Jo Ellis is a stand-up comedian, former U.S. Army Black Hawk pilot, writer, and public speaker known for blending sharp humor with lived experience at the intersection of military service, gender transition, and modern culture.
She is not a culture-warrior. Although she has lived inside the systems most people argue about online.
Before comedy, Jo spent more than 16 years serving as an Army National Guard aviator and mechanic, flying UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and leading soldiers as a Chief Warrant Officer. Military aviation shaped her discipline, leadership style, and ability to perform under pressure—skills that now translate directly to the stage and the microphone.
After transitioning while in service, Jo became an uncommon figure when the reinstated transgender military ban was announced and she was the target of a viral conspiracy theory that tried to blame her for the fatal collision between the airliner and the Black Hawk over the Potomac in 2025. She openly navigates faith, family, and military culture without ideological posturing. That experience—combined with her background in aviation and leadership—gives her a perspective few comedians or commentators can claim.
Jo’s stand-up comedy is grounded in personal storytelling, observational humor, and an instinct for finding absurdity in serious places. Her material covers identity, sex, power, religion, guns, relationships, and institutional failure—often in the same set.
She performs regularly in Austin, Texas, including at venues like The Creek and the Cave and Vulcan Gas Company, and has appeared at Joe Rogan’s Comedy Mothership through Kill Tony. Her comedy resonates because it doesn’t preach. It invites the audience to laugh first, then think.
Jo is not interested in being “the trans comic.” She is a comic who happens to be trans—and who refuses to outsource her thinking to either political tribe.
Beyond comedy, Jo is increasingly sought out as a speaker and commentator on transgender issues precisely because she does not treat them as abstract theory.
She advocates for common-sense, evidence-based trans policy rooted in clinical dysphoria, institutional realities, and respect for biological sex—while also defending the dignity and humanity of transgender people. She has publicly criticized both anti-trans political bans and progressive overreach, arguing that poorly constructed policies harm everyone involved.
Her perspective comes not from activism, but from lived experience inside the military, media, and public discourse—particularly after being falsely targeted in a viral misinformation campaign that placed her at the center of a national controversy.
Jo is a published essayist and op-ed writer whose work has appeared in national outlets. She has been featured in major media coverage and documentaries examining misinformation, military service, and gender politics. As a podcast guest, she brings clarity, calm, and humor to conversations that are usually driven by outrage or fear.
She is frequently booked for:
What makes Jo valuable in these spaces is range. She can be funny without being dismissive, serious without being sanctimonious, and personal without being performative.
At her core, Jo Ellis is driven by a simple principle: "survival is what happens when you choose to live. Responsibility is your ability to respond. When challenges come your way, you only control how you meet them." Her work—whether on stage, on a podcast, or on the page—reflects a commitment to speaking plainly, thinking independently, and refusing easy narratives.
She believes humor is not an escape from hard conversations, but one of the few tools that can actually make them possible.
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