so, here's my story.
Johnny Michael is a human being.
Professionally, he’s a writer and began his pursuit of this title at the age of 17, it was then he realized the potential power of writing his ideas down and found a passion of telling stories, creativity, and written words.
With comedy and a love of making people laugh as his core compass, his current aspirations are to become a Commerical & Film Director — directing funny stuff that touches hearts and makes people giggle in their face.
Getting a job in advertising seemed to be a sensible path and first step. During college, Johnny interned at a small advertising shop called Driven, where he had access to an endless amount of Founders beer and a small taste of the advertising culture.
After 23 rotations around the sun, Johnny attended Chicago Portfolio School to become a Copywriter and made this portfolio site. In the midst of all this he also wrote and performed his second stand-up bit, sanitized glassware at a Wrigleyville bar and walked a lot. His legs grew strong, his dreams grew legs.
From portfolio school, Johnny’s Copywriter career wandered a bit as he began walking about town with red balloons and giving them to strangers.
Johnny moved back to the Detroit area after four years in Chicago. In Motown he worked at Commonwealth//McCann as a Jr. Copywriter on Chevrolet for over two solid years. He had a great run, a ton of fun and met some incredible friends.
A new chapter in his career began as Johnny worked freelance for places like Campbell Ewald and Allure Medical Spa, a cosmetic spa where he wrote about places on the female anatomy he never knew existed. Along with working, he practiced Improv at Go Comedy! and took online comedy writing classes at The Second City.
In 2017, he moved south to hot and swampy Miami, Florida. He had an opportunity to work on the Burger King and Tim Horton's brands.
Johnny won a scholarship for comedy writing with The Second City Training Center in 2018 and also landed a new full-time gig with Razorfish. He wrote comedy and copy until his hands hurt. With the help of physical therapy, a frozen bag of peas and funky hand stretches, he persists on.
Currently, Johnny continues enjoys a perpetual dose of learning new skills and hobbies, especially things like storytelling, filmmaking & editing, photography, drawing stuff, and golf. He is focused on a variety of paths and goals: creating comedy through a group called Empty Bench, building a brand with Hi, and creating golf films with a production company called From The Fringe. The plan is to continue adding great work and more to this story.
If you’re feeling friendly… reach out. Say Hi.