Josh Johnson, photo by John Cafaro
Comedian Josh Johnson premiered his stand-up special, Josh Johnson: Up Here Killing Myself, last year on Peacock. Johnson will be supporting the special on tour, with stops on January 5 and 6, 2024 at Bananas Comedy Club (located in the Renaissance Hotel, 801 Rutherford Ave, Rutherford NJ).
In Josh Johnson: Up Here Killing Myself, there is no subject too big, small, or intimate for Josh to parse through in his first Peacock comedy special. Johnson transforms an hour of therapy about his relationships with money, his father, and a stalker, into an hour of stand-up. In this comedic exploration of black mental health and self-discovery, Josh shares with his therapist, and the audience, his thoughts on growing up without money, grieving, and first-time experiences.
Johnson, born in Louisiana and based in New York City, is an Emmy-nominated writer, performer, and NAACP award-winner. In addition to producing his own comedy specials, Johnson is currently a writer on “The Daily Show”, and is a former writer and performer on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”, where he made his late-night debut. Johnson is Comedy Central’s ‘most watched comedian ever’ with 40M+ views to date across their platforms.
We hope you enjoy this exclusive interview with Josh Johnson and New Jersey Stage. Be sure to get your tickets to see his show at Bananas Comedy Club!
Your success as a comedy writer and stand-up comedian is very inspiring! Where do you go from here?
I plan on expanding more into comedy by touring more often, continuing to upload weekly content to YouTube and writing film and television. It's important to me to tell as many of my jokes to as many people as possible and you do that by being open to new things and by being adaptable. I want to make sure I've contributed to as many disciplines of comedy as I can and 2024 will be when I take everything I've been doing to the next level.
In your latest comedy tour, you explore black mental health and self-discovery. What's the difference between "black mental health and self-discovery" vs just "mental health and self-discovery"?
As far as a human experience there are things that we all struggle with no matter your identity, and then there are things that particular cultures and groups struggle with because of how their communities perceive and process trauma. Only now in black and brown communities is therapy more widely accepted or even spoken of. In psychology's youth it was the common perception that to even talk to a psychologist or a psychiatrist meant you were already crazy. As time went on, and there were more experts in the field, those who, even if quietly, wanted to seek mental health treatment had access to do so. At the same time, other communities who didn't have those home grown experts with the education or access to the treatment were left in the dark and their illnesses were left stigmatized. "Black mental health" also references a little bit of the nuance of dealing with the particular experiences black people may be more likely to have.
Did you ever have anxiety issues growing up as a kid? How did you overcome it?
I definitely dealt with anxiety growing up and deal with it now. I think "overcome" might be the wrong word because it's so final and suggests that I don't have any issues with it anymore. I've accepted that it's going to be a facet of who I am and doesn't have to define how I behave or every situation. It will creep up from time to time but just like an allergy you have to know it's something that is a part of you. You can't let it stop you from living but you also can't ignore it. Practicing being present in things that would normally be triggers has helped me a lot.
How do you develop your material?
All I really do is think about how I feel about things. Your thoughts will be unique to you. How you feel about something will be even more unique to you. Once you add what makes it funny to you, you'll have a complete comedic take that is all your own.
When you're performing live, each crowd is different, correct? How do you handle tough crowds or hecklers?
I'm lucky enough to not have too many hecklers at shows since when people come to see me they know I tell stories where each part is important. I'm thankful to have a lot of crowds that are great listeners and I think by not leaning too much into the crowd world I've made sure every audience doesn't expect an interaction from me.
How do you balance humor with sensitivity, especially on controversial topics?
The most important thing is to consider as many angles on the topic as you can. If by the time you perform and you've truly had many many conversations with yourself about how the joke can be perceived, then you've done all you can do. If you have put time, care, and attention into exactly what you're saying then you can't worry too much about someone being offended. My aim isn't to be offensive for the sake of it. So if an audience is angry but they completely understand what I was trying to say, then we just disagree.
So instead of talking about your hair, let's talk about your teeth. Did you have braces?
I did not have braces but I knew a kid who did growing up. One day he wanted to fight me. I kept asking, "Are you sure?" Once we started swinging I punched him in the mouth and knocked his braces off course as well as cut my hand on his braces. Nobody won. I had a decent right hand and he had Wolverine in his mouth.
What advice would you give to aspiring comedians who want to do comedy as a full-time career?
Have a plan before you quit a steady job. It's very different to do your passion for profit. It changes how you go about it and it could even change how you feel about it. Keep it pure fun as long as you can and only quit your job when you're in danger of missing career opportunities.
Anything else you'd like to say?
Thanks so much for having me. I can't wait to see everyone at Bananas!
