535: Keeping Things Humorous Can Keep You Humble. With Kingsley A. Pinderhughes III aka KingPix Media.
Jocko interviews Kingsley 'King' Pinderhughes III, a 20-year law enforcement veteran and National Guard soldier who became a successful military humor content creator. The conversation covers King's career journey through multiple agencies, two officer-involved shootings, combat deployments, and his transition to building a social media brand focused on satirizing military and law enforcement culture.
Summary
The podcast begins with Jocko discussing the importance of humor in maintaining humility, referencing a story about the British SAS requiring members to have a good sense of humor to prevent believing their own hype. He introduces Kingsley Pinderhughes III (KingPix Media), who exemplifies this principle through his content.
King shares his background growing up in Southern Maryland in low-income housing with his mother and brother, raised partly by his Navy commander uncle who instilled discipline and accountability. After high school, he worked various jobs including car wash attendant and construction before entering law enforcement at age 22.
His law enforcement career spanned 18 years across multiple agencies in Virginia. He describes the rigorous police academy, early mistakes that taught him humility, and eventually joining SWAT. King experienced two significant officer-involved shootings - the first in 2016 where he was attacked and shot at, leading to PTSD he initially didn't recognize until his wife and supervisor intervened with counseling resources. The second shooting in 2021 was handled better due to his previous experience and mental health preparation.
Concurrently, King served in the Army National Guard in intelligence roles, including overseas contracting work in counterterrorism. He also pursued photography and videography during injury recovery, which led to starting KingPix Media and eventually creating viral military satire content.
King's content creation journey began during COVID, starting with family videos and evolving into satirical takes on military instructors and 'tactical' personalities. His humor resonated because he mocked people taking themselves too seriously while never revealing his actual credentials, letting the comedy stand alone. This approach led to millions of views and collaborations with major content creators like Donut Operator, Fat Electrician, and others.
Currently, King works full-time for the National Guard on counter-drug operations while building his media brand, co-hosting the Black and Blue Podcast, and streaming regularly. He emphasizes the importance of faith, having been baptized in 2018 after straying from religion earlier in life. Throughout the interview, King demonstrates the humor-humility connection Jocko introduced, sharing serious experiences while maintaining perspective through comedy.
Key Insights
- King argues that humor prevents people from believing their own hype and maintains necessary humility in high-stakes professions
- He demonstrates how criminals and suspects often called out his mistakes early in his career, teaching him important lessons about attention to detail
- King discovered that his first shooting affected him with PTSD symptoms he didn't initially recognize, only identified through his wife's psychology background and supervisor intervention
- He learned that debriefing with his wife after every shift, rather than hiding work experiences, strengthened their relationship and his mental health
- King found that his second shooting was handled much better due to previous experience and improved mental health resources from the department
- He argues that content creators who lead with their credentials rather than quality content often take themselves too seriously
- King discovered that satirical content works best when the audience initially can't tell if he's serious, creating engagement from both believers and those in on the joke
- He learned that building authentic relationships with established creators like Donut Operator led to genuine mentorship and support rather than transactional exchanges
- King found that never mixing work and content creation during duty hours maintained professional integrity and prevented conflicts
- He argues that remaining curious about faith and that still small voice leads to important life decisions and spiritual growth
- King learned that documentation and organization skills from law enforcement translated directly to business and content creation success
- He discovered that military and law enforcement experiences provide 'evergreen content' - unlimited material that never becomes outdated
- King found that authentic collaboration requires understanding how different characters would interact rather than just appearing together
- He learned that taking days off from content creation and avoiding pressure to post daily actually improves long-term sustainability
- King argues that physical fitness and awareness directly support mental sharpness needed for both tactical situations and creative work
Topics
Full transcript available for MurmurCast members
Sign Up to Access