Josh Johnson writer and host of Daily Show on navigating the current comedy culture, being apart of Jimmy Kimmel's return, lessons from Jimmy Fallon, identity theft on a date, why he doesn't play football and Crocs cant be worn in NYC.

“Whatever you try to stamp out or silence, ends up making that thing more popular.” Josh Johnson On this episode of The Pivot Podcast, the hilarious and insightful Josh Johnson joins the guys to talk about his meteoric rise in the world of comedy. From viral stand-up clips and sold-out shows to his recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and taking the reins as guest host on The Daily Show, Josh is proving that smart, vulnerable, and fearless comedy has a powerful place in today’s culture. In between all the laughs and funny banter, an unbelievable conversation happens with Ryan, Channing, Fred and Josh, as we understand more about his why. Known for blending sharp observations with deeply personal stories, Josh opens up about his journey from a small town in Louisiana to writing for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and becoming one of the most exciting voices in stand-up. He shares how he found his voice on stage, built his audience from the ground up through digital platforms, and turned moments of uncertainty into defining pivots in his career. In this raw and funny conversation, Josh talks about handling pressure in high-stakes moments, the creative grind behind his success, and why staying true to yourself is the ultimate flex. Whether you’re chasing a dream or reinventing yourself, Josh’s story is a masterclass in resilience, reinvention, and the power of comedy to connect and transform. Don’t miss this inspiring sit-down with one of comedy’s fastest-rising stars. Thank you to Toyota and as you heard, we talked about Toyota's all in partnership with football and game day giveaways, Learn more at https://toyota.com/nfl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest, or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an Ultra. Because it's not just a superior-like beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser-Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 0:29Ryan Clark?

  Comedian Josh Johnson is not a large man, but he knows how to take up space in any room. From the moment he walked in, you can see why one of the new hosts of The Daily Show is having his moment. I mean, he's a Louisiana boy, but he made his way to Chicago and finally landed in New York a decade ago. He recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel during Kimmel's Brooklyn Run. And the diminutive comedian dazzled the crowd with humor, storytelling, and a floral suit that even made me a little jealous. He doesn't just answer our questions, he paints pictures. We dove into free speech, catfishing white supremacists, court trials, New York's finer qualities, and the proper shoe wear for the streets. We even learned how to handle getting your identity stolen while on a first date.

• 1:14Ryan Clark?

  Oh, and it turns out that me, yeah, RC, would be a terrible attorney, and it seems I attack our guest in securities. I mean, all I wanted to do was talk about bedwetting and where he found his passion for comedy. I didn't mean to touch on sore spots. But we had so much fun in this sit-down. Josh is truly a mix of funny and real. So please enjoy as me, Chan, and Freddie T chop it up with comedian Josh Johnson.

• 1:41Channing Crowder?

  Excited about being on time. That makes sense, though. Passionate punctuality. Yeah, Josh is not on passionate punctuality. What up, though? How you doing, man?

• 1:49Speaker 03

  How's it going? Great to meet you, Chris. Yeah. How you doing? Doing? Oh, thanks. My bad. You went straight to Louisiana first, huh? I feel like it's because I didn't know where to go. So I was like, this is at least familiar. You sized him up quick so you can run through him. No, no. If you were a baller. I really can't run through anyone. That's like why I've chosen to go the route I've gone. Yeah.

• 2:38Ryan Clark?

  Man, Josh Johnson, man, we're so excited to have you. I mean, we aren't Jimmy Kimmel, you know, but we are excited that you're sitting with us. This is Fred Taylor, Ryan Clark, Shannon Crowder, Pivot fam. Thank you all for pivoting with us. And I think it's really cool. One, I love the suit on Jimmy Kimmel.

• 2:54Speaker 03

  Oh, thanks, man.

• 2:55Ryan Clark?

  I'm a suit guy. I love the suit. But Channing was even talking about your social commentary, the things you say about what's going on in the society, the ways you approach politics. I want to ask you about what has started to be the censoring of America, right? You were on Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy was suspended for a quick spell for some of the things that he's saying. When you look at sort of the assault on free speech, how difficult is that for someone like you, where your line of work is all about being able to express yourself about the things that are going on?

• 3:31Speaker 03

  I think most of it is cyclical. So even though like each thing that happens is like sort of unprecedented in the specific instance that it's happening, like an FCC chair or like the president specifically saying this show should be off air or something like that. You look at McCarthyism or you look at like any sort of like Red Scare era and some of that same stuff was happening. So there's always been a sort of crackdown off and on on like left-wing speech and politics and everything. And it's interesting because then whenever more like conservative leaning...

