Womack of All Trades

By Max Hofer

Staff Writer

They say it’s not about the destination — it’s about the journey. While you always wind up where you’re meant to, it’s not often easy to predict where you’ll end up. Just ask Stage-Award-winning Comedian, English teacher, actor and DJ, Jacob Womack.

Jacob Womack

“I became a DJ on accident,” he said. “It started with a college improv group. One guy on the team worked for Jer Events and he said, ‘We're looking for game show hosts. Sounds like something up your alley.’ I tried it, and I was good at it. And then they wanted me to DJ weddings too, and it's a lot of fun.”

Doing things on the fly was a large part of his upbringing. Born to minister parents, Womack says that he and his family would move frequently around the Midwest. Even on the road, however, his roots remained firmly planted in entertainment.

“My first entertainment teacher was my dad,” the young comedian recalls. “He was a theatre major in college before he joined the church. He was the one who was always teaching me what he learned about acting, his favorite comedians and having stage presence.” 

In his teens, Womack and his family settled in Aberdeen, S.D., where the up-and-coming entertainer would attend high school and become heavily involved in their theatre department. Outside of school, he was also a regular player with the Aberdeen Community Theatre.

“Sometimes, I was doing two plays at once. I would do the high school play right after class, and then in the evenings, I would go over and do the community theatre play. Aberdeen taught me so much, and I did so many plays with them. It gave me a lot of great friends, and I made a lot of great memories.”

One of those memories was being able to share the stage with his greatest mentor.

“When I was 14, my dad and I did a play together called Second Samuel,” Womack said. “I played the young boy protagonist, and he played the town grouch. It was sort of a heartwarming comedy-drama play. My dad still talks about it as his favorite play he ever did because he got to be on stage with family and do something together.”

Jacob Womack (right) performs at an event with comedy troupe, Jumpin’ Jacks Improv. (Submitted Photo)

After graduating, Womack attended college at South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D., where he found himself taking a big leap in his career by joining Jumpin’ Jacks Improv.

“I still do shows with them, because we just have a chemistry that we've been working on for years, and it's still going strong.”

After spending much of his time on stage with ensembles, the young actor-improviser was ready to step into the spotlight on his own. One random summer day in June 2024, he hopped in his car, drove to Sioux Falls, and tried his hand at standup comedy during an open mic at the ICON Lounge.

“I busted two tires on a buckle on the interstate on the way there, and my friend had to pick me up and give me a ride the rest of the way.” It may have been a bumpy ride to the venue, but once he was on stage, there was no stalling the freshman comic.

“The night went great. The show went great. I got to forget about the fact that my car was still sitting on the interstate,” he chuckled.

While he was new to the Sioux Falls comedy scene, Womack says he was quickly welcomed by the regulars.

“It's such a supportive group of people, and the host of that open mic, Sara Manson, gave me my first professional show a month later. They were that ready to support the new person, and that's how I knew I was in the right place.”

Jacob Womack (center) attends the 2024-25 Sioux Falls Stage Awards, alongside fellow nominees for Best Improv or Standup Comic Jocelyn Abad (fourth from right) and Andrew Koerner (third from right) and past Stage Award winners Alisha Rayne (second from right) and Nathan Hults (left). Womack took home that season’s award for Best Improv or Standup Comic. (Photo Credit: Peter Chapman)

It didn’t take long for Womack’s unique style of comedy to gain recognition. The next night, he went back on stage and earned second place in that month’s Larry Brinkman Award contest, a monthly competition held to declare Sioux Fall’s funniest comic. An achievement that only encouraged him further.

“I spent the whole summer writing new stuff, practicing, going to all the open mics,” Womack said. “In July 2024—in my second contest—I won. That was super gratifying, and I was kind of amazed at having it happen so quickly.”

One aspect of stand-up comedy that can be often overlooked is how much time is spent writing material. Womack says his day job as a middle school English teacher helps aid his talents as well as gives him a unique perspective.

“So much of whether the audience laughs comes from the writing,” he said. “I never planned on being an English teacher. I'm a terrible reader, actually. But even though there was a learning curve to it, I ended up loving it. Here I am, five years later, I became a literature nerd, but it turns out I kind of like it.”

While he tends to keep his career on-stage out of the classroom, he recalled one instance where he gave his eighth-grade students a unique assignment.

“They were such an eclectic mix of personalities that I decided to let them write me some jokes, and I read those jokes on stage,” he recalled. “It was just something fun to experiment with. I do a lot of jokes about being a teacher, so why not do a segment where I read jokes from my kids? I think the audience had a great time with it.”

Winning the Larry Brinkman Award in July qualified Womack for the 2024 Sioux Falls Funniest Comic competition. Wanting to pull out all the stops, the English teacher, improviser and comedian spent several months writing and practicing a new routine.

Submitted Photo

“I wanted to do something creative. So, I brought a little $60 toy piano on the stage with me and did a couple of musical bits,” he explained. “I'm not a singer. but I thought, ‘Let's just try it.’ Before I even brought out the piano, the audience was roaring after the first joke, and I knew I had them. I think I played every note wrong on the piano for the musical bit, but they were still laughing. I walked off that stage feeling amazing, like, there are some great people here tonight, but I'm one of those great people.”

As the old saying goes, “No risk. No reward.” That night, he won the competition. The real prize for Womack, however, was the impact he left on stage.

“To be in front of over 400 people and hear them laugh so thunderously, and know that everyone in the room is happy and enjoying themselves… that makes me happy.”

Whether it’s in a classroom, a wedding, or a comedy show, Womack says as long as he’s trying new things and creating a positive experience for those around him, he knows he’s moving in the right direction.

“I love the feeling of knowing that the people around me are happy, they're entertained, they're understood, they're listened to. I find that when the people around me are having a good time, I am too.”

“I think just putting that joy into the world is addictive.”