps audiences on their toes, leaving fans wondering what he wouldn’t do for his craft. Fast-forward past two stand-up specials and too many gigs to count to 2024, when Watkins killed the crowd by engaging in “stage sex” with “American Pie” star Jason Biggs, while wearing a pie costume, during an episode of the parody series “Dr. Phil LIVE!” Few things could have shown more accurately his fearlessness when it comes to physical comedy.
When Avery Pearson brought his musical comedy to L.A. in 2011, he was prepared to put in the work. Countless mics and hosting gigs led to collaborations with industry heavy hitters like Jeff Ross, Kevin Hart and Iliza Shlesinger; co-writing and co-directing the song and music video “Christmas Magic” for Comedy Gives Back; and his own venture, Comedian Rhapsody (formerly the 88 Show), which has sold out at the Hollywood Improv for years.
Fate and an open mic brought Watkins and Pearson together, and quite literally from that moment, ignited their dedication to doing something different in the funniest way possible. Enter their new joint venture: Thousand Percent, which produces video and audio content and just shot a ridiculously funny commercial for Einstein Bros. Bagels. Yes, bagels can be funny. What’s next for these two? The possibilities seem endless.
Can I get a little backstory on your friendship, and did comedy bring you together or was it music?
Avery Pearson: It was kismet. We were both hosting an open mic at the Hollywood Improv. I played piano, and they had asked us to host together, so I was literally just playing piano.
Jeremiah Watkins: They told me that I was hosting the open mic, and I didn’t know Avery was gonna be there, but they were like, “Is it cool?” I said yes, and we just started riffing during my set and in between all the comics. At the end of the mic, multiple people came up to us and said it was incredible, and they were asking how long we’d known each other, but we didn’t. We met right before the open mic. We kind of knew that we had something special right away because people thought there was chemistry, and it had only been a couple hours.
Pearson: After we were hosting open mics at the Improv, they gave us this crazy spot at midnight after the second show. The show was called “Midnight Snack,” and we would come out, but the people in the audience didn’t know it was happening.
Watkins: So, if they were seeing a 10 p.m. show, they thought they were going home at around 11:30 or midnight. We would storm the stage at midnight, unannounced, so people would be like, “What is going on?” We’d be like, “The show’s still going! You have to stay in your seats! Stay here!”
Pearson: I would be playing piano, and Jeremiah would be walking in, playing a saxophone up in the air. One of our best friends, Josh Adam Meyers, would kind of be the frontman, so it was like this band of friends. We did it for two years every Saturday night, starting at midnight, and went until around 2 a.m. We got really good and bigger comedians started working with us, and we’re doing comedy with our friends having so much fun — all while people wanted to leave. It’s not that we were bad, they were just tired. The show would start with around 200 people there, and our goal was to see how long we could keep the highest number. One night we did it, but more often than not, it’d end with about 50 people in there. The most comedy-driven fans ever.
Watkins: It forced us to get good really quickly, because if we didn’t, we would see it in real-time exiting right in front of our eyes.
What a mental game to play with yourself!
Pearson: That’s exactly what it was, but there was stage time too. We were cutting our teeth and getting better.
Watkins: Neither of us were out on the road headlining shows yet, so a Saturday night spot in Hollywood that we had dedicated every Saturday at midnight, we were like, “We don’t care if there’s five people here. We’re doing a show, we get a couple hours onstage, and it’s at the Hollywood Improv.” We were sold. They get maybe six more drinks out of it, they’re happy.
Pearson: That was a goal too. To get them to have another round of drinks. We learned quickly how to make people laugh and sell a drink.
I have to assume you two gravitated to each other because of your work ethics? Both of you seem to just smash the pedal to the floor regardless.
Watkins: That’s definitely something that drew me to Avery on a friendship level but also then on the business side. I admired how he worked well under pressure. I knew I could count on him if we were to do these scenarios of shows that were not the most ideal. I knew he was going to have my back, and he did it literally hundreds and hundreds of times onstage to the point where I’m like, “I trust this guy with my family and my life. Business? That’s easy at this point!”
