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The comedy powerhouse and UEG’s Jarrod Moses sat down with The Drum\u2019s columnist Paddy Gilmore at this year\u2019s Cannes Lions.<\/strong>![\"JB](\"https:\/\/thedrum-media.imgix.net\/thedrum-prod\/s3\/jb.png?w=608&ar=default&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format&q=100\" "\\"JB")
On a very hot day in a very hot Cannes, when every other brand is touting very hot AI solutions, I happen to have a meeting with the coolest guy in town. Who? It\u2019s JB Smoove, that\u2019s who, the Hollywood multi-hyphenate actor-comedian-producer-SNL writer best-known for his work as Larry David\u2019s layabout house guest on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Tall, languorous, velvet-voiced, Smoove comes across as unperturbed by the craziness on the Croisette. Some interviewees shorten their interviews by glancing at their publicist or their wristwatch. He seems happier shooting the breeze in his North Carolina drawl or chuckling at the absurdities of fame.
I\u2019m meeting him, along with his business partner Jarrod Moses, to talk about his latest venture. Smoove is starting up an agency called The First Darrin. Positioning itself as a comedy-focused creative agency, it promises to offer brands support in creative, production, social and experiential. First off, though, the name. Is it a nod to Bewitched?
\u201cYou got it!\u201d His eyes light up. \u201cI used to watch that show when I was a kid. They had a guy called Darrin, played by Dick York. But then he was replaced by Dick Stevens. But I always preferred The First Darrin. And we wanted something cool.\u201d
Cool it is. But I wonder what the personal impetus is to move from entertainment to marketing. Smoove, after all, has done very well in TV comedy by any measure. Moving into another field might be stretching himself too thinly.
\u201cThis is all a part of my trajectory. As comedians and artists, we have to sell ourselves all the time. You know, we sell ourselves to you and you stay for the laughs. So, setting up an agency was the natural next step.
\u201cThink about it like this. When you\u2019re selling a product, you want mannerisms, you want eyebrows to raise, you want people to lean forward.\u201d While saying this, he visibly leans forward in his chair.
\u201cYou want all the things that I naturally do in my profession. It\u2019s really all the same. It\u2019s all a form of entertainment.\u201d
It all seems very rosy, but there\u2019s a \u2018but\u2019 here. The outlook faced by many agencies is bleak: tough economic conditions, the encroachment of AI and the fact that many brands are doing creative work in-house. It would seem now isn\u2019t the best time to be starting up an agency, whether dependent on comedy or otherwise. It could even be the worst.
His business partner, Moses, chips in. \u201cThere\u2019s $400bn of advertising in the US and they estimate that one sixth of all conversions in digital are prompted by humorous advertising. What does this mean? I\u2019d say there\u2019s a huge opportunity here.\u201d
What kind of brands do they plan on working with at The First Darrin? Smoove is vague on this (\u201cYou know, I\u2019m across the board\u201d), but Moses is a little more direct. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be announcing our first clients soon and you\u2019ll hopefully start seeing the activation of our work by the fall. We\u2019ve already got 22 members of staff on board, based in New York, LA and London.\u201d
How will Smoove contribute to the agency\u2019s output? He talks about his contribution in an almost mystical way, saying: \u201cAs a comedian, I have you in my hands already. And that rule applies to whether you\u2019re on stage or doing a TV commercial. And we\u2019re gonna put the right people into our advertising. That\u2019s about knowing the rhythm of a comic or a comedic actor or whoever we put in these commercials. And that\u2019s the same rhythm that you have to have when you\u2019re trying to attract someone to buy your product.\u201d
But one of the biggest benefits, as he sees it, is not just his knowledge of comedy but the ability to have more time. \u201cI worked on an improvised show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, where I had to create in the moment. Now imagine someone who knows comedy, someone who loves advertising and someone with a little more time. You can have a little input in there and make it really come home. Man, it\u2019s a win-win situation,\u201d he grins.
On the subject of time, our time is up. We stand up, shake hands, take a photo or two. \u201cBeen a pleasure meeting you, Paddy,\u201d says Smoove. He means it. The details of his agency might seem a little sketchy and his client list, as yet, undefined, but The First Darrin might well go a very long way on charm alone.<\/p>\r\n