Josh Johnson
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
A lot of people will tell me, well, you know, Trump's back in office. That must be great for you doing comedy, whatever. I'm like, no, I think I come up with something. I think I'd like to think it doesn't take the destruction of democracy and the Constitution for me to be like, oh, I thought of a quip. You know, like I'm always disappointed when people say that because I'm like, you have no faith in me. That would be like saying you need a volcano to have anything to talk about.
I am so excited to have you, Josh. Welcome to Reclaiming. Thank you. I'm just such a huge fan. And I loved Symphony. Oh, thanks for watching. So your new special, we'll give it a shout out on HBO. Yeah. So it was so good. I not only laughed, but I guffawed in a few places. And so it was a good thing I was watching it alone. Okay, so I know that you have written and been on Fallon and The Daily Show, and then you toured with Trevor Noah, whom I love, and you have a huge presence on YouTube. But I first saw you on Instagram.
Oh, yeah.
And before I remembered your name, I was like, oh, it's the funny pause guy. And now, because I remember your name very well, I have dubbed you the king of the comedic pause. I think your pauses are so good.
Oh, wow.
Yeah. It's like there's – it's just this perfect timing. And I don't – like it's something like – I don't even know if that's intentional or maybe I'm just weird and – No, no.
I'm trying. Okay. I'm always trying.
Okay. But is that something that like that comes naturally or you pay attention to it? It's a skill you have to hone like a comedic pause? Yeah.
I think that over time, you just have an understanding of the language of getting an idea across. And sometimes, not always, because you don't want to overdo it, but sometimes it is funnier to let someone complete the sentence in their head. And so sometimes it's that. And sometimes the pause is a recollection of my genuine reaction. Like sometimes someone will say something and the thing they're saying is like insane. And so then when you think back to what you did, you realize you did nothing. So then you're like – and then my reaction was to – and then you pause. So there's lots of different reasons to do it. And then even sometimes in a story, the pause allows – like one thing I've been very blessed with is that maybe it's because of my –
demeanor or the structure that I tell stories or the cadence, but a lot of people watch me who English is their second language. And so sometimes even the pause serves a couple different things where it's intentional for the storytelling, but it also allows the person to catch up in their head when they're doing the sort of translation and everything.
Yeah. And it's funny, the team at Reclaiming is so sick of hearing me say this, because I was like, we put in our request before you were on emo. So not, I mean, like, and so I was like, I thought Josh Johnson was cool before he was on emo. I know you're on all these other things. But to me, that's sort of like the pinnacle of, you know, but it was a great interview that you gave on that. So it must have been exciting. Or did you already know the Obamas before you?
No, no, I didn't. I met them there and I was like, in the moment, I was like, this is so cool. Yeah.
No, it's great. You have this great quote that I loved so much. And preparing for this interview, when I came across it, I just thought it's like it's just one of those moments where you see somebody articulating something. how they get a sense of self. And so I'm just going to read it. And it was, I'm not a conventionally cool guy, but I've come to see that all of the things that I like about myself are the things that other people now seem to like about me too. So like, what was that? Like, what was that trajectory for you? Was there something that happened where you noticed like, oh, you know, now people are like, all these things are like fall into place in a way.
Sure, I mean, I think I'm very blessed to live and grow up, just be in general in this time, because I think that the internet was how I discovered a lot of this stuff.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–5:36
2
How did Josh Johnson develop his signature comedic pause and timing?
5:36–19:30
3
How did the internet and niche communities shape Josh's identity and comedy?
19:30–47:25
4
When did Josh realize he was funny and what was his early stand-up journey like?
47:25–1:09:42
5
Why did Josh make retiring his mom a North Star goal and how did he accomplish it?
1:09:42–1:09:43