Desi Banks thinks he’s found his calling, and he might be right. You can tell because he’s looking forward to a situation that most people would find terrifying.

It’s not simply that Banks is on his first tour headlining theater-size venues as a stand-up comedian. The thing is, most of his fans don’t know him from stand-up. He clawed his way up through social media, posting a grab bag of material heavy on skit comedy. It paid off: He has 3.3 million followers on Facebook, 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube and 8.4 million followers on Instagram. His clips range from quick hits up to 20-minute short films, so it’ll come as no surprise that he’s already landed his first film and TV roles in projects such as 2019′s “Little.”

Recent uploads include a short riff on “that one homeboy or cousin” who’s eager to fight until it’s time to fight; musical parodies of “How them Master P No Limit Videos Use To Be” and “How Cash Money Music Videos Use To Be;” and a look back at those parachute games in PE class.

Online success aside, his “Purpose Chaser” tour is a big step up, and it’ll bring him to Mobile’s Saenger Theatre on Aug. 19 and in Birmingham in November. He’s got a large fan base, so lack of name recognition and empty seats aren’t the biggest dangers.

The people coming to see him perform live know him. But they don’t necessarily know what to expect. If they’re expecting the same stuff they’ve seen on his Instagram Reels, they’re going to be surprised. And that makes the situation a little bit dangerous. And more than one star of the online world has stumbled in making the transition to standup, because it demands skills that aren’t developed by churning out video content. The ability to read the room, for example, and the ability to harness good or bad feedback coming at you in real time.

Turns out Banks embraces that sense of risk, which is a pretty good sign that he is, in fact, a comedian and not just an influencer with a knack for humor.

“For me, you know, being new, they really don’t know what to expect until they get there,” he said. “Some people may think they’re going to get some spicy skit stuff. But no, you’re not gonna get that, you’re gonna get something totally different, you’re going to get some real stand up.”

He’s been working at this.

“You’ve got to be more of a student when it comes to the stand up world, man,” he said. “You’ve got to go hit the open mics, you have to get those reps in on the stage, to actually get better. If you don’t do that, you’re in trouble.”

“You’re going to get a little bit on me, you’re know, my life, what I’m going through,” said the Atlanta native. “Things going on in this world. I talk about the real stuff. And, you know, I try to stay relatable to the people, you know, to remind them of something that maybe they saw or something that happened in their past. I feel like, you know, where I’m from, I feel like a lot of people have went through the same thing. So it’s a little, it’s a little bit of that, you know, and, you know, just having fun, just bringing that new generation of comedy, and I’m a young buck in the game, so I’m bringing in new spice, new sauce.”

“You just got to be fearless,” he said. “You got to be thrilling, you got to have confidence. You know, you never know what to expect when you get up there.”

“It’s a lot of new people who come in, you know, who’d never seen me do stand-up when they saw me on social media,” he said. “But stand-up is something totally different. You know, and to see that I’m getting all types of demographics when it comes to my show, I think it’s great. I think it’s dope, man. And I can say it’s just reminding me, I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing in this world.”

That brings us to the title of the tour, which is no joke. Some of the videos he’s recorded along the way show that he’s also using the tour to spread a motivational message. Whatever your purpose in life is, he preaches, you need to be out there chasing it. Which is what he’s doing.

“So yeah, purpose chaser is, I feel like I’m living in my purpose,” he said. “I’m doing what exactly what God wants me to be doing in this world, which is bringing light. Making them feel good, you know, making them enjoy their, you know, their space at that time, you know? To not think about nothing, when they’re at the show, just live in the moment. You know, I’m saying once you leave, you can go back to your problems. That’s on you.”

Sense of purpose also shapes his advice to younger aspiring stars who’d like to follow in his footsteps, leveraging an online presence into a multi-fronted career as an entertainer.

“I would say, man, don’t try to do it to be famous,” Banks said. “If you want to do it, do it because you want to do it because you want to grow in it, because you like it, because it’s a part of your purpose.

“You know, a lot of people want to do it because they just want to go viral,” he said. “So they don’t have to have a backup plan with it. They don’t have a business structure with it, you know, they’re just trying to do something. I took a different approach. You know, make sure you stay consistent. You got to stay consistent with this. You know, just because you do great today, it doesn’t mean it won’t do great tomorrow or next week.

“You know, just keep pushing, finding different niches,” he said. “It takes time to build an audience, to find that thing that people are going to love.”

He’s still following that advice himself, on different stages. But he has set the measure of success for himself. He wants to lay a foundation. He’s already thinking about the next tour.

“I just want them to feel good. I want them to feel good and really become a real, real fan,” he said. “So when I come back that next time, they’ll come back again. I want them to keep coming back.”

Desi Banks will appear at the Mobile Saenger Theatre on Saturday, Aug. 19. Tickets for the 7 p.m. show start at $26 and are available through Ticketmaster outlets including the Saenger box office. Banks also is scheduled to appear at the Lyric Theatre in Birmingham on Nov. 3. For details, visit lyricbham.com. For more information on Banks, visit desibankslive.com.