Erik Terrell

“If they say it can’t be done, it only means they haven’t done it.” “When life throws you a curve ball, hit a homerun.” Erik created these quotes just like he creates his opportunities. His entire life, Erik has just been the kid people want to be around. Most of his life before college was spent getting involved with his home church, Triumph Baptist. He then moved on to college in Virginia where he matriculated at Hampton University studying broadcast journalism and pursuing his dream of radio. He also enjoys writing, hosting shows, and above all Stand-Up Comedy. His goal is to become a mainstream Comedian and a nationally syndicated radio host.

Erik Terrell Kyser was born in 1991 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In elementary school, Erik’s penchant for storytelling became insatiable when he composed a series of books titled “The Super Men” with characters based on his friends and classmates.

When his parents sent him from one school to another after 3rd grade, he found another niche amongst his peers with his sense of humor. Often getting into trouble, Erik espoused the role of class clown at school. In the 7th grade, his classmate Sam helped revitalize Erik’s love of storytelling when the two of them created a series of comic books named “Radiation Man and Electricity Boy”. They eventually made over 40 comic books and began selling copies of them to their classmates in the school yard.

In 7th grade, Erik was busy outside of school too. When he was 11, he started a show called “Erik in the Afternoon”. Erik recorded “Erik in the Afternoon” onto cassette tapes using a Karaoke Machine his mother bought him for Christmas.

The first huge challenge in Erik’s life arrived three months before he graduated eighth grade when he was expelled from school for his antics and ostentatious displays. Being forced to take his act on the road, Erik somehow enrolled in a school a few nieghborhoods away from his home and graduated three months later with honors. Little did he know, he’d find his stage again in a few years.

In high school, Erik’s church began using his stage presence, sense of humor, and creative ability and honing it in the process. Erik was introducing guest preachers, giving tithe appeals, acting in the Drama Ministry, hosting youth talent shows, and enlivening the congregation as the youth choir’s official “hypeman”.

When Hampton University met Erik Kyser, the two hit it off immediately. Of course Erik’s first membership inquiry was with the school’s radio station, which was rebuilding at the time and not accepting new members. He joined the Hampton Script (School newspaper), Honors College, Hampton Players (Drama organization), and the William R. Harvey Leadership Institute his freshman year. That summer he helped restart the Mime Ministry at Triumph Baptist Church.

Erik returned his sophomore year determined to get on the air at Hampton University’s radio station, 88.1 WHOV. They got him started producing “the Wil Laviest Show”. Junior year, Hampton Journalism Professor Allie-Ryan Butler was starting a show with Erik called “the Shop”. The show never got off the ground. However, second semester, Erik finally made his on-air debut hosting the Gospel Express Morning Show on Mondays and Wednesdays.

The Hampton Players elected Erik Mr. Hampton Player, and he also hosted the HUBees, Theatre Department Award Show and Hampton’s equivalent to the Oscars. He’s been casted in three big Hampton Player Productions (Dreamgirls, A Love to Call My Own, and Lion in the Winter). By the end of his sophomore year, he was elected President of the Hampton Players.

Erik is proud of his radio and acting accomplishments at Hampton University. However, there’s one dream Erik holds higher than the two of those combined. On June 1, 2011, Erik decided to begin making that dream a reality when he stepped onstage to perform Stand-Up for the first time at the Laff House, renowned Philadelphia Comedy Club. Using the stage name Erik Terrell, Erik continued doing Stand-Up Comedy throughout the rest of that summer. He won Michael Shawn’s “Too Damn Funny” Comedy Contest and soon made his comedy goals a priority above all other goals in his life. That same summer, he did Stand-Up in his home church as the character “Sister Jamison.”

Once the student body of Hampton University learned about Erik’s passion, they published articles about him, blew up his viral video “Things HU Girls Say” with 19000 views, and even allowed him to open the school’s annual Springfest Comedy Show. He also occasionally hosted shows on a school related website, theyardhu.com.

After interning for Clear Channel Radio Philadelphia with Renard Henderson and Patty Jackson during his last two summer vacations, Erik returned to Hampton for his senior year by not only proceeding to host the Gospel Express, but beginning to co-host WHOV talk show “The Pastor’s Study”.

For the next six years after college, he hosted his podcasts “The Erik Terrell Show” and “Nick and Erik in the Monin”. At Hampton University, his local Stand-Up act was on display weekly at Cozzy’s Comedy Club in Newport News where he still tours to this day. After graduating college in 2013, he returned home to Philadelphia where he hit the ground running. Erik’s been featured on over fifteen of the world’s premiere Comedy Festivals including the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, the New York Comedy Festival, Gilda’s LaughFest, the Asheville Comedy Festival and the Burbank Comedy Festival.

In 2018, Erik gave an opening performance for NBC’s National Dog Show in Philadelphia, and he produced and headlined his own show, “Officially Overseas”, at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival. In 2019, Erik was named one of Comedy Central’s “Comics to Watch” at the New York Comedy Festival. He enjoys his current endeavors including hosting the web series “Terrell’s Top Five” and cohosting “Stand-Up Guys” podcast with Jake Mattera. Erik’s debut Comedy Special is on Amazon. He still considers himself nothing more than a glorified version of Erik in the Afternoon, the 11 year old church “hypeman”, and plans to stay on stage and in studio for many years to come. “If they say it can’t be done, it only means they haven’t done it.”