• 4:08Speaker 03

  Powers are like in the majority. There's always a claim that the same thing is happening, but you'll like things that they say are the same are really. That's when it's actually like this private company not wanting to work with this person or something like that. And it's not so much the FCC chair sort of like not even lightly threatening, just like actually threatening. I think it makes all sorts of speech more important, but there's a there's a real like pendulum swing you have to be careful of. Because whatever you try to stamp out or silence does end up making that thing more popular. The same way that it's like you're not supposed to smoke until you're a certain age. But then you'll see like teenagers be like, hey, do you want some of this?

• 4:51Speaker 03

  Because it's because it's the thing you're not supposed to do. And so now if you're if you're over here banning books or you're over here, you create a curiosity that could end up being its own backlash.

• 5:01Ryan Clark?

  I mean, I think you saw it with Jimmy Kimmel, the views and the way people tuned in to his return. As opposed to the numbers of what he was accumulating before he was suspended. And you know, you obviously got to be a part of that here, you know, now that he was in Brooklyn. What was that experience like for you? Because you're someone on a Daily Show or whatever it is that talks about a lot of these things. And it's almost like, hey, let's roll out Josh, someone who kind of stands on this side with me as we go to New York.

• 5:36Speaker 03

  No, it was it was a very cool experience to go. I was very excited to go and it was it was also nice to go because it was the first day that he was like fully back. Because then the even like the Sinclair stations like, you know, reinstated and they weren't like preempting his show or anything. So that's awesome to be back and the energy in the in the audience for like the whole of them being back. At the end of the day, he's he's this late night comedy show. You wouldn't think that late night comedy would be the thing that stands in complete opposition to not being able to just like speak freely. Like you would think it would be someone who's who's out here as an activist or something, saying some very specific things

• 6:20Speaker 03

  that might be seen as inflammatory and then the the president or whoever says you can't say this type of stuff. The fact that his comedy is wild, like the fact that it's the people who like you're only. Really kinda supposed to take seriously ever. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, like, like, I'm not even trying to hide behind that, like, oh, I'm just joking. It's like, sometimes I say things and I mean them. And sometimes those things are funny, the things that I mean. But I don't mean everything. And so it's wild that people are like, that's the, that's the guy who is gonna stand in direct opposition to, you know, this, this like stepping on free speech or stand in the

• 7:02Speaker 03

  way of, you know, like, this is gonna be the first victim of a sort of hindering of free speech that'll just spread, you know?

• 7:12Fred Taylor?

  Was it wild to go from being a writer at Fallon to actually sitting in the seat as a guest?

• 7:19Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, I, I feel like it, everything's so gradual that, you know, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna sound cocky like I'm, I'm like, used to it or anything. But it does, because it's gradual enough, you start to, you start, you start to, it starts to feel familiar before you experience it sometimes. Yeah. So, so that, that's a real blessing.

• 7:42Channing Crowder?

  It seemed like a tough place to navigate.

• 7:45Speaker 03

  Sure.

• 7:45Channing Crowder?

  And like, do you, how, how does that work? When you write a joke or you put something together, you have to run it past somebody? You brought it to FCC and do they know that? How does that work when you, you have something funny, but it's like, uh, in this climate, we can't say this?

• 8:00Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, I feel like, I don't know, I, I'd be interested in what you even feel about this. It's like, I feel like I've kinda been going through that my entire life. Like, you know what I mean? Like, when you're, when you're black in America, you gotta do your own self-editing. You know what I mean? Like, there's, there's a certain point where it's like, you could say the thing plainly and just as you see it. And there was a time where that would get you killed. Then you can say the thing plainly as you see it, and then there's this time that it'll get you fired. Now you can say it plainly as you see it, and you could get in like some sort of trouble or you could be on some sort of, not hit list, but like, hit list of, these are the people saying things I don't like and everything. So it's not, I don't know, it's a...

• 8:42Speaker 03

  At least in terms of having to self-edit, it's not really that different. It's just the consequences are so much less than like what people that came before me would have experienced. So I feel like that stuff, I think about it time to time. Like I think about if my YouTube channel is like ever in danger if I say the wrong thing, or if I, you know, whatever. But also to not do those things, to sort of like comply in advance is not doing anything that them taking things away from you wouldn't do.

