Sam Walt Jones

👋 SAM WALT JONES is an LA-based actor, writer, and comedian. His TV credits include Chicago Justice, You Can Do Better, and Netflix’s Unbelievable. He can be seen in national commercials for AT&T and Taco Bell and has written jokes on multiple commercial campaigns for Cricket Wireless.

We talk with a Curator of Comedy, SAM WALT JONES, about his background, his role as the show-runner on Survivor: Island of Idiots, growing up in North Carolina, and Sam’s motivation of the big swings.

@samwaltjones

BUT FIRST! INFO FOR SURVIVOR: ISLAND OF IDIOTS:

Stranded in the beautiful but dangerous “Idi Yot Islands'' off the coast of Fiji, 15 barely-vetted Castaways will be divided into two tribes of 7 to form new, chaotic societies as they adapt to their unfamiliar surroundings. Subjected to mental and physical challenges, the Castaways will be forced to choose between personal risk and reward, like game-changing advantages or a hot bowl of slop, that could seal their fate. Shifting alliances, shocking betrayals, and strategic Immunity Idol plays will determine which castaway achieves their ultimate goal: be crowned Sole Survivor of the Idi Yot Islands. This show is hosted and executive produced by Jiff Probe (Sam Walt Jones.)

"Immunity Idol Packages” will be sold for $60. The Immunity Idol Package gives you access to all six for a 35% discount! You will also receive a souvenir necklace as your pass to enter all shows.

FEATURING:

TWO SHOWS REMAINING: THIS TUESDAY + NEXT TUESDAY AT 9:30PM

@ THE ELYSIAN

I was born in Bronxville, New York to a pair of artistic parents.

My Mom was a photographer and visual artist, my Dad built sets for theater, television and traveling dance shows. He worked on shows like Pee-wee’s Playhouse, SNL, and traveled with Jacob’s Pillow dance company. Before I was born, my parents realized that they wanted to explore furniture design, making funky and whimsical pieces.

This led us to move closer to the furniture capital of the United States: High Point, North Carolina. Our home was in Greensboro, North Carolina which is where I was raised, so I spent my early years growing up in North Carolina.

I have two younger brothers, and we are all five years apart. This always kept things interesting as we were experiencing radically different phases of our lives.

I was always interested in the arts, and though my parents were encouraging they were also like, ‘oh shit…,’ as they did not necessarily want to encourage a career in the arts, as it’s often not so lucrative- unless you’re lucky.

I went to this very, very small performing arts high school where I was in the theater department, auditioning all the time for plays, very involved in clubs, and I was also eventually class president. When I was fifteen, I went to New York City and represented the State of North Carolina in the National Shakespeare Competition at the Lincoln Center.

For college, I really thought that I was going to go to NYU or at least get out of North Carolina. At the time I was very passionate and serious, feeling like I needed to go to the big city to do experimental theater (lol) which I was fascinated with. But I ended up getting a good scholarship at Elon University as an Acting major, and I really resonated with the theater department. Elon gave me more personal attention than I would have received at a bigger school, which definitely played into my decision to accept the offer.

In North Carolina, I had the opportunity to go to small theatrical productions of dramatic plays like ‘The Glass Menagerie’ and ‘A Raisin in the Sun,’ but I felt more connected to comedy through TV and film. Think like early SNL, or Clue. I really love Clue. “Flames… on the side of my face…”

There have been so many people that have shaped my sense of humor. I remember, frequently as a kid, I would write plays and was lucky enough to have friends, family members and even neighbors put them on.

I felt really unafraid to be so big, so stupid. And in my current work, I always try to make sure that element is still alive because that is what brings me joy. I think that the big swings are always what I gravitate towards, personally.

Recently, we had our first show on August 29th and it’s running for six weeks through October 3rd, every Tuesday at The Elysian Theater. It’s exciting because it runs like a real season of Survivor- people are really getting voted out. There’s a lot of gameplay but at the end of the day, it's a comedy show.

