James Darling 
| |
| |
|---|---|
| Name | James Darling |
| Full name | James Laurence Darling, Jr. |
| Status | Citizen |
| Sex |  Male
|
| Born | June 3, 1978, Kinley, Seven |
| Spouse | Linda Kelly Justman |
| Children | Justin Laurence Darling & Randall Joseph Darling (b. 2008) |
| Parents | James Darling, Sr. (1945 - now), Martha Catherine Darling (1947 - now) |
| Home | near Noble City, Lovia |
| 2nd Home (Citizen) | 8 Freedom Street, Bayside, Noble City |
| Functions | Comedian, writer, actor and book writer |
| Languages | English |
| Religious stance |
Protestant |
James Laurence Darling, Jr. (born June 3, 1978) is a Lovian comedian, writer, actor and book author. His TV career began in 2000 when he and a colleague were featured on The Friday Night Show on Kaboom 1, and has been featured on television and other forms of media multiple times ever since.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Darling was born in 1978 as the second and last child to James Laurence Darling, Sr., a businessman from Portland, USA, and Martha Catherine Darling, a stock broker from Noble City. He lived in a big, 3-story home in the Canterbury region of Kinley for a majority of his early life, but the family later moved to Noble City after Darling graduated from Foxton Primary School in 1994. In Noble City, Darling and his family lived in an apartment on 8 Freedom Avenue in the Bayside neighborhood.
After graduating high school in 1996, Darling attended Blackburn University to study Dramatic Arts, but later dropped out after 2 years of study due to 'not enough interest in the subject and ending up having a hangover every Monday morning, which I didn't appreciate.'
Discovery as a comedian[]
Darling in a photo promoting T.F.N.S. - early 2001
Darling worked multiple low-income jobs after dropping out of university, which has greatly influenced his comedy and 'overall appreciation for low-income families', he says. A local 23-year-old stand-up comedian in the Bayside area named Jumblin' Joe (Joseph Crowley) was a friend of one of Darling's cousins, who around 1999 recommended to Crowley that he include Darling in at least one of his shows. "I never understood the guy, he always seemed indirect and secretive, so we never really became best friends until we did the show."
On October 8, 1999, Crowley introduced the up and coming comedian on the stage, and the response was extremely positive. In fact, the response was so amazing that a local stand-up critic who was rather famous in Noble City gave the show a 9 out of 10 rating, saying "although it wasn't perfect, it had the unique blend of inside, raunchy jokes with cheesy, but ridiculously funny lines that made the show extremely unique." Darling and Crowley continued to do stand up throughout the rest of 1999, eventually merging into one act known as "The Two J's".
TV Premiere[]
In early 2000, The Two J's had gotten a call from Kaboom TV, an up and coming Lovian television channel. The president of Kaboom Media Group, Sanvi Smith, had heard of the group from one of his co-workers who lived in Noble City, and said they had potential. On October 8, 2000 at 9:30 PM, the one-year anniversary of Darling's debut, the Two J's did some stand-up comedy in the pilot episode of The Friday Night Show, which instantly became a roaring success for many reasons, including the comedy duo. In fact, in the pilot episode alone, over 30,000 viewers all across Lovia watched it. The comedy duo eventually became a staple of The Friday Night Show after the 2nd episode, but was eventually replaced with another stand-up act after the second season of the show aired in late 2001.
After Their Big Premiere...[]
By New Year's of 2001, The Two J's were the main comedy duo in Lovia. Critics praised their delivery, jokes, and general attitude towards different subjects, and people generally knew their name. In 2002, Darling and Crowley were offered a contract by Sanvi Smith to stay with Kaboom Media and in return, they would be paid $100,000 every week. The comedy duo accepted, and on March 16, 2003, The Darling and Crowley Show premiered on Kaboom 1. By this point, many media critics and specialists agree that this was the highest point for Kaboom Television in general, with ratings generally positive throughout all age demographics. In 2005, the duo claimed to want to split up after their show ends at least their third season, claiming that "it's better for both of us to do our own projects after our show ends, but we're still best friends." In 2006, The Darling and Crowley Show officially ended after the fourth season was completed, and the duo parted their ways.
Solo career[]
In 2007, Darling all by his own began to do stand-up comedy again. Critics weren't as generous as last time, but still enjoyed Darling's work, saying that "even without Crowley, Darling can do one hell of a performance." On April 7, 2008, Darling self-published his first book, How To Go From Fast Food Worker To Self-Made Millionaire or H.T.G.F.F.F.W.T.S.M.M., an auto-biography that primarily focuses on the many hypotheses made on how Darling himself went from rags to riches in such a short time. Critics enjoyed Darling's first book, claiming it was "definitely a drag at times, but at its best, was a very touching and inspiring book." In 2010, Darling starred and directed Purple Pills, an independent movie about a man who suffers from extreme mental disabilities due to drug abuse, but tries to find the comedy in every situation. Critics of the movie were mixed; some said the movie was touching, cute, and even a bit funny at some situations, while others said it was odd and uninspiring, but also something that Darling seemed to have put blood, sweat, and tears into.