• 9:14Ryan Clark?

  I have a question, and this is really off the subject, and this is why it's the pivot. So I know DeMarvin pissed on you when you were 12 at a sleepover and blamed it on you, right? And you mentioned that being pissed on as a 12-year-old is like your boys pissing if you go to the club now.

• 9:35Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 9:35Ryan Clark?

  Channing, at least when we started the show.

• 9:38Speaker 03

  Who's DeMarvin?

• 9:39Ryan Clark?

  DeMarvin pissed.

• 9:39Speaker 03

  Okay, look, look, look. Because he's given the story without the proper context. It wasn't on me, it was near me, because he pissed the bed. We were at a sleepover, he pissed the bed. So he did piss some of me, but he didn't piss directly on me. You know what I mean? Like this wasn't a standing up and then peeing on me.

• 9:58Ryan Clark?

  I thought like a urine assault.

• 9:59Speaker 03

  I didn't move. No, no, no. He pissed himself. I was an innocent bystander of the amount of piss he had in him. I was not like, the way, "Ooh, ooh, I hope you never have to defend me in court." The way that you were like, you know, "You got pissed off." My man, oh no. Even as you were saying, I was like, "What?" And then, and then when you said DeMarvin, I was like, "Oh, okay, he's seen the set where I talk about..." Because, no, the kid was a lunatic. The kid was like truly insane. But he pissed himself. I was slightly pissed by being next to him.

• 10:35Ryan Clark?

  Okay.

• 10:35Speaker 03

  And then, and then, you know, he, like, he had already woken up. I wake up realizing there's piss. He woke up already staring at me, which is... Serial killer behavior. If you go, look, if you go piss the bed, people, plenty of people piss the bed. That's, that's part of growing up, part of being a child. Write a passage, you pee the bed a little bit. But to already be up and then in your, in your pissed clothes and staring at me, waiting for me to wake up to find out is like, that's, it's terrifying. There should be movies about that.

• 11:10Channing Crowder?

  Y'all still cool?

• 11:11Speaker 03

  We were never cool.

• 11:13Ryan Clark?

  First off, they were sleeping in the loser's spot anyway, Chan.

• 11:16Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 11:16Ryan Clark?

  So they didn't get to sleep in the bed with the dude that threw the sleepover in his room.

• 11:20Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 11:21Ryan Clark?

  They had a pallet in the living room, so they was already...

• 11:24Speaker 03

  We weren't in, like, yeah, we were not in the in-crow of the sleepover. We were like, we were clearly the extras. Do you know what I mean?

• 11:33Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Chan just stopped pissing on himself recently.

• 11:37Channing Crowder?

  I pee in the bed every now and again.

• 11:39Speaker 03

  Now, is it a, I don't feel like getting up, or is it an involuntary? Cause you're being very calm about it.

• 11:49Channing Crowder?

  Maybe a little too much to drink.

• 11:52Speaker 03

  Oh, okay.

• 11:53Ryan Clark?

  Yeah. That makes it, you said, oh, okay, like, that makes it okay?

• 11:57Speaker 03

  But once again, he is not doing any of us any favors. Because to say, cause if you told me, oh, he gets drunk and he pisses the bed, it's like, okay, those two things go together.

• 12:06Ryan Clark?

  Corral lakes, he hasn't corralled lakes.

• 12:07Speaker 03

  But you made it sound like he just pees the bed for fun.

• 12:11Ryan Clark?

  Nobody pees the bed for fun.

• 12:13Speaker 03

  I mean, DeMarvin did, I guess.

• 12:16Ryan Clark?

  So do you think I would be better than some of the people who were part of the Young Thug trial?

• 12:23Speaker 03

  As a witness?

• 12:24Ryan Clark?

  No, as a, if I was defending you, if I was a representative.

• 12:28Speaker 03

  I don't know, man. But like, I, I, I watched that trial and, and I know y'all just talked to Young Thug and everything. And that, that trial for me was one of those things where I was like, it felt like... It felt, it somehow felt like everybody's first day of doing court. Like the prosecutor, like every, everybody except Thug's lawyers like seemed unprepared. Do you know what I mean? Like, like you would show, you would see the, because they would like stream some of it. And so you'd see clips from the, from the case, and then you'd see the prosecutor say something where I'm like, "Did you get any sleep?" Like, and then, and then there was the whole like Rico part of it, but then they didn't look into his finances for the longest. And I'm like,

• 13:14Speaker 03

  "Rico's money, last time I, I'm not a lawyer, but like if I had a Rico case on somebody, I wouldn't then be like, "We don't know how much he makes."

