JP Sears#Promotion of conspiracy theories

JP Sears was born in Toledo, Ohio, and raised in Bowling Green, Ohio.{{cite news |last1=Ellison |first1=Heath |title=Local viral video star JP Sears finds success in comedy and sincerity |url=https://charlestoncitypaper.com/local-viral-video-star-jp-sears-finds-success-in-comedy-and-sincerity/ |access-date=April 14, 2022 |work=Charleston City Paper |date=January 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414164339/https://charlestoncitypaper.com/local-viral-video-star-jp-sears-finds-success-in-comedy-and-sincerity/ |archive-date=April 14, 2022}} According to Sears, he was a class clown in his youth.{{cite news |last1=Grzeszczak |first1=Jocelyn |title=Naples only "non-redneck" part of Florida, says YouTube comedian |url=https://eu.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/2019/06/12/youtube-personality-jp-sears-perform-standup-off-hook-naples/1358412001/ |access-date=May 17, 2021 |work=Naples Daily News |date=June 12, 2019 }} He attended Bowling Green State University, but withdrew after several months to begin studying holistic culture at the Ohio life coaching school Journeys of Wisdom.

File:JPSearsScreamTherapy 01.png

In 2004, Sears moved from Ohio to San Diego, California, to begin work as a professional life coach. Prior to his appearance on YouTube, Sears operated the website holistichealthandfitness.com, which featured links to supplements and the website of alternative medicine proponent Joseph Mercola.{{Cite web|last=Jarry|first=Jonathan|date=November 19, 2020|title=The Clown Prince of Wellness|url=https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19-critical-thinking-pseudoscience/clown-prince-wellness|access-date=January 18, 2021|website=Office for Science and Society|language=en}} In 2013, he began uploading YouTube videos providing advice on new age topics.

File:JPSearw2016.png in a 2016 video skit]]

In 2014, Sears relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, after which he changed the tone of his videos from serious life coaching to satirical life coaching. His 2015 YouTube video titled "How to Become Gluten Intolerant" proved popular, receiving over 10 million views. In the video, Sears delivers lines such as "If you're ready to have a ravenous appetite for impossible standards and dogmatic feelings of victimization, then let's get started on what you need to do to become gluten intolerant" in a deadpan and sarcastic manner typical of his YouTube content's approach to satire.

Sears primarily performs as a satirist. In an interview with the Naples Daily News, Sears said he uses comedy to share "sincere life advice" and balances "the sincere and the satirical" while eschewing the idea that "you're either serious, like Deepak Chopra, or you're only joking around like a comedian". Sears has rejected being categorized as either "sincere" or "humorous", explaining that he is both and the premise of the question is like asking, "Do you have a right hand or do you have a left hand?" According to Sears, all of his parody is drawn from aspects of his own life.{{cite news |last1=Ham |first1=Larissa |title=YouTube comedian or real life coach: who is the real JP Sears? |url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/youtube-comedian-or-real-life-coach--who-is-the-real-jp-sears-20160811-gqq11w.html |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=August 11, 2016 |language=en}}

Sears was cited by Australia's ABC News as one of "a growing number of comedians satirising fad gluten-free and grain elimination diets".{{cite news |last1=Locke |first1=Sarina |title=Lower grain consumption has not stopped obesity in Australia |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-05-01/grain-consumption-plummets-as-obesity-increases/6437014 |access-date=May 17, 2021 |work=ABC News (Australia) |date=April 30, 2015}}

In March 2017, Sears recorded a segment with CBC Radio's "Early Edition" in which host Samantha Garvey joined him in a tour of Vancouver's "most spiritually trendy spots".{{cite news |last1=Dimoff |first1=Anna |title=JP Sears visits Vancouver, finds his spiritual home in a Lululemon store |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/spiritual-satirical-guru-1.4050835 |access-date=May 17, 2021 |work=CBC |date=March 31, 2017}}

In 2018, Sears recorded a video roast about New Jersey{{cite news |last1=Deminski |first1=Jeff |title=Watch New Jersey Get Brutally Roasted |url=https://nj1015.com/watch-nj-get-brutally-roasted-by-jp-sears/ |access-date=May 17, 2021 |work=WKXW |date=June 25, 2018}} and then a similar roast filmed the same year about Boulder, described by Westword as "hilarious". Sears speculated about "running his own dog, Zephyr, for mayor". But columnist Michael Roberts ultimately concluded that Sears "could always run for mayor in Zephyr's place, especially given his high public profile".{{cite news |last1=Roberts |first1=Michael |title=JP Sears on His Hilarious Boulder Tribute Video and the Town's Ultra-Spirituality |url=https://www.westword.com/news/jp-sears-video-salutes-boulder-colorado-9794779 |access-date=May 17, 2021 |work=Westword |date=January 6, 2018}}