"The Ultimate Comeback"[]
In March of 2011, Darling and Crowley announced their plans to re-unite as a stand-up duo for a short while from October 2011 - March 2012. Hype instantly began to generate after their announcement, and multiple tabloid newspapers and internet leaking websites claimed that Darling and Crowley were going to permanently stay together again. But finally, on October 8, 2011, the 22nd year anniversary of Darling's first appearance, the duo did stand-up together in their home residence of Bayside, Noble City. The reaction was somewhat mixed. A few critics and people who saw their first comeback show claimed the stand-up to be "amazing, the best they've seen in years", while others say that the show was "OK, over-hyped, extremely scripted, and a bit disappointing." Financially, the tour was the biggest money generator the group had ever seen; generating almost $1,000,000 in revenue after just a week of touring. After the tour ended, Darling was interviewed, saying that "it was the most fun I have ever had in my entire life, and I'm pretty sure it was for Joe, too."
Crowley and Darling promoting their comeback tour - 2011
After the Comeback[]
In early 2013, Darling self-published his second and currently last book in his series, noitulovE or evolutioN, a book about his experiences with generally rough people who looked down on him and discouraged his career, including his own father. When asked about the odd title, Darling said that "if people discourage others, they can't evolve in life, and do the opposite. If people try to ignore these people or just generally not bully others, they evolve and go forward. Both options are just choices, which the 'or' represents." Critics claim the book is definitely inspiring, but not as generally good as his first book. After a long hiatus from the media to focus on family life, in 2014, Darling announced that he was going to make a new sitcom titled Life in Suburbia, about a boy and his homosexual fathers. The show premiered on Kaboom 2 on August 8, 2014 at 4:30 PM, and critics generally liked the show, claiming it has a "certain feel to it that makes it better than all the other crap sitcoms of today". It also had one of the highest amount of viewers watching the pilot episode, almost as much as, ironically, the debut episode of The Friday Night Show, with almost 35,000 Lovians watching the pilot. The show is currently in its 2nd season.
Legacy[]
The Two J's were and still are one of the most iconic comedy acts in Livonian history, with thouands of children and teenagers today still re-discovering their work. Multiple young stand-up comedians have been inspired by the duo, and a few of the most famous ones have even worked with them. For example, Guy Fawkes (Guy Liam), a somewhat-famous comedian from Darling's birthplace of Kinley have worked with the duo multiple times, and has even starred in Darling's most recent sitcom, and Darling's older brother, Henry Darling has worked with his younger brother many times as a musician or graphic artist.
Controversy[]
During a show in November 6, 2001, just 2 months after the 9/11 attacks, Darling make a joke about Muslims using their genitals to make the Twin Towers fall down. Multiple people said "too soon", and booed the duo off the stage. The duo personally apologized on LoviaNow, saying that they "didn't mean to be so offensive, and are personally not racist towards any culture, political party, or gender."
Another similar thing happened in early 2014, when Darling brought out an actor playing as a stereotypical Valley Girl-like homosexual man, while also having a giant balloon-inflated rainbow and storm cloud over them, "raining down" multiple balloon-inflated men. Darling laughed at the scene, and the actor pretended to be extremely hurt and offended, and ran off stage in an balloon-inflated blue sports car, pretending to cry. While nothing bad happened at the event itself, the day after the tour, multiple homosexual-supporting organizations called out on Darling, saying that he was acting "homophobic, immature, and completely ruining the image of Prince Alexander." Darling has not yet apologized or even responded to the accusations, but many people feel that his latest sitcom is a gift back to the homosexual community, portraying the homosexual main characters as regular people.
Charity[]
In 2004, Darling and Crowley both began and funded The Crohn Foundation, a fundraiser to pay scientists to help research a cure for Crohn's disease, as both Darling and Crowley had it since they were children. Darling has also co-founded RainWalker, an online charity to preserve the "beautiful animals of the Amazon Rainforest", as the website claims. In both charities, Darling has donated over $10,000,000 in total.
Personal life[]
On Christmas Eve 2005, Darling married his high school and university sweetheart, Linda Kelly Justman, who worked for him as an actor in both of his shows. In 2008, the couple had twins named Justin Laurence Darling and Randall Joseph Darling. At his wedding, Crowley was Darling's best man, so to "give him equal pay", Darling gave his second child the middle name of Joseph. Darling is the richest comedian in Lovia, with an estimated net worth of about $100,000,000, and lives in a mansion a few miles north of Noble City.