Travis Irvine
Travis Irvine covers the Seward Park Extension Houses in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Before coming to the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Travis has held a variety of eclectic careers that have taken him around the world.
Born in Bexley, Ohio, Travis graduated from high school as valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA. He moved on to Ohio University, studying communications and video with the goal of being a weather forecaster. After falling asleep in Meteorology classes, Travis sought out something more stimulating and found his university’s sketch comedy group. He committed himself to comedy and video, and did a summer internship in Los Angeles with a comedic talent agency.
A later internship with NBC News in London led Travis to blend comedy with journalism, writing satirical columns for a local newsletter and reports on obscure sports for a student sports show. In his senior year, Travis’s horror-comedy, “Coons!” became the first Ohio University undergraduate film to land a DVD distribution deal.
Travis moved to the Bahamas after graduation to teach Bahamian culture, history and politics to American students. He returned to Ohio a year later to run as mayor of Bexley. Although unsuccessful, Travis’s documentary about the campaign, “American Mayor,” earned DVD distribution and was eventually shown at the “Short Film Corner” at Cannes.
After a brief job in Senator Charles Schumer’s press office in Washington D.C, Travis produced video reports from 15 different U.S. States for Matt “the question mark guy” Lesko’s website. He then spent two years teaching film editing for the New York Film Academy, including two months in Nigeria.
Travis returned to Bexley in 2010 to run as the libertarian candidate for Congress in Ohio’s 12th district. Despite losing the race, his humorous campaign videos were an online success.
When he isn’t covering Public Housing for NYC In Focus, Travis still does comedy shows throughout New York City and makes satirical video reports.
You can follow Travis on Twitter at @TheTravisIrvine
