A life made by bold/bald choices
Jake is a bold all-round creative, performance coach, video editor and model. He has professional experience as a singer, actor, dancer, improvisor, MC and drag performer. He also worked behind the scenes as a theatre maker, producer, marketeer and event programmer. Jake is a charming entrepreneur who defines himself as original, perceptive and sociable.
Visual
Arts
Jake started his artistic endeavors at an early age. The first corner of the art field he threw himself into was visual arts. As a child, he started taking extracurricular courses at an arts program in Belgium. Driven by a love and passion for crafting and creating, he followed the program passionately for over a decade until he graduated high school.
Dance
The second and even bigger passion Jake developed was for dance. He started off slow with two classes per week at an amateur dance school but then quickly realized this had a big impact on his artistic expression. Two classes became many more. He was schooled in various styles, including contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, ballet, tap, modern, commercial, girly, etc. At the age of 17, he auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance (BE-NL) and finished in the top 18 of the competition. After his TV debut, he enrolled on the BA program in Dance education at Amsterdam University of the Arts (AHK). There he continued his dance training, adding more skills to his craft.
Musical Theater
Jake signed up to singing and acting classes during his studies at Amsterdam University of the Arts, and singing became a top priority from his second year on. With his sights set on musical theater, he knew he wasn’t going to audition for any contemporary dance companies. Jake was selected as an intern with the roles of off-stage swing and understudy in the musical Flashdance, produced by Albert Verlinde Entertainment. After five months of touring with the production, Jake was offered a professional contract for another musical theatre production - but he had other plans.
Theater
Although his internship sufficed to be able to graduate, Jake did not want to wait five months to get his diploma. In only two months, he created a graduation piece that would be a gamechanger for his career. This showcase included his own music, covers, spoken word, comedy and drag. The theater performance was heavily inspired by his experimental party experiences during his time at university. The show symbolized the birth of his genderfuck drag persona 'Jake Credit', who would end up being his highest grossing project in the subsequent years. The graduation performance eventually made it to the Amsterdam Fringe Festival, where he made a strong impression.
Nightlife
At the Amsterdam Fringe Festival, Jake met Daphne Gakes, a ballsy actor and theatre maker. Together they started the nightlife entertainment business RabbleRouse Productions. The duo hosted numerous club nights, thriving on their character work and improvised comedy. They worked for clubs like NYX, Paradiso and even hosted secret areas on festivals like Lowlands and Milkshake Festival.
MUA
Drag
After graduating university, Jake wasn’t sure whether his activities in the Amsterdam nightlife would earn him enough money to pay the bills. He decided to follow a make up course, so he could use this skill for a stable income. Working at Amsterdam Fashion Week and at Backstage make-up store, he quickly realized this skill would be ideal for his personal career. His drag persona Jake Credit was known for his signature make up looks: black moustache and brows - plus cheek highlight for the gods!
Vocals
Apart from hosting club nights with RabbleRouse Productions, Jake Credit made his name in Amsterdam as a vocal performer. The House of Hopelezz gave him the opportunity to perform on a monthly basis at Club Church. This was the first stage on which Jake Credit truly explored his performing style. He then became a resident performer at the famous dinner show venues of Supperclub Amsterdam and Supperclub Cruise, where he hosted and performed on a weekly basis for years. He performed solo-sets at Paradiso, Milkshake Festival and was even flown to Tokyo, Japan to perform at the renowned FancyHim club night.
Creator
Producer
Not only did Jake invest time in performing, but he also created several productions after his debut as a maker at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival. One year later, the Amsterdam Fringe Festival asked him to create a performance art installation for one of their festival hubs. The installation was named ‘The life after Martine’. He later created ‘Need’, a dark show performed at the Arts and Culture Pride Amsterdam, touching on subjects like addiction and compulsive behaviors. On a lighter note, the year after ’Need’, he created and produced ‘Amsterdam’s Got Talent’, a variety competition show that gave a platform to up-and-coming and established performers alike. He also collaborated with the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, creating and producing a conceptual performance and promoting their Easy Virtue exhibition.
Host
After two years of performing at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival, Jake was asked to become their new host. For five years, Jake hosted for the festivals opening- and closing ceremonies and on their Uitmarkt stages in promotion of the festival. Jake Credit also hosted for companies including Supperclub Amsterdam, Lowlands Festival, Milkshake Festival, Stichting 7090 and smaller queer events.
TV
So You Think You Can Dance wasn’t the only time Jake worked on television. In 2016, Jake Credit had the honor of making a small guest appearance in the Netflix show Sense8, for which he collaborated with director Lana Wachowski. He also made numerous appearances on TV in promotion for the Amsterdam Fringe Festival or with his band Fata Boom.
Music
Industry
Jake Credit had been going strong for a couple of years now. Yet a new opportunity came his way in 2016. He was asked to join a new electro hip-hop band, called Fata Boom. Jake Credit became the controversial, activistic queer engine of the band, rapping, singing, dancing and MC-ing the shows. He toured with the band for four years, performing on festivals like Noorderslag, Popronde, Paaspop, Down the Rabbit Hole, The Great Escape Brighton and countless more.
Comedy
Just before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jake was getting tired of the exhausting and repetitive aspects of touring and performing. Luckily, he had already found his next big passion a year earlier: Improv Comedy. He followed classes at the Boom Chicago Academy in Amsterdam and was cast on their first ever student house team: Grover. He improvised in several Boom Chicago mainstage shows and jams, and appeared as a guest improvisor in the Saint Catherine theatre in Montreal, Canada. In 2022, his comedic singing vocals were heard on the famous Dutch comedy show: De Avondshow met Arjen Lubach.
Teacher
After deciding to quit performing (for the time being), Jake left his alter's last name ‘Credit’ in the past. Full of ambition, he was soon offered a new opportunity in the form of teaching Improv Comedy. He first helped out with the InterActing program: an educational program that teaches improv skills to teenage students on the autistic spectrum. There he assisted classes under the guidance of Biddy Kemery. Since 2021, still at Boom Chicago Academy, he has been teaching intro classes, scene and character work, hosting and short form improv to adults. In 2022, he became the head trainer for the InterActing program, taking over from Biddy. Jake has also taught multiple corporate group workshops, focusing on business take-aways through the lens of improvisation.
Lastly, he created his own workshop BEING EXTRA, taking all his knowledge from the past and pouring it in a supercharged and extravagant curriculum.
Video
Editor
During the pandemic, Jake broadened his horizons even further by following a one-year video editing course. He started off making Youtube videos to refine his skillset and has since moved on to editing video content like event after-movies, promo videos, trailers, etc. His future focus will be comedy, music videos and any LGBTQIA+ related content.
Marketing
Ticketing
In 2023 Jake reunited with an old friend: the Amsterdam Fringe Festival. As a Marketing & Ticketing employee, he has many tasks: video editing, social media, website building (WordPress), translations, communication with makers and collectives, working within the ticketing system, etc. He truly gets challenged to use all of his skills and learn new ones on the job. With the experience of being a former Fringe maker himself and hosting the festival as Jake Credit, he now helps providing a platform to new and upcoming talent.