James Tom
{{Short description|American comedian and actor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = James Tom
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| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|33|2024|01|05}}
| birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.
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| alma_mater = Smith College
| occupation = Comedian, actor, writer
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| family = Edison Uno (grandfather)
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| website = {{URL|jestomdotcom.com}}
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James Setsuo Tom (formerly Jes Tom, born {{birth based on age as of date|33|2024|01|05|noage=1|slash=y}}){{cite web |last1=Factora |first1=James |title=Jes Tom's Wayward Tales of Transsexual Horniness |url=https://www.them.us/story/jes-tom-less-lonely-comedian-profile |website=them |access-date=14 February 2024 |date=5 January 2024}} is an American comedian, actor, and writer based in New York City.{{cite news |last1=Cherelus |first1=Gina |title=The Trans Comic Looking for Love 'at the End of the World' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/14/style/jes-tom-less-lonely.html |access-date=14 February 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=14 December 2023}} His work explores themes including sex, gender identity, and Asian American representation.{{cite news |last1=Masseron |first1=Meg |title=Jes Tom's One-Person Comedy Less Lonely Will Return Off-Broadway For Limited Engagement |url=https://www.playbill.com/article/jes-toms-one-person-comedy-less-lonely-will-return-off-broadway-for-limited-engagement |access-date=14 February 2024 |work=Playbill |date=31 October 2023}}{{cite magazine |last1=Turner |first1=Kyle |title=Jes Tom Tells Us How to Maneuver the "Dyke to Fag Pipeline" |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/comedy/jes-tom-tells-us-how-to-maneuver-the-dyke-to-fag-pipeline |access-date=15 February 2024 |magazine=Interview |date=18 January 2024}}{{cite news |last1=Lange |first1=Maggie |title=Jes Tom, How Are You So Hot? |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/jes-tom-netflix-dear-jes-how-are-you-so-hot/ |access-date=15 February 2024 |work=Vice |date=31 March 2021}}
Early life and education
Tom was born and raised in San Francisco, California.{{cite web |title=Spotlight: Jes Tom |url=https://daily.wicf.com/spotlight-jes-tom/ |website=Women in Comedy Festival News |access-date=15 February 2024}}{{cite news |last1=Chambers |first1=Julia |title=Jes Tom Wants to Make People Feel Less Lonely at Their Off-Broadway Comedy Show |url=https://playbill.com/article/jes-tom-wants-to-make-people-feel-less-lonely-at-their-off-broadway-comedy-show |access-date=15 February 2024 |work=Playbill |date=December 14, 2023}} Tom’s grandfather is Japanese American activist Edison Uno.{{Cite web |last=Tom |first=James |date=March 31, 2025 |title="any wikipediaheads wanna link my page to my grandfather, japanese american activist Edison Uno? en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_..." |url=https://bsky.app/profile/jamestomxo.bsky.social/post/3llpxlthhfs2t |website=Bluesky}} He enjoyed acting in high school, and later joined the improvisation team at Smith College.