Pearson: When I came in, I was newer and was super green at that point. Jeremiah and I were buddies from the open mic, and as I came up in comedy, it was really helpful that I could ask him questions like, “What do I do here? Is this the right move?” Also onstage, like Jeremiah said, it was great that I had someone there with me that I could trust regardless of the situation.
You guys certainly do make a great team. Let’s talk about this Einstein Bros. Bagels commercial. I was not at all prepared for the sausage gravy pour.
Watkins: I had to fight for that shot! That was one where we had the clients there, and they were really hesitant. I’m about giving people their way, but I was like, “You’ll get your way for sure but let’s just maybe try this other shot at the very end of the day.” It ended up making the cut, and I was very happy.
I think it was my favorite part of the video.
Watkins: Heck yeah! The best part about that shot is that Avery is a vegetarian.
What you’ll do for art…
Pearson: I don’t know if anything was harmed in the making of that gravy, but I’m all about the bagels. When they told us they wanted to make a comedy about bagels I was like, done! This is everything I’ve been working for! I got prediabetes for this!
How did this collab even happen? And did Thousand Percent produce this commercial?
Pearson: Yeah! That’s a Thousand Percent production. That’s all us! We were connected through Proof PR, who was connected with Einstein Bros. Bagels, and they pitched them a bunch of ideas to promote. We’re connected in the comedy industry, but outside of that, they’ve been really helpful with connecting us to outside companies. Out of all of the ideas, they chose our pitch, which was to do a bagel music video. They’ve been so cool to work with. They really respect our process, what we do and our experience with comedy. The commercial exists in different lengths on social media, but it will also run in 30-second ads that’ll pop up on Netflix, so people will be able to watch it there too.
Seeing comedians in commercials, tapped into markets they haven’t been in, on so many platforms, feels like such a win. What else is in the works over at Thousand Percent for 2025?
Watkins: We have two comedians we’re working with, who are friends of ours, and we really enjoy what they do. We’re shooting Jack Jr.’s special at the Alex Theatre in Glendale in May, and then Josh Wolf, we are shooting him in Nashville in April. We’ll do a couple tapings, and then of course the goal is to shop it around. Later in the summer and fall, we’re talking to a couple of other comics that we’re excited about, so hopefully we’ll lock more details down soon. In my series Stand-Up On The Spot, they’re all six camera shoots that I’ve been directing at the Comedy Store. I’ve also shot the show all over on the road and at festivals, and that has really prepped me to shoot other people’s visions.
I have over 60 episodes that are like mini-specials for stand-up, and it’s been a huge undertaking, but I’m really proud of the product, and I’m ready to show people that I can make their stuff look good too. And Avery is such a good writer and performer but also a great producer. Avery helped make this commercial come together, and as a director, it’s a dream come true to be like, “Let’s create a vision together, execute it and then not have to be worried about the little things that need to get done behind the scenes.” Avery just knocks it out of the park.
Pearson: I’ll pump some tires as well, because Jeremiah is an incredible director. I come from an acting background, and he’s directed me in other scenarios, but in this specific experience, he’s truly an actor’s director. The messaging is clear and very understandable, and oftentimes in comedy, someone will tell you, “All right, just go be funny.” He gives legitimate reasons to get there. Knowing your best friend has that skill is really cool, and he’s an awesome director. Leading up to this, I shot a special that we’re on the verge of getting out, and it was really great to have Jeremiah there to walk me through the process of getting it together. It was a lot of fun.
Any plans on doing a joint special? Hear me out. Two comics, same jokes but in editing only one of you tell it, then it’s clipped together into one special. No one has done that. Can I copyright that?
Watkins: No one has ever done that because every comedian would be like, “OK, you take the set up and I’ll take the punchline.”
Pearson: Exactly. Jeremiah has these great characters and we’re kind of developing a special for his characters, where I’m involved, interacting with them. Then potentially, we could shoot it at one of the clubs. I think, for both of us, we love doing things together with performing and in business, but we also definitely love to shine.