Sears has also produced satirical roasts of Spokane, Phoenix, Portland, and other locations; however, a 2017 satire of Costa Rica was less well received by residents, and Sears subsequently pulled the video from his channel and issued an apology after it was criticized by Costa Rican ambassador to India Mariela Cruz.{{cite news |title=La Satira de JP Sears Que Deja Muy Mal a Costa Rica|url=https://www.crhoy.com/entretenimiento/la-satira-de-jp-sears-que-deja-muy-mal-a-costa-rica/ |language=Spanish|access-date=May 17, 2021 |work=Costa Rica Hoy |date=June 29, 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Garrett |title=YouTuber JP Sears explains 'Phoenix People': Locals either love it or feel totally burned |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/people/2018/03/29/jp-sears-youtube-phoenix-people-woke-af/470130002/ |access-date=May 17, 2021 |work=Arizona Republic |date=March 29, 2018}}{{cite news |last=Carroll|first=Megan|title=Internet comedian explains 'what Spokane people are like' in hilarious video |url=https://www.krem.com/article/entertainment/what-spokane-people-are-like-video/293-3c4e737b-61fc-4a34-8172-eb740514f465 |access-date=May 17, 2021 |work=KREM-TV |date=January 16, 2020}} News outlet Costa Rica Hoy observed that Costa Ricans familiar with Sears's satirical style would probably be amused by the video, while those who were unfamiliar with it would not. The Costa Rica News, an English-language newspaper in Costa Rica, observed that "this is a great lesson in cultural differences, what made JP's popularity in the States, the use of satire and parody is not going to be a successful tactic in Latin America ... JP did realize that he had erred and sought to rectify his actions in a very public way ... Needless to say, JP will not be doing any videos about Costa Rica, he will be sticking to subjects he knows well."{{cite news |title=Getting Real With JP Sears in Costa Rica |url=https://thecostaricanews.com/jp-sears-gets-serious-costa-rica/ |access-date=May 17, 2021 |work=Costa Rica News |date=July 11, 2017}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Sears's content shifted towards support of conservative political views. In an interview with the Spokesman-Review, Sears remarked that he believed freedoms were threatened during the pandemic, which caused his political shift, though he was not political before. According to Sears, "During the spring of 2020, me being pro-freedom caused some backlash," but said that becoming a conservative comic "turned out to be great for my career." Also according to Sears, there are fewer conservative comics, and therefore he has a "niche" audience.Condran, Ed. 2021. "[https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/nov/25/conservative-anti-vaccine-comic-jp-sears-to-crack-/ Conservative, anti-vaccine comic J.P. Sears to crack wise in Spokane for first time]". The Spokesman Review. November 25, 2021.

Sears began attempting to discredit some of the public health measures taken against COVID-19 and promote COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Science communicator Jonathan Jarry of the Office for Science and Society, McGill University described Sears as part of the conspirituality trend, combining conspiracy theories and New Age spirituality. He notes that Sears has promoted claims about COVID-19 such as that Vitamin D provides protection against the disease, has referred to masks as "face suffocators", and had a video removed by YouTube "for spreading unfounded conspiracy theories".{{Cite web|last=Jarry|first=Jonathan|date=November 19, 2020|title=The Clown Prince of Wellness|url=https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19-critical-thinking-pseudoscience/clown-prince-wellness|access-date=January 18, 2021|website=Office for Science and Society}}

As of 2024, Sears also stars in The New Norm as Norm, a right-wing man who is opposed to the increasingly "woke" nature of America.

In February 2021, Sears appeared as a speaker at the Health Freedom Summit, an online event featuring speakers "promoting anti-vaccination, anti-mask, and pro-homeschool views".Crockford, Susannah. 2021. "[https://religiondispatches.org/the-health-freedom-movement-enters-the-covid-era-by-disseminating-medical-disinformation/ The 'Health Freedom Movement' Enters the Covid Era by Disseminating Medical Disinformation"]. Religion Dispatches. May 13, 2021.

Sears performed at Republican politician Dan Crenshaw's Crenshaw Youth Summit in September 2021.Terris, Ben. 2021. "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/post-trump-republican-party-dan-crenshaw/2021/09/13/cca47a78-14c6-11ec-b976-f4a43b740aeb_story.html What if Republicans had a party and Trump wasn't there?]". The Washington Post. September 14, 2021.

