Alumni Accomplishments: Josh Johnson
Photo by Josh Johnson’s Management
The faculty, employees, and students at Centenary College of Louisiana have always prided themselves in their commitment to critical thought, encouragement, and the ability to achieve greatness. Centenary is a diamond in the rough, and it is for this reason that alumni are “Centenary Proud." Nonetheless, Centenary students including myself still wonder what our diligence and hard-earned degree will be worth. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing comedian, writer, podcaster, and former Centenary student, Josh Johnson about how he took his experience at Centenary and turned it into a prosperous, ever-changing career.
Johnson started his college years at Centenary in 2008 and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. While on campus, he studied theatre design and performed in Alan’s Hot Tub, Centenary’s notorious improv troupe, in which he made many lifelong connections. “I wasn’t in many productions because I actually didn’t really feel that I had a lot of natural talent for acting.” We discussed how ironic that is considering that his current career path involves primarily on-stage activity.
Johnson started developing his comedic skills by participating in a handful of open mic nights and college talent shows. “The real beginning was in 2012 when I moved to Chicago right after I graduated. I pretty much moved there to pursue comedy and potentially design too, but they were both fairly unstable career paths, so I figured I’d choose the one that I was better at if I wasn’t going to know where my next check was coming from.” Shortly after Johnson moved to Chicago, Illinois, he kickstarted his career by working in the fast-paced, artistic stand-up scene. “For any school, known or not, it is more about the relations that you build up, the relationships that you have with your friends. I got to live with two of my really good friends from Centenary that were also in Alan’s Hot Tub because they also moved to Chicago that year. I stayed with them for 3 months, and that’s how I got on my feet.” While in Chicago, Josh forged a creative path for himself and continued to form relationships with other artists. He describes Chicago as a place to take chances filled with people who care about their art. In Chicago, “It’s just about creating.”
After just three years, he made his mark and relocated to New York City. I asked Johnson why he decided to make such an impactful move after three short years in the comedy capital. “I had sort of hit a feeling. I really love Chicago. It’s become like another home, and it's where I think I did a lot of my developing as a comedian, a writer, and even as a person, but I think that you can only do so much before you’re just redoing it.” He learned how to do comedy and how to apply his skills in Chicago, but he started “seeing the benefits” in New York.
Although it was taxing, he took the Big Apple by storm and eventually received a writing gig at the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. He was working in a grocery store and doing particularly well at regional comedy conventions when his agent prepared him a tape to be on the show. The head writer at the time enjoyed his tape, so he was asked to send in a writing packet. “They asked me if I was willing to make that the focus instead of just performing on the Tonight Show. I said yeah.” He sent in three writing packets and was asked to come in for an interview. I imagine that it was intimidating to be interviewed for such a desired position, but Josh said that he was so inexperienced at the time, he did not know how poorly things could go. “I think that if now I were to go in more rooms that had all 5 executive producers of a show questioning me and sizing me up, I would be slightly nervous, but at the time, I had no frame of reference...Later that week, I found out that I got the job.” His advice to other people who find themselves in high-pressure situations is to try everything and to put themselves out there because “the worst thing that could happen is nothing.”
The Jimmy Fallon gig led to his television debut and many more opportunities in New York. Josh has now performed in clubs, colleges, and festivals all over the world. He was named Comedy Central’s “Comic to Watch” in 2015 and a “New Face” at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in 2016. He was 'New York's Funniest' in 2018. In 2017, Comedy Central released his half-hour special Comedy Central Stand Up Presents…Josh Johnson and his album I Like You on Comedy Central Records. In 2018, his quarter-hour special, as part of The Comedy Lineup, was released on Netflix.
Johnson’s comedic style is that of a relatable, awkward narrator, and he describes himself as a “sad funny man” on his Facebook page. He is one of the most-streamed comedians across Comedy Central’s digital platforms with over 31M views to date. Having been born and raised in Louisiana, Johnson uses his experience as a black man in the South for stand-up material. One of his most iconic performances includes a story from his childhood about “Catfishing the KKK,” which has amassed over 8.5 million views on YouTube. Johnson holds awareness for Black Lives Matter by sharing stories through his standup, social media, and podcast (The Josh Johnson Show). He sheds light on his real, serious experiences by applying humor to them, and he told me that comedy is controversial to open discussions. “I am not the one to say that I can save the world with jokes, but I do think that when you’re making someone laugh, sometimes you are making someone agree with you, whether they know it or not. In order to laugh at things, we have to accept the reality of them, even if reality is silly or a bit sad...I think that I always try to bring things to the forefront in the most human way possible, and I’m just grateful that people can see what I am doing and the way that I am doing it.”
Josh Johnson toured with Trevor Noah in 2019 as part of the Loud and Clear Tour, and he received an Emmy nomination for his work on the Daily Show. He is now on tour with him again as part of the Back to Abnormal Tour. In 2021, he taped and released his first one-hour special, # (Hashtag) executively produced by Trevor Noah. 2021 was a busy year for Johnson because he also released the album Elusive, which is a 33-track mixtape of comedy and music. His podcast, The Josh Johnson Show, releases weekly. Johnson created the podcast with fellow friend and comedian Logan Nielson “to bring something to people that was light and fun in one of the most terrible times we have all experienced in our known life”. When he was unable to get a crowd together or bring his special to the forefront, he wanted to give people some sort of outlet to laugh and to share some stories.
Johnson’s advice to students is to take advantage of these formative years. Find your priorities and ask yourself the right questions. “Do you care about other people? Do you put yourself before other people and vice versa?” He assured me that he is not one to enforce false positivity and that it is warranted to be sad or upset or confused right now, but “there is still an opportunity for you to decide what it is about this time that you want to take advantage of and learn about yourself.” Because of the volatile political and social climate our world is in today, students need to see a light at the end of their tunnel. Johnson’s career will hopefully inspire and remind students to stay dedicated and remember their end goal, whatever that might be.
