About Jim
Growing up in South Georgia, the son of a hellfire and brimstone Southern Baptist preacher, I was blessed to witness some of the best performances anyone has laid eyes on. Not only my father’s mercurial, jumpin’-up-on-the- front-pew-and-wavin’-his-Bible style, but also the laid-back Appalachian nasality of Alton Mash, and the earnest, pleading sermons of Rastus Salters. I mean even their names were enough to get your attention. And yes, they were slicked back on top and sometimes decked out in plaid suits and two-toned shoes. And yes, they scared me, and probably damaged me for life, but I got something from them. Not religion, but the feeling that comes with expressing yourself and sharing in front of an audience.
On the flipside of this was the old-school yarn spinning of my three uncles: Alex Jr., Thomas, and Jack.
Flipside because they would sometimes “talk ugly”, when there were no women or preachers around. I remember sitting wide-eyed in the middle of the living room and being riveted by their tales of growing up poor, fighting, shooting marbles, hauling block ice, and getting their tails switched by my grandma, whom they all claimed had the best right arm in Mitchell County, GA. These were rough men that expressed sensitivity and humor through their storytelling. My goal is to be like that.
My intention as an artist is to meld these types of performing and storytelling and bring good ol’ Southern tales to the theatre.
Jim Loucks holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Georgia. He has performed his solo shows Cemetery Golf, The Biscuiteater and Booger Red at Beyond Baroque and The Electric Lodge in Venice, CA; Frigid Fest, United Solo Theatre Festival and The Drilling Company in New York City; SoloFest at the Filling Station (Albuquerque, NM), Solo Performance Festival at Theatre Off Jackson (Seattle, WA), SoloFest at the Whitefire Theatre (Sherman Oaks, CA), Piccolo Spoleto Festival (Charleston, SC) and FronteraFest (Austin, TX).
He has also toured his shows to Fringe Festivals in Boulder, Oahu, Hollywood, San Francisco, Orlando, San Diego, Cincinnati, Chicago, Scranton, Tucson, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary and Houston. Loucks won "Best Solo Show" at Tucson Fringe for The Biscuiteater and at Houston Fringe for Booger Red.
He currently resides in Venice, CA.
