Today we’d like to introduce you to Earl D. Thomas.
Earl, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Well, I got started right in West Dallas. I mean honestly, people would say “man how did you learn to mime so well.” As a child, I’d be sitting in church and people would have these short programs and maybe somebody (someone who was scheduled to perform) didn’t show up and my mom would say “ Gone Boy (pointing at me)” and she’d tell the people “ now you got somebody to be on your program.” And I didn’t have on any dance clothes…I’d sometimes have on a full suit and I’m like “ come on mama,” but she’d make me get up and perform anyway. But that’s what made me. And I took that because I come from the streets of West Dallas and anybody knows about West Dallas it was a dangerous neighborhood during the time I was growing up. So I was adolescence teenager and so I took that what was going on around me and I put it into that art form and that kept me off the streets– that kept me out of trouble and it put me on a road of destiny and purpose. I stayed the course and now I have a mime Company and a 501c3 to hopefully help do the same for others. I’ve had quite a few people to come through my life even up to this point that has helped me and encouraged me.
Sometimes I felt like I wanted to stop– I’m not a quitter but you know everybody has that time to where “oohhh I’m tired.” A guy by the name of Cordell Booker (God rest his soul) is a person that took me in under his wing when I was a kid around the age of 15 and he taught me about ministry and manhood. Big shout out to my brother, VaShawn and all my siblings my twin sister, Earlyshia, my big brother JayJay my big sister Mona– they call us the Fab Five –BB’s Fab Five (BB was my mother’s nickname). These were individuals who said, “look, little brother you got it, so you got to keep going you cannot stop there is no turning back failure is not an option so push push push.” But the biggest person that I have to give the greatest shout-out to is my mom-Belinda “BB” Thomas. My mom (God rest her soul) passed away in 2014 but because of this woman, I know what it’s like to persevere I know what it’s like to endure and I know what it’s like to overcome so that would be the main person that I would give credit too. In fact, I was honored and privileged to start a 501c3 nonprofit in her honor called The Belinda Thomas Foundation in which we aim to educate, enlighten, and empower youth and adults using the creative arts, specifically mime, as a platform.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There have been a lot of struggles. I believe the struggle is a part of success. Coming from a broken home and being in a hostile environment with just negative vibes around you weighs in on a person’s conscious and on a person’s Foundation and spirit man. But I’ve learned that it also makes you check your ego and say put all of that to the side and we’re gonna take these struggles and turn them into successes.
Please tell us about EDT: Earl D. Thomas.
About my business– my business is that of one young man who uses his creative arts gifts to serve others. I’m a Mime…..And Miming has been a part of what I do for 20-something odd years now. I started about when I was 12, and I mean we just pushed it to the limit. I did my research and I just studied the art because the craft was so dope and so different and it got my attention. So I just dug in miming at churches and other events. Miming has since opened a lot of doors to a lot of things. I’m a keynote speaker–so I speak at a lot of events. Speaking is one of my passions. I love to give the people what I have on the inside of me. Also, I’m a singer-songwriter. But I’m a singer by nature. My whole family sings so I had to get that out of me too. Also, I’m an event host and I also Act. So if you need an emcee or if you need somebody to keep your party going–if you need somebody to segue and need somebody to do your thing right call your boy EDT. Also, I have my first book coming out “ Church Boy With A Wide Vocabulary” in 2019.
And what sets me apart is my craft—I’m a mime. On top of all of that, I’m a Mime. I am a guy who becomes a character that tells stories with an art form that is really so ancient almost unheard of especially in our culture. And I do it to all genres of music, spoken word artists, silent mime pieces– pretty much whatever you want me to rock so I can mime to – and I do all kinds of events from anniversaries to graduation parties to one-on-one sessions…. I teach you; I do workshops…you name the event Mastermime can suffice the engagement. Mastermime is the name of my miming company that goes under the umbrella of EDT. We not only perform but we teach the art of mime to others. I have students and proteges in this company. With Mastermime I am able to not only be on stage but I can now Be the stage for other up and coming mime artists not just here locally but all across the country.
Speaking of mining, we host an event called The OFFICIAL MIME AWARDS which is an annual fundraiser held every July is benefiting my 501c3’s featured youth program, I AM MIME Experience (IAME). This IAME is a life-changing program that offers scholarships, boot camps, mentorships, and more. And what am I most proud of is that this year in 2018 we were blessed to give our first I Am Mime Experience Scholarship away so like that was huge for me and I was like “wow I’m actually doing something for the community”…it felt great to be able to give back in that way. We look to get bigger and bigger and be able to sow into two high school seniors who work diligently in their communities, schools, churches and have good grades, etc. Just be on the lookout we got a lot going on.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Nothing! Everything that I went through helped me to get to where I am now….it’s all worth it.
Contact Info:
- Address: 633 West Davis Street, Suite 342 Dallas, TX 75212
- Website: www.earldthomas.org
- Phone: 904-580-6463
- Email: iammimeexperience@gmail.com
- Instagram: @mynameisreallyearl
- Facebook: @mynameisreallyearl
Image Credit:
JMcClure
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