Emmy-nominated writer and stand-up Josh Johnson is making comedy that’s timely and timeless. On the heels of his new HBO special Symphony, we begin with his creative process of shaping new material week after week, balancing life on the road with writing and hosting duties at The Daily Show (0:46). Then, we talk to Josh about the issues of today: Trump’s 1.8 Billion Slush Fund (4:26), pandemic fears (8:18), AI in commencement speeches (9:34), and “nonviolence as a psyop” (16:27). On the back-half, Josh describes how he transitions between writing topical and evergreen jokes (23:12), the comedic inspiration that came from his Catholic school years (29:00), and finding his way into performing while working at Trader Joe’s (39:30). To close, we unpack the final week of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (42:27), the role of therapy in Johnson’s 2023 special Up Here Killing Myself (46:00), and what he hopes to create in the next five years (56:20). As always, our email: [email protected]. ——— Watch/listen to Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso: YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@talkeasypod Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-easy-with-sam-fragoso/id1100417601 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2qoc5EIZbcuGUgQhl3QeYd Follow Talk Easy: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/talkeasypod/?hl=en TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@talkeasypod Website https://talkeasypod.com/ ——— Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso is a production of Higher Ground Media. Host: Sam Fragoso Producer: Karoline Ribak Video Editing: Alex Dishal Assistant Editing: Kaitlin Moore Studio: The Relic Room Sound Mixing: Andrew Vastola Art: Derek Gabryszak and Ian Jones Production Assistance: Neal Mulani Social Media: Sophene Kevorkian Illustrations: Krishna Bala Shenoi Photography: Roger Gallegos Research Assistance: Pierce Harvey Special Thanks: HBO, Dixon Talent, 42West, and Jeff Garlin.
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This was an incredible interview! Such a gift to listen to two incredibly thoughtful people.
I ❤ Josh. Not just for laughs, but his insight goes deep and explains in words what my gut is telling me ain’t right, but I can’t put into words. I legit feel smarter after hearing him talk. 👏👍🙂
Love you Josh! Great interview, sir. I’m sorry I never saw your show before. Love how you did your research and prepared. It shows your level of commitment to your audience. Thank you. So many gems in this interview. I’m saving it and forwarding it. I’m one of the thousands (probably hundreds of thousands by now) that had a personal interaction with Josh, and he was amazing to me and my son and still had many more people to greet after us. When someone does these types of things over and over and still communicates caring- you just can’t fake that. I will forever be a fan. And I know one day (probably soon) I won’t be able to afford an in person ticket, but at least I had this one experience. Also I can say I met Kevin Hart in a very similar way and there was no comparison to the experience. I’m just sayin…
Josh- you make my reality 100% better. I am grateful for you. Thank you for sharing your brilliant insights and perspectives. Love you❤
Thank you for getting real
I would just like to say You're welcome.the feeling is mutual, and thank you Sir for validating my feelings.
Great interview, and I'm really glad I'm here for Josh's current moment (may it never end). 🥰
Brilliant interview! So much depth, thank you
The interviewer does an excellent job !
Talking about how we (humans or society) has labelled or accepted the corporate greed and corruption as non violent, hits the nail on the head. It’s dehumanising and outright evil what some corporations do to the earth, with pollution or the insurance companies who dodge calls in the name of ‘having to wait for Mr. Whatevertheirname to return to do your paperwork’. As Josh says “and by that time, the patient has died anyway.” So many evil things are labelled as business practices which delay council consents for playgrounds but the moment a data centre needs consent it’s somehow rushed into action overnight. It damages our health as consumers and we just have to accept it because the laws are set up to protect these companies.
" I try to have a lot of grace for people who had the opposite things chosen for them."
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE JOSH JOHNSON. PLEASE CONTINUE TO INLIGHT OUR LIVES WITH HOPE AND GRACE. great conversation!
we're all so glad you're alive. We adore you so much and your comedy has kept us going. Love from India. Looking forward to the next drop.
57:03 YES, JOSH JOHNSON!!! U ARE THERE!!! I detest Chipotle, but there's def NO BIT u could put out that would make me feel poisoned! ABSOLUTELY NOT MY JOSH JOHNSON 😂😂😂 All love, keep it coming. I have followed ur comedy since the beginning & ALWAYS had faith that u would do great things❤
That chipotle thing was the perfect choice to wrap up the interview.
Josh the Gem 👑
Josh kills me every time... so I think he clearly can get away with murder. Thanks for the great interview.
This is a wonderful interview. Hope Josh will see these comments. You are truly special to so many. Therapy and watching you have helped save me. I love how you talk about therapy and wish more saw it as other than a negative. We can all benefit from therapy. Such an intelligent and insightful young man. I pray you continue to have success.
I love this interview 💙
Josh is a genius, intellectually and ethically. And funny--what a wonderful soul and great heart!