• 13:24Speaker 03

  That feels crazy. Yeah, you can't be broke Rico.

• 13:27Ryan Clark?

  You can't pay for the getaway car and...

• 13:28Speaker 03

  No, no, because this, this is my thing. Okay, like let's say, let's say that's the scenario. You're over here, you paid for the getaway car, you, you supposedly did all this stuff. Allegedly you did all this stuff, and nobody bothered to see if your bank was Bank of America or Chase Bank. It doesn't seem like the state is trying to build the best case. Do you know what I mean? Like, like if the judge is like, "Well, where are the financial statements that you're alleging?" And they're like, "Ah, today?" Because that's what it felt like. Every, every time you tuned in, I was just like, "This feels like they..." Admittedly, because I don't know, that, that entire county has had like some really high-profile stuff, because that's, I'm pretty sure the same jurisdiction

• 14:13Speaker 03

  that like Trump's case was under, you know? So it's like you have, you have so many different things going on, and it just, I don't know. When the judge was fed up, I was like, "Okay, I guess, I guess that..." Like, the judge being like, "I don't know why, I don't know why you've prosecuted the case this way." You are either completely incompetent, or you are willfully trying to botch this case. It's like, the fact that she said that is so... I've never seen that anywhere other than like Law & Order SVU or something. Like, only on TV do you get a judge being so fed up that they just start talking to the prosecutor like a teacher. Do you know what I mean?

• 14:57Ryan Clark?

  They're like, "This your first time, ain't it?"

• 14:58Speaker 03

  When the judge left, I was like, "Are you allowed to leave?" Like, the judge walked out. It was like, "I can't. I can't today."

• 15:05Ryan Clark?

  Time, boss. Don't time.

• 15:07Speaker 03

  So I can only imagine, if you're a thug and you sit there watching the judge walk out, he's also gotta be like, "Can I go?"

• 15:16Fred Taylor?

  Did you ever feel like any part of that trial was like catfish crimes?

• 15:20Speaker 03

  I mean, a bit, because this is my thing. I feel like, as well-versed as the United States justice system is at like, lock it up, black dudes, especially for crimes that are in like, the sort of hip-hop culture or anything like that. As good as the justice system is at that, to be this bad is like, it feels unprecedented. Do you know what I mean?

• 15:49Ryan Clark?

  I know where you was going, though.

• 15:51Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 15:51Ryan Clark?

  I know where you was going, actually.

• 15:52Fred Taylor?

  I actually wanted to... So Dale, y'all still close? Y'all were ever close?

• 15:57Speaker 03

  No, we are not close at all.

• 16:01Speaker 03

  In fact, I hope we never meet.

• 16:03Ryan Clark?

  But you tried to... With Finnegan's, I'm from Louisiana, so I know what Finnegan's is.

• 16:07Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 16:08Ryan Clark?

  You tried to... Dale went to Finnegan's and waited on you?

• 16:11Speaker 03

  Several times.

• 16:12Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, no, the point I wanted to make by even bringing that up was that... You talked about Catfish and the Klan, I thought was brilliant. Even from the beginning of it, when you said the Klan, they were maybe short on numbers for posting on Craigslist.

• 16:26Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 16:26Fred Taylor?

  Saying, "We're recruiting," basically, right?

• 16:28Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 16:29Fred Taylor?

  And then the way you ended it... Being at a barbecue, at a cookout, in white robes dripping barbecue sauce on them. So it started out being ridiculous from posting in Craigslist, which was stupid.

• 16:43Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 16:44Fred Taylor?

  To now at a barbecue event, having white robes on at barbecue event. Being able to, you know, to mess them up, basically.

• 16:53Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 16:53Fred Taylor?

  Where they look even more ridiculous. I just thought that whole bit was just brilliant from the.

• 16:58Speaker 03

  It's also like, I don't know, you could probably speak to this as well, but it's just like, there is a weird thing with the racism that happens in the South because everyone is doing all the same stuff. Do you know what I mean? It's not as if there's actually like worlds apart. It's like, they are in theory and they are in like the creation of like the structures we have around us. But it's like, at the end of the day, everybody's eating the same stuff. Everybody's doing mostly the same stuff.

