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Tacoma comic gains fans on ‘Young Rock’

By Craig Sailor, The News Tribune
Published: February 26, 2021, 6:00am

TACOMA — Nate Jackson is no stranger to fame, working with celebrities and standing in the literal spotlights of comedy. But he wasn’t prepared for the level of notoriety he’s getting as a co-star on NBC’s new comedy hit “Young Rock” based on the life of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Johnson, who lived in Vancouver when he was young, is an undeniable superstar, turning everything and everyone he touches into gold. When Johnson posted a photo of Jackson to his 219 million followers on Instagram on Nov. 28, it propelled the Lacey resident and Tacoma comedy club owner into the stratosphere.

“I woke up to my phone on 25 percent battery life,” Jackson said. “There were so many notifications, alerts. They were killing my phone.”

In “Young Rock,” Jackson plays Sylvester Ritter, known to 1980s wrestling fans as Junkyard Dog.

Jackson is a veteran stand-up comic, actor, writer and travels in the orbits of superstar comedians like Kevin Hart. But even he admits this is a whole new level.

“I’ve been acting for years,” Jackson said. “I just caught a big one.”

Jackson auditioned in March before the state went on lockdown to slow the rate of COVID-19 infections.

Filming for the first season of “Young Rock” took place last fall in Brisbane, Australia (spring in the southern hemisphere.) NBC moved production there due to Australia’s low COVID-19 infection rate.

“You go there and you quarantine for 14 days,” Jackson said. “Hollywood was shut down.”

Because the cast was sequestered in the same hotel and shared meal time and other daily activities, they grew closer compared with a typical Hollywood production.

“Everybody showing pictures of kids and siblings and … we all got close, like everybody on the cast knew about my club,” Jackson said.

Five million viewers watched the first episode of “Young Rock” on Feb. 16 which gave NBC the best comedy debut in the 18-49 demographic in two years.

The second episode, minus Jackson, was set to air 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23. Jackson appears in episodes three, five and nine, he said. He’s still relishing the experience.

“It was one of the most fantastic things I’ve ever experienced, or thought that I could or didn’t even know that I could experience,” Jackson said.

The charismatic Ritter wrestled with the World Wrestling Federation at the height of his career in the 1980s. He was one of the first Black pro wrestling stars. He died as the result of a traffic accident in 1998.

“This is a chance for a person who’s passed away to have their legacy extend across another generation of people,” Jackson said, “I wanted to do right by him.”

Jackson, as Junkyard Dog, appears in the first episode during scenes set in 1982 when Johnson’s character, played by Adrian Groulx, is 10. Ritter and other pro wrestler notables such as Andre the Giant were contemporaries of Johnson’s father, wrestler Rocky Johnson.

“Young Rock” uses the popular construct of switching between varying timelines in its storytelling. Johnson himself opens the show in 2032 when he’s running for president. The show also spends time with a 15-year-old Johnson in 1987, played by Bradley Constant and in 1990 with Uli Latukefu portraying Johnson.

The immensely popular Johnson was working on the Marvel film “Black Adam” while also serving as executive producer and actor on “Young Rock”. But Jackson didn’t get to work with Johnson in person.

Just as production was about to begin in September, Johnson announced he had contracted COVID-19. He stayed put in the U.S. Johnson attended Zoom meetings with the cast and crew every other day, Jackson said.

“Just to get a two-minute meeting with him is six weeks out or something like that,” Jackson said.

Ritter stood 6-foot-3-inches and weighed 280 pounds. To gain the physique of a pro wrestler, Jackson lost more than 26 pounds by hiking, boxing and dieting, according to muscleandfitness.com.

Super Funny

Jackson’s star turn on “Young Rock” came after his long planned comedy club opened and promptly closed in July 2020.

Jackson had operated his Super Funny comedy club out of Keys on Main on Pacific Avenue for years before announcing plans in 2019 to open a freestanding club in Tacoma.

“I put all the best parts of every place I’ve ever been in it,” he said Monday.

Jackson had planned a March 2020 opening of his new club, Nate Jackson’s Super Funny Comedy Club, at 8402 S. Hosmer St. in Tacoma. But, COVID-19 soon changed his plans.

He opened the club July 9 using social distancing and other COVID precautions. But after Gov. Jay Inslee’s Stay Home, Stay Healty guidelines were revised, he closed the club July 15. The club reopened Feb. 11 with 25 percent capacity seating. The club’s theater has a normal capacity of 400.

“Young Rock” viewing parties are held each Tuesday at the club, Jackson said.

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