Montrealer John Dela Cruz, aka ‘Nurse John’, is a nurse by profession, TikTok-famous, and now a stand-up comedian.
His hilarious videos have amassed a global audience of over 19 million followers, and his shows have sold over 200,000 tickets worldwide. Though he now lives in Los Angeles, he’s headlining a show at the Just For Laughs Festival here in his hometown.
Dela Cruz attracts his audience by what he says, turning “what is happening in the healthcare system by turning something negative into something very light.”
He explains that he uses comedy “to show the dark experiences that we have as healthcare workers, but not punching down on the healthcare system or the system itself, but just show exactly what we go through every single day that people, that the public don’t see.”
He argues that your “work personality is different to your real personality,” and this echoes throughout his many videos.
He immigrated to Canada from the Philippines at 16-years-old. As for advice he’d give other immigrants? Dela Cruz says, “I would say to all the other immigrants is that you deserve to be where you are, and you deserve to take up space. Because I think a lot more for Asian communities is that we feel little in a community, in a place where there’s so many people that occupy it.”
Adding, “I do believe that we have the talent, we have the capabilities, and follow what makes you happy. What I keep telling myself is that if it makes you happy, do it, because at the end of the day it is your life. So you get to decide what you want to do. As someone who immigrated to Canada 12 years ago, I would not imagine myself being in this position right now, but I did it.”
As for advice he’d give to others wanting to pursue a creative career, Dela Cruz says, “You do you. Don’t look outside the box; don’t compare yourself to other people. You do exactly who you are. Be authentically who you are, because that’s where I started. Be authentically who I am. And I have continued doing that from day one that I started making videos to now, and I think that is why I have such a strong community, because the people that they see in videos is the same exact person they would see when they see me in public.”
Dela Cruz credits his mom with working hard her entire life to provide and take care of him.
“When my mom found out I was continuing my stand-up comedy route to becoming a stand-up comedian, she’s like, ‘You know, you’re not even that funny. Are you sure you’re funny? When you were sticking to nursing,’ and I was like, you know what, mom, you have to trust the process.”
Dela Cruz asked his mom to trust his talent and skills; he reminded her, “You know, I’ve made everybody in our family laugh, so I think I can do this for the rest of the people. You know, I think it’s mostly concern coming from an Asian immigrant family, but I get what my mom is saying. But now, guess who’s my biggest fan? My mother.”
Adding, “For my community and for those people who want to get to the creative space, the only suggestion I have is to always believe in your talent, what you’re capable of, and the things that you think you can’t do, you probably can do it. Just like I never thought that I could make people laugh from screen to stage, but I just had to take the leap of faith and believe in myself and tell myself I’m doing something positive for the world and for the people, my people, the healthcare community, and so this must be something that is going to be something good out there for others.”
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