• 17:25Fred Taylor?

  Same spots?

• 17:25Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 17:27Channing Crowder?

  He bring Louisiana. I know a lot of Louisiana dudes, you know, Louisiana rappers. You don't talk like them. You speak the Queens English.

• 17:36Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 17:39Channing Crowder?

  What part of Louisiana do they talk like this? What, like, what?

• 17:43Speaker 03

  Here up north.

• 17:44Channing Crowder?

  That's farther north because, yeah, you don't talk like you do.

• 17:47Speaker 03

  I mean, apparently nowhere. Because even when I was growing up, I used to, you know, work at restaurants and stuff. And then I would, I would try to, you know, whether it was taking order or like help somebody out with something, they would always be like, where are you from? And I'd be like, here. And they're like, ah. I don't know about that. But I grew up in Alexandria, which is like the very middle of the state, like Alexandria, Louisiana. And, yeah, I guess I don't, I don't know. I really don't know. Like, I just sound, I sound.

• 18:17Channing Crowder?

  Like a white man. You joke about it. You sound like a white man. You have a great white voice.

• 18:21Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 18:22Channing Crowder?

  But you, you, you speak on a lot of black topics and you're very, you know, you're a strong activist. But it's weird to hear that voice talking the way you do.

• 18:30Speaker 03

  It's not great over voicemail. You know what I mean? It is, it is not ideal when you can't see me. And then it gets worse. Because, like, two things are happening. Because I don't really curse often, and because when I get mad, it gets worse. It is, yeah, I've had to contend with it my entire life. You know, like, like, let's say somebody's really made you angry, and then you call them, and then, you know, you're leaving a voicemail. You're furious. You're very angry. But at the same time, it's like, I just, I don't know, it doesn't even occur to me to, like, curse often.

• 19:08Ryan Clark?

  Can you give us, somebody pissed Josh off, and now he's calling to tell you, somebody stole your sweatshirt, which you wear every day anyway.

• 19:21Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 19:21Ryan Clark?

  And you're calling the place to tell them, "My sweatshirt is stolen." What would that voicemail, or what would that call, sound like?

• 19:29Speaker 03

  I have been the victim of theft, and my personal effects are not in my possession.

• 19:39Speaker 03

  What are you gonna do to rectify the situation? Because I'm, I'm angry.

• 19:46Speaker 03

  You know? And then, and then that also comes with, because here's a question I have for all three of you. This is a thing that I, I think about a lot. And, um, man, man, I, I do wish we had more time to talk, because I could ask you about this all day. What is it like to be big?

• 20:06Ryan Clark?

  You were bullied, correct?

• 20:08Speaker 03

  Easily. Yeah, yeah, but I, I think about this all the time. Because I also, at the same time, feel like, if I were, if I were your size, I'd be a problem. You know what I mean? Like, I, I'm very, I'm very, I'm very polite. I'm very, you know what I mean? I, I try to take people's feelings into account and everything. And I think that is due to my weight class.

• 20:32Channing Crowder?

  One thing being big, you don't say, "I've called to look into my possessions."

• 20:37Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 20:37Ryan Clark?

  What are you gonna do to rectify this?

• 20:41Channing Crowder?

  I would say the best thing is you walk in a room you're not really worried about. You're not, you have no fear of anybody in the room.

• 20:47Speaker 03

  What do you think about when you're not thinking about fear? That's another question I have, you know what I mean?

• 20:53Ryan Clark?

  Are you often thinking about fear?

• 20:54Speaker 03

  I'm not necessarily thinking about fear, but I have fear. And so, yeah, but to not have that fear, I wonder what I'd be thinking about.

• 21:01Channing Crowder?

  This actually happens with my, with my wife. Like, we're walking up and it's some big, you know, big dudes or like a big group of young white kids. That's my biggest fear, a big group of white kids.

• 21:12Channing Crowder?

  But you walk up and I'm just walking, or walking down a dark alley, I just walk like, eh. And she's like, looking around because you don't feel like anybody's, like you, no one can take advantage of you.

• 21:23Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, if anything, if you're, if you're walking, right? All three of y'all, big guys and everything? If you're walking and somebody does want a problem, are you more afraid? Because this means they're crazy.

• 21:37Ryan Clark?

