Jared Miller

Q: Please tell us a bit about yourself and your family.

I grew up in Yardley, Pennsylvania, surrounded by high achievers. I attended Pennsbury High School and then The University of Pennsylvania. I graduated with 2 bachelor degrees, Biological Basis Behavior and Psychology, while also studying theater. Growing up, I told people that I was going to be a pediatric neurosurgeon because I was inspired by having lost a cousin to complications around cerebral palsy among other issues. I have always seen myself as a “helper” and have always wanted to make a difference. I actually wrote a story when I was a kid stating that I was either going to be a clown, an actor, or a doctor. I have honestly been all 3!

I live in Bucks County now with my wife Sara and our 2 incredible sons. We have Ezra, who is 10, and an incredible artist and Asher is 4. Asher was born with a lightsaber in one hand and a football in the other.

Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career. 

Currently, I run a full service digital marketing agency called That Funny Agency. I have lived the equivalent of 40 lives and it has been quite a journey to get here. 

After I graduated college, I decided I didn’t want to be a doctor -I wanted to be an actor. My parents graciously reminded me that I didn’t have to go to Penn, if I was going to be an actor. But, because I had been surrounded by so many amazing and successful people in the entertainment industry at Penn, that experience really awakened my passion for writing, acting, directing, and producing. 

I moved to Philadelphia after college and performed at a bunch of the local theaters. But, like every other actor, I was also waiting tables, which led to me becoming a big foodie. Eventually I got the itch to move to New York City, so naturally I moved to England! In case you don’t know, the way to NYC is not the New Jersey Transit, but is actually going across the pond. So I spent a month at Balliol College in Oxford, England  studying Shakespeare at the British American Drama Academy . It was an amazing experience, and I would would highly recommend it for every young actor.

Eventually, I did end up moving to New York City, where I found a love for words. I can not get enough of a good pun and really credit Shakespeare as the “father of the dad joke.” His work sometimes is the funniest you’ll ever hear on many levels, with words so melodic that every phrase and pause holds meaning or sometimes two or three meanings.

While I was in New York City in 2003, I did a few episodes of Law and Order, which actually helped me meet my wife. Sara. Of course, I was also waiting tables when a family came in and I wowed them with the news of my recent role on Law & Order. We talked about what my part was on the show,  and I proceeded to perform the scene for them, playing all of the parts myself. 

I really put on the charm that night because I thought the daughter was pretty cute. The girl was only slightly mortified after my performance, but her dad thought it was the coolest thing. I came back over to the table at the end and the dad told me they thought I was adorable and their daughter thought I was cute. I was pretty shocked that my bit had worked and also that this whole family was suddenly hitting on me. Long story short, a few days later, we met out at a bar I was bartending at, and the rest is history. We’ve been married for over 15 years now.

I believe that we are the product of the people that we come from. My mother was an art teacher and my father was in computers and websites. Somehow, I found the perfect balance with my parent’s jobs and created my career from that. 

Eventually, I moved on from comedy and sketch shows, and began learning to produce websites for restaurants with a colleague. I joined a team and ended up tripling sales in 5 years, working my way up very quickly. Eventually I felt like I needed to grow and landed at Blue Fountain Media. Over the next several years, I bounced around and worked for different media companies. 

About 8 years ago, a guy he went to school with helped pitch an idea of a comedy agency that helped big clients with videos and other fun content. For a while, we spitball the idea of That Funny Agency and it came to fruition 5 years later.  Later, when I left yet another company swallowed up by private equity right at the beginning of COVID, I was able to bring with me two big clients and officially launch That Funny Agency as a full-service, holistic, digital marketing and creative agency right out of my Star Wars-laden office. 

Officially, That Funny Agency was formed on July 17th, 2021 because of that one client who trusted me back in the day when I was at Blue Fountain Media. She said her keyword and traffic rankings had tanked and no one from my former agency would get on the line with her unless it was to collect a bill. After we took on that first contract, we spent a year launching a new website and building out apps within the site. She credits That Funny Agency with earning her company over $3 million in the first year with a 1/10th the size investment. 10x on our first try!  

That Funny Agency was meant to be a beacon of hope for anyone to come in and say, “I don’t know if I’ll be the right fit for you, but I want to play in your world because you chose to talk to us.” I love to learn more about what companies and people are doing, and how I can help them improve their own brilliant ideas. The truth is, we could work with the next Stacy London or Steve Jobs. You could be a future CEO, CFO, CMO. 

When I started the agency, I brought back some of the amazing marketers and developers I had worked with over the years and now we are working on 5 continents. We have about 30 clients currently with about 20 more in the pipeline. We handle projects of various different sizes. We like to audit, strategize, and do what we can to help your business thrive and grow. We look at everything – SEO, SEM, CRO, Social Media, Email, Everything. I say “we” because, truly, my team does it all. I have developed a brilliant team of Avengers and I am so grateful for each one of them. 

Every person that joins the team is given an Avenger name. I chose Avengers because of the scene from the movie where the team is surrounding each other and there is truly no distinguishing who is the most important member. That is really my philosophy. 

Q: What advice do you have for people?

Say YES to the universe and YES to your dreams. Just look at my story.
Say YES to the woman at the table who called you cute. She may become your wife one day.

Say YES to becoming an actor, and not be a doctor. That dream will be the start of so much!
Say YES to getting a funny URL, and eventually taking the leap to start your own company. It’s going to change your life. These experiences are once in a lifetime and here for a purpose. 

Q: Can you tell us about Laugh My Pancre-Ass Off?

My mother, Pia, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006. She was a 7 year survivor and passed away shortly after my wife and I found out we were having our first baby. My mom was a beloved artist in Bucks County and an art teacher at Afton elementary school for years. She was a stalwart in the pancreatic cancer community. She founded the first Walk at Tyler State Park for Philadelphia pancreatic cancer in 2006 and later testified before Congress in 2009. She fought for everyone. My mom died a couple of days after seeing her first Broadway show. She saw the Book of Mormon and told me she laughed her ass off. I said, “Mom, you have pancreatic cancer, you have no ass. That is what we do. We laugh because we believe that laughter is the best medicine. As my mom said, “Just because I’m dying doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to laugh. It doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to live. It doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to love. We need to beat this disease to a pulp if it means that we’re doing it with laughter. And that’s our medicine so be it.”

We are hosting the first annual “Laugh My Pancre-Ass Off” on August 24th at the Trenton Thunder Stadium. This comedy event aims to raise funds and awareness while celebrating the power of laughter in the face of adversity. Through “Laugh My Pancre-Ass Off,” we will be honoring my mother’s memory and working to ensure that someday, pancreatic cancer will no longer be a death sentence.  When my mother was first diagnosed in 2006 the 5 year survival rate was 6%. Now in 2024 it is 12%. But that is no where near enough! 

This event is for all of the incredible people we have lost to this horrible disease. We’re going to laugh with them, for them, about them – because sometimes, laughter truly is the best medicine. We’ll have comedians like Judy Gold, Mike Vecchione, Marla Schultz and more, and so many of them have connections to pancreatic cancer themselves. In fact, John Ziegler, our MC, is a current survivor of pancreatic cancer himself. Please consider coming to support pancreatic cancer research while laughing your ass off. The doors open at 6pm and the show begins at 7pm.

I’m so passionate about changing the world. One shoe at a time. One joke at a time. One table at a time. One website at a time. One company at a time. We can do it. We can make better possible! 

Q: Where can people find you and your business? 

https://laughmypancreassoff.com/#event-details

https://thatfunnyagency.com/