About Jamie DeWolf

The red-haired lovechild of a crack-crazed Richard Pryor and Alex from A Clockwork Orange, JAMIE DEWOLF is a slam poet, stand up comedian, teaching artist and filmmaker from Oakland, CA. After being banned from local open mics in his hometowns of Benicia and Vallejo for his raw subject matter, vaudevillian theatrics and dark humor, he created Tourettes Without Regrets in 1999 out of revenge, to showcase the cutting edge of undeground performance. Since then, the show has become the longest running freestyle battle and the largest slam on the West Coast. It was awarded the “Best of the Bay” by the SF Guardian and continues every first thursday of the month in Oakland, CA.

Since his first slam in 1999, DeWolf (formerly known as Jamie Kennedy) won his way onto seven slam teams every year he’s competed and has since become a National Poetry Slam Champion, the Oakland and Berkeley Grand Slam Champion, a YouthSpeaks Mentor, a featured performer on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, and has performed and lead writing workshops at over 90 universities, high schools and juvies across the U.S, to Moscow, Russia and San Quentin Penitentiary. His work has been featured on 60 Minutes, UPN and NPR.

As a member of The Suicide Kings performance trio (with Geoff Trenchard and Rupert Estanislao), they’ve toured the country with acts as diverse as Sage Francis and The Dwarves and in 2006 were the recipients of the National Performance Network Creation Commission to write “In Spite of Everything”, described as ”a poignant, chilling knockout of a play…that beautifully incorporates their visceral verse into the brutal narrative to a school shooting.”  The play premiered at the Hip Hop Theater Festival in 2007 and was chosen as one of the “top ten” plays of the year by East Bay Express the same year.

As the great grandson of the cult of Scientology’s founder L. Ron Hubbard, he remains a vocal critic of the cult on national radio, and was the host of the first anti-Scientology summit in Clearwater, Florida, widely considered to be the “Mecca” for the Church.

As a film-maker, he’s the writer and director of the shorts Safe, Chasing Charlamagne, Hickman Homes: Certified Beasts, and is currently finishing Ricochet in Reverse, a short invoking Columbine going backwards, and his full length feature film SMOKED, a dark comedy crime caper revolving around a cannabis club robbery starring the Suicide Kings, made in conjunction with M.O.S.S Productions. He’s finishing an album and has begun work on his next two screenplays. He lives in Oakland, CA.

Are you really related to L. Ron Hubbard?

Yes. He was my great-grandfather on my mothers side. My grandfather was L. Ron Hubbard Jr. who later changed his name to Ron DeWolf. His first child was my mother. No, I have never been a Scientologist in any way shape or form. I'm the only one left in my family who will go on record about the cult. This is explored in great detail in the performance of “The God and the Man” and also discussed in great detail here: THE TOP 25 PEOPLE CRIPPLING SCIENTOLOGY

Where can I see your feature film “Smoked”?

The Oakland Underground Film Festival is premiering it this September, and it will be available off our website at www.smokedthemovie.com. It's a dark ultra-violent comedy you will adore starring many Tourettes performers and is a raucous romp all over Oakland. Watch the preview here {INSERT LINK} Smoked is currently in talks with distributors.

What's up with the Suicide Kings?

After a wild half a decade run that took us all over the world from colleges, theaters and prisons, our proudest achievement was the full length play “In Spite of Everything”, which toured had its final performance in 2011. The film “Ricochet In Reverse” was adapted from the same play. Everyone is busy doing solo projects, Geoff's in law school and his new book “Murder Stay Murder” is excellent and is available now. Rupert continues to perform in bands and is writing short stories and novels, and I'm burning the world one word at a time. You can see all of us in the feature film “Smoked” playing more idiotic versions of ourselves.

How do I perform at Tourettes?

Sign ups for the Slam and the Freestyle Battle are taped to the wall outside at 8pm. Performers are chosen by lottery. If you're on tour, you'll get priority, but make sure to contact me first.

What's up with the name change to DeWolf?

My mother was Hubbard, then DeWolf, then married and changed her name to Kennedy. My first years in slam as a performer I was Jamie Kennedy, then the comedian of MTV's "Jamie Kennedy Experiment" blew up and he and I were constantly getting mixed up. One pivotal moment came when the comedian and I were booked twice at the same comedy venue in San Jose within a month of each other, friends of mine ended up going to see the wrong Jamie, and the confusion had reached such an absurd point where he was being asked on air if he was related to L. Ron Hubbard. I said enough of this nonsense. I took my mothers maiden name, which was DeWolf. It's not an MC stage name like I'm a werewolf, it's our Scottish family name.

How do I get on Snap Judgment?

I'd recommend to download episodes for free off of Itunes to get a feel for the kind of stories the show accepts. Each episode has a theme, and stories usually run 3-8 minutes and are told in first person. You can send me stories or even a short synopsis to my contact here and I'll audition your piece for the executive producers!

Do you direct music videos/documentaries? Can you direct mine?

Yes, the projects I've directed, shot and or edited are all up on the films part of the website. We're always looking for new projects, email me and we'll discuss concepts.

What do your tattoos mean?

Each one has a purpose and a story. Yes one is a Scientology tattoo. As I'm a fan of irony.

Can you perform at my school?

Yes! I've done writing workshops and performances at over 125 schools nation-wide and continue to work with YouthSpeaks and Lunchbox International in writing workshops/film-making and theatrical workshops. I have a mission to give young writers the experience I didn't get in high school.

How can I get texts of your poems? Can I cover one of them for a class/speech/performance?

For covers and speech classes, absolutely. Just make sure you give me credit so they can come here to this site and be offended. I'll blame you.