  In order to do what we did for a living, you gotta be a little throw it off anyway. And so, I think when you see somebody who is that way, you're like, oh, I don't really care. Like, you're not, you're not really processing the fact that that person's crazy because you feel just as crazy as they are. Honestly, though, I can tell you pay attention to your size a lot because I'm actually not that big. Right? So like, when people see me, because of the way he talks about me on the show all the time.

• 22:06Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 22:06Ryan Clark?

  They're always like, damn, you're actually bigger in person than I thought. And I was like, that's just because Chan always tells y'all I'm small. But to him, I am. Right in the world we grew up in and lived in, I'm a smaller person, I'm a smaller player.

• 22:21Speaker 03

  Look, this is, this is size privilege if I've ever heard of it. It's like, it's like, I'm actually not that big. It's like where a rich guy's like, I'm comfortable.

• 22:30Speaker 03

  Like, no, no, you're a big man.

• 22:32Ryan Clark?

  When did you start wearing your, this uniform? I wear a uniform too.

• 22:36Speaker 03

  Oh, okay.

• 22:36Ryan Clark?

  I wear the same exact thing every day. Right? Unless I'm on TV or doing the show.

• 22:41Speaker 03

  I'd say about like, two years ago. And, yeah, it's not all, it's not always this same one. I have different gray hoodies. Some people think I only have one. And you can tell when they think that because they, they look at me like I'm not well. Yeah, I mean.

• 23:00Ryan Clark?

  I thought you had multiple of the same.

• 23:01Speaker 03

  Oh, yes, I do have multiple of the same. But, yeah, just, some people think I only have one.

• 23:06Ryan Clark?

  How about the socks?

• 23:07Speaker 03

  I do change my socks. Socks is when I switch it up. I get adventurous with the socks.

• 23:11Channing Crowder?

  That's adventure.

• 23:12Speaker 03

  Yeah, you know, some.

• 23:14Channing Crowder?

  The olive.

• 23:15Speaker 03

  The on clouds? How did the on clouds come about? Yeah, okay, so the on clouds are because I can actually put an insole in. There was a little while where I had what I would call prescription shoes. Because my feet are, they have a special situation. So then the on clouds getting to be able to put the insoles that I need. Now I don't need like prescription shoes. Why do you wear prescription shoes? Well, just, well, like, I, my feet are all messed up. Like, I got, I got, like, they're kind of flat, but then, I don't know. I think I might have weak foot bones. And so you have to have shoes that support extra. And so that's, the on cloud is the best right now.

• 24:00Channing Crowder?

  Who was it, Steve Jobs? That said, geniuses don't have to think about what they're gonna put on?

• 24:06Speaker 03

  Exactly. I mean, look, I, I guess I don't, I never thought about it too, too much. Like, I have other clothes and I wear them sometimes. But for me, almost like the Steve Jobs thing. That's why I asked you the question about what you're thinking about when you don't have to think about things because you're big. You know what I mean? It's like, his, his mind was able to be occupied by all these different things because he had to make one less decision about what he would wear. And you have to make less, like, sizing up decisions. Because you walk in and you're like, smaller, smaller, smaller, smaller. Whereas I'm like, okay, about my size, bigger, smaller, you know?

• 24:41Channing Crowder?

  What if you walk in, you're trying to grab something? You out there, you in a club, trying to grab something? You don't want to spice up for?

• 24:48Speaker 03

  When he says grab something, he means get a date. Sure, sure. And it only hurts a little bit that you felt you needed to clarify. I just saw your face. No, no, no.

• 25:00Channing Crowder?

  You know what, it's the voice.

• 25:01Speaker 03

  I didn't know it grabbed something computing. No, no, it, it did, it did. I'm sorry. No, it's fine. I appreciate the help. This, this, ooh, this hurts. You know what I mean? The, the last time I got hurt this bad, my friends, I didn't know everybody had a secret handshake. And so I'd walk in, everybody dapping each other up and everything. And then I walked in the room and they had just finished with like, and then they saw me and they were like, how you doing? And I was like, that's. They went to shake my hand like I was the police. Like that is brutal.

• 25:30Channing Crowder?

  Ken Pill skit.

• 25:31Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 25:32Channing Crowder?

  Baby, you good?

• 25:33Speaker 03

  But he's not white. Yeah.

• 25:35Channing Crowder?

  I think the voice does it, bro. I ain't gonna lie to you.

• 25:38Speaker 03

  Their eyes were open.

• 25:40Channing Crowder?

  I think the voice does it.

• 25:42Ryan Clark?

