Josh Johnson is exactly who you think he is.
Or at least very close to the wry, deeply thoughtful, country-mouse-turned-city-mouse persona of his standup sets. In real life, which in this case is a sushi restaurant around the corner from the Comedy Cellar, he’s wearing his stage uniform — fitted gray hoodie, jeans, sneakers, twists pulled back into a ponytail — and he’s speaking in circles, only to arrive at a sometimes funny but always poignant conclusion.
After a decade of “up-and-coming” accolades, sets at major comedy venues, two hourlong specials and writing jobs on “The Tonight Show” and “The Daily Show,” the 35-year-old comedian is arriving right on time. Where once Johnson might have occasionally crossed your screen — take his superviral “Catfishing the KKK” set from 2017, about a brief online friendship with a white supremacist — his timely, topical material and fast-growing fan base are now inescapable.
“I think a lot of stuff is kind of coming together,” said Johnson over lunch. “Some of it is me choosing to read certain things, learn certain things and pull from different people in my life. And some of it is just the accident of luck.”
His sudden rise can’t be attributed solely to relentless touring or his ability to make people laugh. The fact is that no other working comedian is currently releasing the equivalent of new standup specials at the same clip: In 2024 alone, Johnson uploaded the equivalent of 28 hourlong specials to his social channels, and is on track to exceed that number this year, to the slight shock and complete awe of those who know him well.
The comedian Jon Stewart returned to host “The Daily Show” last year around the same time Johnson became a correspondent on the program, and sums up the younger comic’s style this way: “You know the things that are bouncing around in your mind that you have neither the time nor maybe the facility to draw together into coherent and then really funny and surprising thoughts? Yeah, this guy’s doing it. He’s doing it actually for you.”
The subjects of a Josh Johnson set can range from pop culture (“Young Thug: The Longest Trial in History”) to politics (“Why They’re Turning on Elon”) to social issues (“‘Adolescence’ Is No. 1 on Netflix and It’s Got the Manosphere Shook”), and last anywhere from 20 minutes to more than an hour, but millions are tuning in to each video no matter the topic. Johnson has no tight five. And yet his gamble on consistent, thought-provoking comedy has drawn 2.8 million new followers, or in his parlance, “friends gained,” across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube as well as a nearly sold-out 76-city tour.
“I feel like if you are completely honest with yourself throughout a creative process, you don’t just come up with the best work that you’re going to do, you come up with some of the most meaningful work that people can connect with,” Johnson said in his slightly nasal, Louisiana tenor.
At the restaurant, over an array of hand rolls (no mayo or soy sauce for Johnson), the only thing missing is the wry swagger, like he can’t even believe he’s having to tell you this. Offstage, he speaks with genuine care and interest, and is exceedingly polite to fans and strangers alike.
“I think he goes through the world with authentic, natural curiosity,” Stewart said. “Now, a lot of people do. He also has, though, the craft to be able to translate that natural curiosity and authenticity into real, viable content.”
Between the traditional quick hits — “Apparently, we got Jack the Ripper — some would say a little late.” — Johnson manages to draw out much deeper observations, not unlike an orator minus the self-importance. The “punchline” of a recent set on a potential recession: “Your future, I promise it’s in your neighbor. There’s no one that’s going to take care of you like the people that are actually next to you.”
“We have fewer and fewer spaces and places where people all agree on what they’ve seen,” said the former “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, who hired Johnson to open for him on his 2019 Loud and Clear tour. Whether Johnson is discussing the Super Bowl halftime show or the allegations against Sean Combs, “his analysis provides something a little deeper that goes beyond just a quick bite or a quick reaction.”
Born and raised in Alexandria, La., the only child of an educator, Johnson always considered himself an observer. “I was this kid who was growing up around Black people but ended up going to this private Catholic school,” he said. “So I know the movements and speech and I’ve been exposed to a little bit of the thinking around how people with money operate.”
Through no fault of his own, Johnson often finds himself in situations that are bizarre, terrifying or downright silly, whether that’s seeing a completely naked man come running out of the woods or having a neighbor who believed a drug addict was living in the walls of their building. “You get so much out of that small interaction that you’re like, oh I wish I could go deeper into your story or you had more time,” he said.
Like his peers, he stores these interactions and memories on his phone, in voice memos or in handwritten notes, weaving them into sets that he might not perform for months. Turning those anecdotes into humorous but moving reflections is core to his creative process. A story about nearly drowning in a pool, for instance, becomes a thoughtful examination of why those who have always had less tend to best weather a recession.
“Every loop won’t always close, and I think that’s part of the fun of it, of what’s going to happen next,” Johnson said. “And if you’re too formulaic and your process is too stringent, then you lose that. You lose that connection with your audience and you lose that connection with your creativity.”
Fellow comics like Ronny Chieng and Ashley Gavin say Johnson is reinventing the traditional standup form — known for quick cuts, tight sets, repeated jokes — at a time when it seems impossible to hold viewers’ attention. “The internet traditionally is a short-form medium,” said Chieng, a fellow “Daily Show” correspondent. “So, the idea that you could release an hour and people would hang around and watch it every week, for standup comedy, he’s definitely ahead of the game in that sense.”
“It’s more than just raw talent or a skill that he’s practiced,” said Gavin, a host, with Johnson, of the podcast “What’s News With You.” “He is actually creating a genre, which is just as much why it’s successful. It’s really impressive.”
Many comedians have let the unpredictable algorithms of the internet dictate how they work, she added, referring to the social media-driven crowd work trend that many comics hopped on last year. “And now we’re seeing Josh do this really innovative thing and you’re like, ‘Hm, how do I as an artist keep up with this? What do I need to be doing?’”
So, where does Johnson go from here? He doesn’t necessarily see his future in a network sitcom or Hollywood films. (“I’ve had friends become bigger and bigger, get a real raw deal,” he said.) As for those who might consider his current tour a multicity campaign to one day host “The Daily Show,” Johnson said that he would be “very, very excited” to take on that role, but that he was content to keep learning from Stewart and the other correspondents.
Johnson isn’t playing coy; he said he just wants to avoid putting too many walls between himself and his audience. “I do think that as long as I am making a conscious effort to do things the way that they got you to the dance, then how can you fail, how can you not still be bringing quality when you keep putting that much intention into it?”
Nikita Richardson is an editor in the Food section of The Times.
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