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Traditionally, homeless shelters serve as temporary residences for individuals and families. They exist to provide residents with safety and protection from the harsh conditions of living outdoors. Now, thanks to Elvis Mujic, a 30-year-old, stand-up comedian, people view shelters as a place to laugh and converse with their local community. While shelters aren’t commonplace for stand-up sets, Mujic says he finds joy performing in untraditional settings.

“Entertaining feels a bit selfish to me, possibly because it’s standing in front of a crowd to hold their attention. However, this [performing at shelters and collecting goods for the underprivileged] feels a lot better,” Mujic said.

Mujic contributes more than just comedic relief during his performances. Sometimes things don’t go as planned and shows can serve as an outlet for those in the audience who want to share their stories and perspectives.

“I performed at The Salvation Army chapel in Jackson, MS a few weeks ago. I do my best to plan out a show, but sometimes things happen that I can’t control, and sometimes it turns into a speaking event or a debate. I have experience living in a van. Not necessarily living in poverty, but I’ve faced inconveniences, so I can relate to some of the issues that people in shelters face. I created a moment to be encouraging to the residents and we ended up discussing whether they can get past their hardship. It was great and everyone was friendly after the show,” Mujic said. “Sometimes it’s hard to tell if people are enjoying themselves because it’s not your average comedy show and you’re in an area where there are lots of distractions and interruptions. For example, sometimes people will poke in their head and say, ‘Okay, hey it’s time to eat,’ or phones will ring and I’ll have to answer them and deliver a message,” he added.

Mujic was born in Bosnia, then known as Yugoslavia. His parents decided to give him a western name so that he would not have an Islamic name during a time of Islamic religious intolerance in Yugoslavia. His family moved to the United States when Mujic was seven years old and settled in Detroit, Michigan. He briefly studied philosophy at Amherst College in Massachusetts but left to pursue a career in comedy once he discovered joy in lifting others’ spirits. He lived in a minivan between 2013 and 2016 and traveled to 47 states, practicing his brand of guerrilla comedy.

“I don’t know what made me go into comedy, but I tried it, and I loved it. It felt natural. I performed at one shelter in Mississippi years ago, to try something different, and I always remembered how it felt. I thought to myself, ‘Well, who knows what life will bring? I have the chance to do this now, and I want to make sure that I can say that I’ve done something positive with stand-up comedy,’” Mujic said.

The first shelter Mujic performed in was in 2015 at The Salvation Army’s Tupelo, Mississippi location. While performing at a venue in Memphis, Mujic decided to visit Graceland, a suggestion from his father who is a devoted Elvis Presley fan. There were severe tornado warnings during his visit, so Mujic headed south and took shelter at The Salvation Army’s Tupelo, Mississippi location. He decided to do a set while waiting for the warning to end and found that he enjoyed performing for the people at the shelter.

“I was purposefully performing in places where you wouldn’t have stand-up comedy, and that was interesting for a while. I would go to Waffle House or Denny’s or other bizarre venues to perform. And I was like, ‘Oh, I’m taking cover at a shelter during a tornado warning. This will be interesting.’ Doing these things that I found weird had a pretty profound effect on me,” Mujic said.

“I didn’t begin regularly performing in shelters until a few years later, but I’ve always vividly remembered that performance. It’s still my favorite set,” Mujic added.

Mujic has reached over 80 shelters since December 2018 and is currently touring the Southeastern United States, visiting as many facilities as he can fit into his schedule. He just wrapped up his performances in Louisiana and Mississippi and is currently in Alabama. He likes to focus his travels to low-income areas, where he performs at the local shelters first and later performs at a local venue. He often hosts “socks and undies shows,” where people may bring socks, underwear, and personal hygiene products as admission to the show. Mujic also puts donation bins throughout the town at various businesses.

“The bins are cool. They have my logos on them, but intertwined are messages from different people I’ve met at shelters and soup kitchens after the shows,” Mujic explained.