  Fellas, I done packed up the tundra. Sunday night football been going hard. I mean, and this week, you got the Patriots and the Bills. I mean, you got one of the best teams in football with an MVP quarterback, and you got a young quarterback that's made strides that are tremendous. With the new head coach, I am so excited about this matchup. And just like Toyota, I'm all in all season.

• 26:04Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, RC, the Bills are the team to beat now. They the frontrunners now with what's going on in NFL. I can't wait to watch this one.

• 26:09Fred Taylor?

  And Toyota has a commitment to football that runs deep.

• 26:12Channing Crowder?

  And Toyota, you know they locked in with the NFL. And they upping the ante. $500 Microsoft gift card. If you can just predict plays of the game, you know what it is.

• 26:21Fred Taylor?

  Hey, so Toyota's all in with the Bills and the Pats, and they're all in with you. So get in the game. To get more details on how to enter, you can learn more at toyota.com/nfl.

• 26:32Speaker 03

  It's all in all season.

• 26:34Channing Crowder?

  No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Ends on February 8, 2026. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. states and DC. 18 and over. For complete details, how to enter, prizes, and official rules, visit www.toyotasgamedaygiveaways.com.

• 26:47Fred Taylor?

  You more nervous walking the streets of Chicago or here in New York?

• 26:51Speaker 03

  Good question. I think, I think New York. Because Chicago, I got used to. And I was just like aware of my surroundings and everything. And I don't know. I feel like Chicago, I was also like embraced in a way that I'll never forget. Grew up in Louisiana, I moved to Chicago, and I felt like I was embraced in Chicago in a way that made me super comfortable. Even when I knew I was in like a bad area. Even, even when like things would go down like day before, day after, I was somewhere and then I had to be there, whether it was because I had a show or I was just meeting a friend or something like that. I still felt like very like calm and, and comfortable.

• 27:28Fred Taylor?

  So not at any point in time, you felt like the situation that happened or allegedly happened to Jesse Smollett, when the big guys woke them up? You never felt that you can be attacked that way?

• 27:42Speaker 03

  I never felt that because I also don't go to Subway at 3 a.m.

• 27:48Speaker 03

  From the beginning of the story, I was like...

• 27:56Speaker 03

  Subway at 3 a.m. is code for something. You know what I mean? So then, and then when, when they, they have like the body cam footage and everything, and, and the police walked in, and he's like, "Man, I don't know, I don't know how you all feel about it, but in my head, I'm like, to still be wearing the noose and be like, "I just wanted y'all to see it." And then take it off, it's like, "But man, what's happening right now?" That's weird. "What, what are you talking about?" And then, then he, yeah. And then he, he also like, I think the biggest mistake besides doing it was, was, uh, was the fact that he like kept adding to the story. And it's like, "Just stop." Especially if you, if you get away with something, just stop. You know what I mean?

• 28:42Speaker 03

  Like, let, leave, leave it alone. And we'll all be like, "All right, I hope they find those two other Subway enthusiasts." "No, they're at 3 a.m.?" Yeah, at 3 a.m. You got, you gotta be going through it if you Subway though. Cause then, you're part, like Subway is like tangentially part of this story. Cause he's like, "I was going to Subway," right? So anytime any corporate entity is mentioned, they think about how people are gonna see them based off of the thing that's happening. So you already had Jared. Jared was tripping.

• 29:12Channing Crowder?

  Jared was tripping.

• 29:13Speaker 03

  You already had Jared. So now you also have people like, "I was just trying to get some Subway at 3 a.m." Now you, you're, you're in, you're in the mix of just nothing but terrible stories. I also never knew it was open at that time.

• 29:25Channing Crowder?

  I didn't know either. I don't think Jesse knew it was open.

• 29:27Speaker 03

  Look, if you come across a 24-hour Subway sandwiches, don't go in. I bet you they don't make the good bread at 2 a.m. I feel, you know what I mean? Like, like there's just a, there's a certain time and place to get certain food. The same way- That bread is no longer fresh. Not only is it no longer fresh, but it's up there with, you remember when they started putting Subways in the gas station? Yes. And I was like, "No, no, I'm not gonna have diesel lettuce."

• 30:00Speaker 03

  This was nothing but a bad idea.

• 30:02Ryan Clark?

  To hear how, understand how non-confrontational you are. But you talk about a lot of people. Has anybody ever ran up on you?