The audience gets to see demanding immunity challenges and the contestants making really tough strategic moves. And then, on top of that, there are hidden immunity idol plays that change the game and are so epic that totally take everybody by surprise.

But then, you also have this genuine sadness seeing people go. You have a displacement and a shift and everything changes. There are many personalities that we are dealing with, and a lot going on. I have to be really efficient moving through because it’s a process and I want this to be as fun for the audience as it is for me.

For Survivor: Island of Idiots, we started with fifteen contestants, and I believe these people are some of the best character comedians that I have met, people that I have full faith in.

With each show, I am also having special guests drop in.

In our first show, we had Mae Martin, who is a fantastic actor and comedian. Mae is also a screenwriter that has done so much- I’m so impressed by them and truly admire their career.

We also had a winner of Survivor, Parvati Shallow, come onto the show. I interviewed Parvati and Mae, which was so exciting for myself and the audience. The energy in the room on night one was so electric- it was unlike any show that I have put up and was probably the most fun that I have ever had on stage doing comedy.

Just moving through this process of the show is exciting because the audience really attaches to people. And it’s kind of funny because it’s like, these are just characters, right? They’re actually comedians?

But at the end of every episode, we say goodbye to people and the audience is always devastated by the loss, regardless of who it is. And I am too. I have to remind myself that this is a comedy show, but there are so many real emotions that play into it.

It is exciting. It is devastating. It is nerve-wracking. It is truly everything. And I think that, as a person who builds out shows for live audiences, it turned out remarkably well. It has been really, really special.

No, the voting is not scripted at all. The only thing that has a structure is the way that I put the show together. The cast is experiencing the show for the first time as the audience.

It’s also an expedited version of Survivor. We have to eliminate people more quickly because in order to have one person left at the end, I have to eliminate at least two people a week to end up with a Sole Survivor at the end of the six weeks.

I had two incredible performers that were voted out in the first show. And that is the thing, the most beloved characters can be voted out any show- it all depends on how everything plays out.

At least one person does receive immunity every episode, which means they are safe from being voted out, but the rest of their tribe remains vulnerable. Immunity depends all on how well they did in that specific challenge.

And like I mentioned before, this is unscripted. At tribal council, the Castaways really cast votes. They truly have to eliminate one another. So I have to say to each cast member, ‘You know that there is a big chance that you might go home tonight?’

But this is the way Survivor is played, and I want to make that very clear because you do have to be competitive as a character- not yourself.

There may be opportunities for redemption, which is where I would bring people back. And regardless, anybody that has been voted out (especially during the first couple of shows) I try to get them more stage-time because if you make a commitment to me, I make a commitment to you. I want to have them back in a different role, or as a special guest as everyone that is a cast member has devoted every Tuesday night, for six weeks, to this particular show. And that’s a lot.

I have a lot of places. I really like a good cup of coffee, I think Spoke Bicycle Cafe is awesome. They have really great coffee, and they have delicious food, especially their breakfast sandwiches. And it’s always nice to walk around the bicycle/walking path next to the river.

I would say Barnsdall Art Park. I loved that little spot. It feels very peaceful in a very busy place.

I would describe Los Angeles… as huge. Really busy. Expensive. But also, glamorous.

Los Angeles is cool! I’m always thrilled to run into a celebrity I love. It’s bizarre to think that I live in the same place as somebody that I’ve looked up to for forever.

Los Angeles is also hot.

It can also be isolating. Which is why I try to encourage myself to find community. This helps with not allowing myself to get burnt out and exhausted by everything in life which can lead to neglecting ourselves.

I would say: eccentric.

I have always kind of viewed myself as an alien. I’m in my first relationship, like ever. And I met my partner when I was 28, and we’ve been dating for two years. The viewpoint that I have myself is that, yeah, I am a weird little guy! But he is fun and knows exactly what his deal is. I’m grateful knowing that my perspective of myself is worlds more positive than it was growing up.