Mujic takes about 2-3 weeks in each area, getting to know homeless individuals. He collects the items from his donation bins and delivers them to the people that he’s met along the way. He delivers items directly to The Salvation Army and other shelters if he’s received a lot of donations.

“I’d love for my shows to be open to the community. My goal is to eventually get people who are not homeless to come to the shelter. I want to mix people who aren’t homeless and people who are homeless because it’s two different worlds that rarely interact. My goal is to try to mix everyone, erase any stigmas, and show that we’re all people,” Mujic added.

Source:

https://salvationarmyalm.org

Elvis Mujic, The Traveling Stand-Up Comedian Who Loves Performing at Shelters

Elvis Mujic is touring the country collecting new underwear and socks for the homeless while spreading smiles.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Elvis Mujic tours to different homeless shelters around the country to make people smile, not only through his jokes but through the community’s donations.

“There is such a level of depression,” Mujic said. “If I can see a little bit ease off of somebody, it’s a success to me.”

To keep himself afloat on his tour, he has various shows set up around Jacksonville. At each show, Mujic has a cover charge of socks and underwear that he hands back out to the homeless before his tour leaves. Mujic says he’s motivated by the smiles he spreads to those who may have hit rock bottom.

“It gave me more of a purpose,” Mujic said.

During the tour, Mujic is homeless himself. He’s living out of a minivan and has a gym membership to give him access to showers. He says seeing the impact this has had makes it all worth it.

Source:

https://www.firstcoastnews.com

CRESTVIEW — When comedian Elvis Mujic came to town this week, he was a man on a mission.

Mujic has toured 47 states in the minivan he calls home, and one of the things he loves most is performing for homeless people. He visits organizations like the Salvation Army and asks around to find out where homeless people congregate so he can perform especially for them.

On Jan. 2, he contacted the Crestview Area Shelter for the Homeless for permission to do some standup for their clients. Mujic entertained them for about half an hour.

Mary Bayer, a volunteer at CASH, said, “It was the first time we’ve ever had anybody like that come in. It went wonderful. The folks really enjoyed it and it kind of got them away from their own problems, you know. It was very fun!”

Bayer said she was eavesdropping from the kitchen during Mujic’s routine. He told jokes about himself, and talked about being from Bosnia.

“I would like to see him come back again,” Bayer said. “Anything that brightens up their day, I’m for that.”

Mujic said he takes a different approach when performing for the homeless.

“People in comedy clubs are happy already,” he said. “They have money, they’re happy, they’re well fed.”

More of a warm up is required for the homeless to begin enjoying themselves. He interacts with them and tries to lift their mood by being playful and positive.

“It’s super challenging. I like it,” Elvis said. “If I can do it there — if something works for them — if it makes them laugh, it’s a very funny joke.

“I don’t always pull it off, but it is possible and when I do it (well), it validates it,” he said of his work.

An aptitude for the job

Mujic and his family moved to the U.S. when he was 7 and grew up in Detroit.

Before he became a comedian, he was a working student starting his fourth year at a Massachusetts college.

“I … did good the first three years, (and) messed up. They made me take a year off,” he said.

In the break, he decided to challenge himself to lift his spirits, and hiked the Appalachian Trail for five months.

He tried returning to school, he said, but couldn’t. That’s when he found standup comedy — it was a fit.

“It’s all sort of a slow progression,” he said. “What I vividly remember is doing it and feeling, ‘Oh this is very right.’”

His parents have come to accept his decision.

“I’m 29. I’ve done stuff like this for a long time,” he said. “At this point they understand. It’s a good thing and they’re good people.”

Source:

https://www.nwfdailynews.com/

Don’t be surprised if you step into a Waffle House and find Elvis Mujic, 30, telling jokes and interacting with everybody like he would in any comedy club. This artist likes to perform in unusual places. Since December 2018, Mujic has been visiting 90 shelters and nursing houses around the country as part of his tour, “Socks & Undies Comedy Show.” The purpose of the tour is to collect clothes for the homeless. In fact, an article of clothing—whether it be jackets, socks or even underwear—serves as the price of admission for his shows. His tour has taken him to Jackson, where he provides a means for Jacksonians to give to the homeless community this holiday season.