Tom graduated from Smith in 2013. In 2016, he completed a two-year acting program at the Maggie Flanagan Studio.{{cite magazine |last1=Chance |first1=Patches |title=Jes Tom Talks Less Lonely, the Joy of Change, and Gay Pirate Lube in Our Flag Means Death |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/jes-tom/jes-tom-talks-less-lonely-the-joy-of-change-and-gay-pirate-lube-in-our-flag-means-death |access-date=14 February 2024 |magazine=Paste |date=4 December 2023}}
Career
In 2011, Tom started performing at open mics in San Francisco.{{cite web |title=Jes Tom: Twitter's Favorite (Unintentional) Public-Facing Pervert |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/jes-tom-comedians-you-should-know-2021.html |website=Vulture |access-date=14 February 2024 |date=4 November 2021}} In 2013, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in comedy.{{cite news |last1=O'Neill |first1=Shane |title=Five Nonbinary Comics on This Moment: 'I'm Not Some New Buzzword' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/arts/nonbinary-comedians-pride-coronavirus.html |access-date=14 February 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=25 June 2020}}
In 2021, Tom was named a New Face of Comedy at the Just for Laughs comedy festival.{{cite magazine |last1=Woods |first1=Mel |title=Comedian Jes Tom on the art of being horny online |url=https://xtramagazine.com/culture/jes-tom-less-lonely-toronto-257150 |access-date=15 February 2024 |magazine=Xtra Magazine |date=21 September 2023}}{{cite web |title=New Faces of Comedy - Jes Tom |url=https://www.hahaha.com/en/videos/new-faces-comedy-jes-tom |website=Just for Laughs |access-date=15 February 2024 |date=18 August 2021}}
In 2022, Tom's solo show, Less Lonely, had its off-Broadway premiere at the Cherry Lane Theatre. The show returned to off-Broadway in 2023 for a limited engagement at the Greenwich House Theater, presented by his friend Elliot Page.{{cite web |last1=Cramer |first1=Jude |title=Elliot Page & Jes Tom are having a bromance as the world ends |url=https://www.intomore.com/entertainment/theater/exclusive-elliot-page-jes-tom-want-you-to-be-less-lonely-this-holiday-season/ |website=Into |access-date=14 February 2024 |date=20 December 2023}}
Tom worked as a story editor for the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death. His other credits include the animated series Tuca & Bertie, the Netflix/Funny or Die short film Soojung Dreams of Fiji,{{cite magazine |last1=Escandon |first1=Rosa |title=28-Year-Old Jes Tom Doesn't Need To Explain Themselves |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rosaescandon/2019/09/29/28-year-old-jes-tom-doesnt-need-to-explain-themselves/ |access-date=14 February 2024 |magazine=Forbes |date=29 September 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Werder |first1=Corinne |title=Seven Minutes In Heaven With Comedian Jes Tom |url=https://gomag.com/article/seven-minutes-heaven-comedian-jes-tom/ |access-date=15 February 2024 |work=GO Magazine |date=16 November 2017}}{{cite book |last1=Nastasi |first1=Alison |last2=PJ |first2=Nastasi |title=Queer Icons and Their Cats |date=2021 |publisher=Chronicle Books |isbn=9781797206233 |page=57}} and an Instagram live advice show for Netflix, Dear Jes.
In March 2024, Tom appeared in a Netflix comedy special, Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda, hosted by Hannah Gadsby and also featuring fellow genderqueer comedians Alok, Chloe Petts, DeAnne Smith, Krishna Istha, Asha Ward, and Mx. Dahlia Belle.{{cite news |last1=Hailu |first1=Selome |title=Hannah Gadsby's Netflix Special 'Gender Agenda' Sets Lineup of Genderqueer Comedians: Jes Tom, Alok and More (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/hannah-gadsby-netflix-special-gender-agenda-queer-comedy-1235907944/ |access-date=12 February 2024 |work=Variety |date=12 February 2024}}
Personal life
Tom is a fifth-generation Asian American, of Japanese and Chinese descent. He is non-binary and transmasculine, and goes by he/him and they/them pronouns.{{cite web |title=Comedian Jes Tom Wants to See More Non-Binary Trans People in Media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htU38RhRmto |website=NowThis |via=YouTube |access-date=14 February 2024 |date=30 April 2019}} In March 2025, Tom publicly announced his name change to James Setsuo Tom on Instagram,{{Cite web |title=I have been out as nonbinary for 14 years... |last=Tom |first=James |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/DHqh5vjRjXs/ |date=March 26, 2025 |access-date=March 26, 2025 |website=Instagram}} referencing that he had been going by James for some time. He subsequently published an article in them titled Why I'm Changing My Name to James, where he explores moving on from his "placeholder name" of "Jes Tom" explaining the change as a "demand that other people see what I see."{{Cite web |last=Tom |first=James |date=March 26, 2025 |title=Why I'm Changing My Name to James |url=https://www.them.us/story/james-tom-name-change-essay-comedian-pronouns-documents |access-date=March 26, 2025 |website=them |language=en-US}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{instagram|jesthekid}}
- {{IMDb name|nm8458488}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tom, Jes}}
Category:American actors of Asian descent
Category:American comedians of Asian descent
Category:American LGBTQ comedians
Category:American LGBTQ people of Asian descent
Category:American non-binary actors
Category:American non-binary writers
Category:Comedians from New York City
Category:Comedians from San Francisco
Category:LGBTQ people from New York (state)