JP Sears

Jonathan Patrick Sears Sears produces satirical YouTube videos where he parodies lifestyle gurus, wellness coaches, and government policies.

Biography

JP Sears was born in Toledo, Ohio, and raised in Bowling Green, Ohio. According to Sears, he was a class clown in his youth. 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. In 2013, he began uploading YouTube videos providing advice on new age topics.

Sears was cited by Australia's ABC News as one of "a growing number of comedians satirising fad gluten-free and grain elimination diets".

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".

In 2018, Sears recorded a video roast about New Jersey 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".

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. 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.

COVID era comedy 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.

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".

Post-COVID era comedy 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.

Political activities In February 2021, Sears appeared as a speaker at the Health Freedom Summit, an online event featuring speakers promoting freedom of choice for body autonomy and vaccinations, opposing mask mandates, and protecting homeschool rights.

Sears performed at Republican politician Dan Crenshaw's Crenshaw Youth Summit in September 2021.

Sears was the master of ceremonies at the Defeat the Mandates rally in Washington D.C., on January 23, 2022, alongside Robert W. Malone, a skeptic of COVID-19 vaccine safety and mandates, and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 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."