When a young Chad Kroeger (real name Tom Allen) and best friend JT Parr went before the Los Angeles city council eight years ago to fight for their right to throw house parties in the Hollywood hills, little did they know how pivotal that meeting would be. “I saw a video of someone doing a city council, and I was like, ‘oh, they filmed these’, so I thought it would be funny to, like, go to a city council and give a speech. And I didn’t think much of it,” recalls Kroeger in our recent interview.
The video in question features Kroeger standing before the city council uttering the now iconic phrase, “What up, council,” before going on a diatribe about the positive impact house parties had on his coming of age. After quickly being dismissed, Parr takes the podium with his own, “What up, council,” to the dismay of the officials.
“I think it’s actually a service that we’re doing, because, you know, the city council members have to deal with citizens who are incredibly rude to them, so I think it’s kind of a palate cleanser,” muses Kroeger.
From City Council to Netflix: How Chad Goes Deep Found ‘Stokeness’
After seeing the viral potential of the city council speeches and low cost to produce, the duo did several more, spring boarding them to a national audience with what they would call ‘stokeness’ and ‘bro activism’. This success launched their comedy careers, landing them appearances on the talk show circuit as well as work as extras on popular TV shows like the HBO series, Barry; and now their own series on Netflix. (For more interviews with boundary-pushing comedians and artists, check out our Features section.)
Currently, Kroeger is hitting the road with his one man show titled, “The How To Be Stoked Tour,” that includes three stops in Colorado.
For Kroeger, ‘stokeness’ is a channeling of the chill, surfer attitude often associated with the west coast. Growing up in the Sunshine State, Kroeger internalized this mentality which would eventually embody his comedy. “I think I naturally have anxiety, so I was always kind of searching for ways to have a chill vibe. People would be like, ‘you use these things like surfing, and getting tan, and going to, like, Disneyland maybe as ways to escape.’ I’ve always looked for ways to transcend that kind of thinking.'”
The Philosophy Behind the Stoke
This tour for Kroeger is a chance to expand his philosophy behind ‘stoke’, which on the surface feels cheeky, but carries a surprising amount of depth.
Kroeger studied philosophy in college where he was drawn to thinkers like Marcus Aurelius and the ideas of mindful living. “I really took to specific philosophies that teach you how to live, and how to live well, and how to not let the external world bring you down,” recalls Kroeger. “My buddy got me into this book The Vedanta Treaties. I guess you could classify as livable knowledge where you’re able to access a kind of objectification of the world where you’re not letting your emotions get too tied into your attachments. Then you find peace through action.”
This philosophical journey became a bedrock for Kroeger’s comedy where under the unassuming guise of ‘stokeness’ he explores the ideas of finding peace in the simple things that you can control. “It’s about having a strong mind and not letting the external world destroy your peace,” explains Kroeger.
Protect Our Boarders: Chad and JT Goes Deep on Netflix
So, in his new Netflix series Chad and JT Goes Deep, when he and JT set up a booth on the beach with a petition to “Protect or Boarders,” they actually mean skateboarders. The subsequent trolling of the petition signers becomes a bizarre exercise in Kroeger’s philosophy. Kroeger and Parr stay unrelenting in their ignorance of the implications because to them, the skateboarders on that stretch of beach need to be protected.
The journey from pestering city councils to a Netflix deal was a winding one, but for Kroeger and Parr, a TV show was always the goal. “JT worked at Abso, the production company that does Nathan For You and Eric Andre, and Tim and Eric,” recalls Kroeger.
What’s Next for Chad Goes Deep: The How To Be Stoked Tour
Those connections gave their ideas an outlet, and for the next eight years they grinded out social media content and stand up comedy sets, until they got the call from Netflix. “‘Now I’ve made it’ was the initial feeling and I guess you can be kind of be naive early on. But you don’t realize that the work continues, probably more so after that. We work hard on the show, but even outside the show you have to keep working and putting stuff out there. You can’t get complacent, but initially, I was like, ‘dude, this is it’.”
Looking ahead, Kroeger would like to pursue more acting as well as continue to up his comedy game. In the meantime, he is excited to share his philosophies on tour. “It’s like a stoke TED Talk. It teaches you the fundamentals of how to be stoked forever.”