Sears was the master of ceremonies at the Defeat the Mandates rally in Washington D.C., on January 23, 2022,{{cite web |last1=Britschgi |first1=Christian |title=D.C.'s Anti-Mandate Rally Devolves Into an Anti-Vaccine Rally |url=https://reason.com/2022/01/24/d-c-s-anti-mandate-rally-devolves-into-an-anti-vaccine-rally/ |website=Reason |access-date=April 4, 2022 |date=January 24, 2022}} alongside Robert W. Malone, a promoter of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation,{{Cite web|last=Bartlett|first=Tom|date=August 12, 2021|title=The Vaccine Scientist Spreading Vaccine Misinformation| url= https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/08/robert-malone-vaccine-inventor-vaccine-skeptic/619734/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220204/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/08/robert-malone-vaccine-inventor-vaccine-skeptic/619734/ |archive-date=February 4, 2022 |url-status=live|access-date=January 3, 2022| work=The Atlantic |language= en }}{{Cite news |last=Alba |first=Davey |author-link=Davey Alba |date=April 3, 2022 |title=The Latest Covid Misinformation Star Says He Invented the Vaccines |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/technology/robert-malone-covid.html |access-date=April 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403234644/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/technology/robert-malone-covid.html |url-status=live }} and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.{{cite news |last1=Chang |first1=Kenneth |title=Fauci cautions against overconfidence but says the U.S. wave looks like it's 'going in the right direction |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/23/health/fauci-omicron-peak.html |access-date=April 3, 2022 |work=The New York Times|date=January 23, 2022}} The New York Times characterized him as a "conservative conspiracy theorist"{{cite news |last1=Chang |first1=Kenneth |title=Fauci cautions against overconfidence but says the U.S. wave looks like it's 'going in the right direction.' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/23/health/fauci-omicron-peak.html |access-date=April 15, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=January 23, 2022}} and Vice News described him as an "anti-vaccine comedian".{{cite news |last1=Merlan |first1=Anna |title=Joe Rogan's Friends Assemble in D.C. to Do Something They Say Isn't an Anti-Vax Rally |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/joe-rogans-friends-assemble-in-dc-to-do-something-they-say-isnt-an-anti-vax-rally/ |access-date=January 20, 2022 |work=Vice |date=January 20, 2022}}

In September 2020, Sears announced that he and his wife were expecting a child.{{cite news |title=Comedian JP Sears |url=https://katu.com/amnw/am-northwest-special-guests/comedian-jp-sears-09-01-2020 |access-date=May 19, 2021 |work=KATU-TV |date=September 1, 2020}} As of 2021, he resides on a property outside Austin, Texas.

In 2021, Sears stated, "Spirituality is super-important to me." He has not been vaccinated against COVID-19, saying, "I don't feel that I'm at risk due to my age. To be quite frank, this is the most rushed vaccine in medical history." As of 2023, Sears is a devout Christian as stated in his video "I Changed My Mind About God".

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web|title=J.P. Sears: The Truth Behind His "How To Become Gluten Intolerant" Video |url=https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/j-p-sears-the-truth-behind-his-how-to-become-gluten-intolerant-video/|website=The Good Men Project|date=April 9, 2015}}
• {{cite web|title=Meet the "New Age" Stephen Colbert|url=http://religiondispatches.org/meet-the-new-age-stephen-colbert/|website=Religion Dispatches|date=March 30, 2015}}
• {{cite web|title=An Interview With His Enlightenedness the Ultra Spiritual JP Sears|url=http://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/q-and-a-with-his-enlightenedness-ultra-spiritual-jp-sears/|website=Yoga Journal|date=December 22, 2016}}
• {{cite book|last1=Sears|first1=JP|title=How to Be Ultra Spiritual: 12 1/2 Steps to Spiritual Superiority|date=March 7, 2017|publisher=Sounds True|isbn=9781622038213}}
• {{cite web |last=Schawbel |first=Dan |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2017/12/07/jp-sears-his-quest-to-create-an-emotionally-healthy-world/?sh=7dc6aa8499de |title=JP Sears: His Quest To Create An Emotionally Healthy World |website=Forbes |date=December 7, 2017}}

{{Commonscatinline}}

• {{Official website|https://awakenwithjp.com/}}
• [https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/nov/25/conservative-anti-vaccine-comic-jp-sears-to-crack-/ Interview] in The Spokesman-Review
• {{IMDb name|8454252}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sears, JP}}

Category:1981 births

Category:Life coaches

Category:Living people

Category:Bowling Green State University alumni

Category:YouTube channels launched in 2013

Category:21st-century American comedians

Category:American male comedians

Category:American activists

Category:Comedians from Toledo, Ohio

Category:YouTubers from Ohio