By Chrizelda Kekana
I met Jodi Deerling at a JAM function. His table seemed to have the bubbliest bunch in the building and he clapped the hardest for Jacquie Carpede (the Ja in music group Jamali) who was the solo entertainer for the night. What a ball of anergy, I thought to myself. Fast forward to about three weeks later, he drives into the building for an interview with Tonight. He walks out as if he'd stepped right out of a magazine, tastefully accessorised. As I would find out later in the interview, not only is he a "JAMbassador" but an accessory designer, actor, talent manager, with great potential to venture into music.
The "Port Elizabethian" admits that he always knew he was not average; he could never be in the background. At 5 he was already doing ballet and his larger-than-life grandmother -who he compares to 'Sally Spectra' of the US soapie The Bold and The Beautiful- saw his fire right from the start. His grandmother was not prepared to his Jodi's fire burn out which lead to them relocating to Pretoria so Jodi could enrol at Pro Arte Alphen Park (art school in Pretoria). Although Jodi maintains that PE's quite nature was nurturing him in its own way, his grandmother knew he would be "too loud" for it.
It wasn't long until other opportunities presented themselves for the young man Jodi was fast becoming and before he knew it he was auditioning for the role of a gangster called "Fish" on Isidingo. He says, "I remember driving to the audition and the feeling I had as I gave it my best shot. It was very intimidating because as I walked in I realised that I knew every face in the room. Every single person in there was already on TV at that time". He paints a picture of the scene; I imagine it with him as he shuts his eyes, saying "So there I was, a gay, flamboyant, elaborate personality ready to act out the role of the main gangster's cousin in a room full of professional actors."
But after his audition he had secured the role of the main gangster role and he knew he had to deliver. He says that he feels he threw himself into the deep but the experience was worth it. Karin van der Laag who played Maggie and Kim Engelbrecht who played Lolly, are some of the figures he mentions as mentors and guides to his craft. He had to go dig deep into the archive of his life to find experiences to draw from for his the gangster. "Gangsters are not the same," he says adding; "I had to go immerse myself into the community where 'my' gangster was from and do a lot of research."
From that breakthrough, a kind of 'domino effect' occurred that lead to his next 'Yo TV' presenter gig and many other things. He also developed close relationships with other "kid stars" at the time like Mandisa Nakana, Sade and others. "That was for me a magical time in the industry. The era according to Jodi was one where it took true, raw talent to get you a gig and not necessarily the "I am pretty" status," Jodi says.
His beginning in the industry was far from a "humble" one. Isidingo was a big deal and hard as he tried not letting that fact balloon his head it eventually did. Then around the same time fame was got to his head, his pillar (grandmother) passed away. Everything went downward spiral from there. He was "drugging, partying and drinking" and when he hit bottom he was forced to go back to the basics, which meant relocating back to PE.
In PE, Jodi found another side of himself he had been previously ignored. Back home he was "too colourful" and he could either "hide or accept criticism" it or "flaunt and defend". In the process of re-discovering Jodi, he established Joe production, a youth development organisation. As he watched others develop the Jodi brand also grew new leaves. The journey back to the top included shooting commercials, presenting in road shows and shooting "Come Dine With Me" - which to-date appears to be Jodi's most "famous TV appearance".
But brewing unconsciously was a business idea waiting to flourish. Without realising it, Jodi's name was synonymous with bow ties. He had been planning his outfits based on the different bowties he wore, so much so that he looked "odd" to other people without one. When people started asking, where he got them and if they could buy them from him, he knew he had found his entrepreneurial experience.
"South Africa's number one hand made accessories brand," is the title the Jodi Brand is chasing after. He says there's no greater joy than knowing where you are and where you going in a world filled with uncertainty. Jodi the entertainer still MC's gigs, and under his brand he manages artists like Jacquie Carpede. He mentions that he executes all other roles in his life with ultimate effort such as being someone's partner, a mentor and an JAM ambassador. He has even designed a JD bowtie collection specifically for JAM, where all proceeds go to the organisation that feeds children.
The JD Collection has fast become a South African home made Brand. It can be found at Big Blue Stores Nationwide, On Spree.co.za, Groupon.com, Superbalist.com, I Love my Laundry stores in Cape Town, Boaston Society, South African Market, Swordfern, Exclusive Menswear, Melrose Arch Gourmet Market in Johannesburg and is still growing.
So what's next for this ball of energy, I ask? "Expansion honey, expansion," he says with enthusiasm. The future holds nothing but greatness if you listen carefully to the rhythm in which "Jodi with the bowtie" moves.
IOL