#Mujic was born in Bosnia, then known as Yugoslavia. His parents, who are Muslin, gave him a name that “sounds more American” so that he would not have an especially islamic name during a time that many within Yugoslavia harbored religious intolerance toward people who practice Islam. His family moved to America to start a new life when he was 7 years old, and he grew up in Detroit.

#”I came to America with my best friend, a goat named Tina Turner. We are married now and give two goat kids,” a smiling Mujic jokingly says.

#When asked how he describes his performances, he says, “I am a Bosnian-American stand-up comedian. I say plenty of things I don’t actually believe, but they make people laugh. I do improvised performances when I have nothing scheduled.”

#In his last year of high school, he started reading Aristoteles and other authors who wrote about ethics, metaphysics, logic and physics. Intrigued by these writers’ written thoughts, he enrolled at Amherst College in Massachusetts to study philosophy, although he left before finishing his degree.

#In 2012, Elvis realized what he really loved was cheering up people.

#”I was good at making others laugh, so it felt natural when I decided to become a comedian. I learned by performing in open mics and by listening to podcasts. Then I met “Downtown” Tony Brown, an older Detroit comedian, (and) he became my mentor. Tony didn’t have a car, so I drove him to shows. We would perform and he would give me advice afterwards.”

#His first presentation took place at an open mic in a coffeehouse located in a poor neighborhood of Detroit, with only about seven people in the audience.

#”After my performance, (two guys) went up, banged on empty cans and sang songs. It was hilarious,” he says, laughing. “I prepared jokes for the first time. One joke I remember was about lying in my journal so that when I read it later, it would look like I lived an extraordinary life.”

#After this initial experience, Mujic performed more than 100 times in two years in Detroit. When playing to the same crowds grew stale, he began to move around, spending six months in San Francisco, a few months in Portland, Ore., and then another six months in Austin, Texas. Eventually, he decided to travel across the country and perform in random places like nightclubs, comedy clubs, bars, restaurants, coffeehouses, shelters and nursing homes.

#The first shelter he visited was in Tupelo, Miss., in 2015. With a tornado warning in the area, Mujic took refuge in a location for The Salvation Army, where he suddenly had the idea to perform in these types of places.

#He says his most difficult performance was a time when he told jokes in a state-run nursing home in West Virginia, where patients were sick or medicated.

#”Nurses bussed patients in wheelchairs and rolling beds. I tried to do planned jokes, but that didn’t go so well. I ended by getting on one knee and asking one of the ladies to marry me. I thought I failed, but when I went around shaking everyone’s hand, I found out they simply appreciated something new because they spend most of their day sitting in a room alone.”

#In the last seven years, the comedian has visited 47 states in his Dodge Caravan minivan. In Jackson, he had prepared performances at Billy Brumfield, Grace House, The Salvation Army and The Rescue Mission. Recommended donations include new socks, underwear, bras, diapers, hygiene products, winter-wear or gently used blankets.

#People who want to support the cause can place donated items in bins placed at Fenian’s Pub (901 E. Fortification St.), Coffee Prose (1619 N. West St.), Beauty Zone (2424 Bailey Ave.), Tom’s Bar-B-Q (1605 S. Gallatin St.), Trisha’s Sports Bar and Grill (2426 Terry Road, Suite 1400), and Capt’n Jack’s Hot Shots (6034 Interstate 55 S. Frontage Road, Byram).

#The donated goods will be collected on Sunday, Dec. 22, at noon. Later that evening, Mujic will make a final Jackson performance at Fenian’s Pub starting at 8 p.m. before moving to the next spot on his tour.

Source:
jacksonfreepress.com