The makings of Moppn

“My Ordained Purpose, Perfectly Named” or Moppn, Syracuse University’s highly applauded Black queer comedian, sat in a Newhouse School conference room with his rectangular silver specs covering half his face. One of his signature durags (this one silver, to match his glasses) protected his head of waves as he donned an oversized black hoodie to shield, even on the eve of spring, Syracuse’s relentless wintry weather. He explained that Moppn is a name dedicated to his late maternal grandfather who died before he was born but whose last name was spelled, “Maupin.”

“I never met him, but everybody says I act like him,” Moppin said. “I would just be looking out the window, and my mom would be like, ‘oh, there goes Maupin’ Or I’d be walking down the steps, and it’s like, ‘oh, you’re just like your grandfather,’ So whenever I would do something natural to myself, I would get called Maupin and stand up and entertainment is natural to me. So, it’s only right that I get called Moppn.” 

The family name has now traveled from Los Angeles, where Moppn (thanks to a Newhouse LA summer course) got the chance to perform at a comedy club – where the audience included one of his idols, That Chick Angel, back to SU’s college campus where he performed alongside Saturday Night Live Comedian Chris Redd and Comedy Central’s Trevor Wallace at a University Union event all the way to exclusive events in Las Vegas with the one and only Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott who Moppn first connected with through a Missy fan group on Twitter (now, “X”). 

For making major moves and such a fitting stage name, Jordan “Moppn” Bullock has always been made to feel different. Growing up Black and gay in Woodbridge, Virginia, about 30 minutes from D.C. Moppn found himself with not many people he could relate to.

“In a lot of my classes, it might have been two of us. And I was in honors, and AP classes.” Moppn said. “And so, in those spots, not a lot of us were together, especially Black men. None of us were in my classes.” 

Moppn also felt different in his elected extracurricular activities. He played both baseball and lacrosse, two sports that have under 10% Black representation professionally.

“I was in a lot of spaces where there weren’t too many Black people, and so there was a lot of spots where I was unique. And even with my Black friends, even in those Black spaces, I was still a little different.” 

Moppn decided to lean into those differences. From a very early age he used his gift of comedy to connect with others within and across his intersections. Moppn realized he started writing jokes at the age of seven, but it wasn’t until he stumbled upon tv specials by comedians Loni Love and Steve Harvey that he understood what stand up was, and knew it was exactly what he wanted to do. 

“I watched and I was like, wait, I do that,” Moppn said. “I lead you one way and then say something funny that you weren’t expecting. I lay things down like that! So that’s when I started getting into it.” 

Moppn quickly built an audience at his South County High school. His close friend and former classmate, Demitri Turner recalled the class they shared junior year. 

@moppnmoppn

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♬ original sound – Moppn

“He would have us dying that entire class period, “Turner said. “I was always so excited for that class because I knew he was going to make us laugh.”

While Moppn received applause from his peers, he also received apprehension from the powers that be. Moppn had hoped to perform his first set for a writing showcase, but the organization running the show thought his stand-up set might “ruin the event.” 

“I was really upset about it and started going around the school with a petition getting signatures from students who wanted to see me perform.” Moppn said. 

It would seem his petition paid off, as a teacher who shared with him that at one point she herself was an aspiring stand-up comedian, caught wind of his petition and encouraged him to sign up for actual comedy clubs.

“She asked me why I was doing shows at school when I was funny enough to do actual comedy clubs. So, she went out and contacted a bunch of comedy clubs and got me on some lineups. I did a 5-minute set at a spot in DC that summer and I won Best Comedian of the Night.” 

Moppn still tells one of the jokes from that night, and it is included in his first taped comedy special for his senior capstone class, titled, “Ashwagandha”. Not giving too much from the special, which will be released on April 30, Moppn shared the joke involves him using an enema for the first time in the fourth grade. 

“Every time I tell that story something gets added and the jokes just get funnier and funnier as time goes on,” Moppn said.

From conquering comedy clubs at 16 to recently completing his first taped comedy special for his senior capstone class at SU, titled “Ashwagandha,” Moppn seems to only be setting his sights higher. 

“I truly think I have acquired enough material to maybe start touring. I feel like the next step for me is stepping up instead of stepping across, so I’m ready to go higher in my talent, I’m ready to go higher in my audience size, I’m ready to really start sticking my toe into this entertainment industry.” 

His close friend, and executive producer of “Ashwagandha”, Dorothy Sabo would seem to agree. “I knew the minute I met him he was the funniest person in the room,” Sabo said.

“He’s a great guy. He knows what he’s doing and he’s going to be very successful.” 

A representative from the Westcott Theater, the venue where Moppn held his special also had rave reviews for the emerging comedian. 

“It was a pleasure working with him. We would love to have more students like him using our venue for their creative outlets,” the rep said. 

“I want my art to be like Ashwaghanda,” Moppn said, referring to the African adaptogen used to relieve stress and anxiety. While proudly Black and gay, Moppn believes himself to be a comedian for all audiences.

“It all stems from me…I start off every set by saying, we’re going to be family for the next few minutes, and it just really kicks off that idea of like, everything that’s going on in the world, all the wars, all the pain and suffering, all of that, we’re not dealing with that right now. We’re focused on just coming down, laughing, having a good time.”

Despite all the othering and being made to feel different his entire life, it seems for Moppn, the good times (and maybe even some of the bad?) have been ordained and perfectly named.