• 30:11Speaker 03

  Oh, my man. One of the reasons I think about size so much is I have been pressed in my life. Now, it hasn't been by anybody like notable or anything like that, but I go back and forth because sometimes I wish I was like a big guy and everything, real strong and stuff. And then other times, I'm like, no, God knew what size to make me. Because if I was big, I'd be a problem. If I was, if I was a big man, I'd probably be pretty rude. I'd start telling everybody what I think all the time. This is the filter. You know what I mean? You, you, when you are a certain size, you put all your thoughts through like a 5'8" filter. And then that 5'8" filter comes out and it comes out, it's like, oh, excuse me. We're a little close, you stepped on my shoe. At 6' there's no filter.

• 30:56Speaker 03

  At 6' it's like, hey, get up off me.

• 31:00Ryan Clark?

  You do realize that like even 6' is not that big.

• 31:05Speaker 03

  Oh, it's huge to 5'8".

• 31:08Ryan Clark?

  How much do you weigh?

• 31:10Speaker 03

  I'd rather not say.

• 31:11Ryan Clark?

  Because that's more of the problem.

• 31:13Speaker 03

  It is.

• 31:13Ryan Clark?

  Weight class is an issue.

• 31:14Speaker 03

  Yeah, it is a bigger part of the problem, that's fair.

• 31:17Ryan Clark?

  Okay, so my, my question though, and this is, again, just me just paying attention to you. I mean, I think I, I reached out to you a while back.

• 31:25Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 31:26Ryan Clark?

  You know, just to connect, just because I thought the things you said were both funny and the storytelling was fascinating.

• 31:32Speaker 03

  Oh, thanks, man.

• 31:33Ryan Clark?

  The way you touched on these different things that people are dealing with. You spoke about the, the lessening of the humanity in people. Right? And how people use that in order to, whether it's enact these agendas or policies or treat you or see you a certain way as less humane. Why does? That seemed to be so prevalent, no?

• 31:57Speaker 03

  I think you get most of your, if you're speaking specifically about capital, you get most of your advantages through the exploitation of someone else's labor. If you can get a ton of people to be working towards this one cause that benefits you, that's gonna be way more beneficial and easy to build up an empire rather than just inventing something or having this great idea for a new service. Those things are harder to come by and they're even harder to get people to understand if an idea is completely new. A good example is we still have slavery through the 13th Amendment. You know, like when you are a prisoner of the state, you are property. You're not seen as a person and your labor can be utilized in every which way.

• 32:39Speaker 03

  So you see even some of these southern states where the labor is actually used towards corporate interests, right? So now, if I can speak out against that thing, but then the people who are for it don't necessarily say, "Look, our profit margins are crazy. We gotta keep doing this." They say, "Why do you care what happens to somebody who did this, this, and this crime?" You know what I mean? Because then, that way, if you can just see them for their crime only, then any amount of treatment, any manner of behavior towards them will be passable. You know, whether it's the conditions in the prison or that it's a for-profit prison who maybe even has some sort of like side deal with a judge or something.

• 33:20Speaker 03

  Like, if you can get people, and we'll just speak specifically about prison for a second as an example, if you can get people to look at people like they deserve whatever happens to them, then whatever you do to your benefit to those people, it'll be easy to do.

• 33:38Ryan Clark?

  That makes total sense. Just in the sense of, I see him or her as their crime, not as the human who is actually living in these conditions. How do you balance...

• 33:52Ryan Clark?

  Comedy and the societal value of what you say. Because when you post over 50 hours of your material on YouTube, it ain't all just gonna be about fun, right? There are people who go there, they do get information. I've learned things from you. How do you balance the funny with the real life?

• 34:13Speaker 03

  At the end of the day, I'm doing a show for people who came to laugh. So I want to make sure that whatever I'm doing is the funniest version of everything that I've been thinking about and the funniest way to cover the topic that I've chosen. But then on top of that will just be things that I find interesting. And so it's not so much me sort of weighing one way or the other. Ooh, what's the most impactful thing I can say on top of the funniest thing I can say? It's more like, what do I find engaging and interesting about this? And then what do I find funny about it? And then I've been very blessed that the result is people enjoying what I do.

• 34:47Ryan Clark?

  Hey Josh, man, I gotta ask you. With that voice, I'm not comfortable with you saying nigga. Do you say, do you use the word nigga?

• 34:55Speaker 03

  It is indeed rare. You know, I have said it in like life, but only when pushed.

• 35:05Ryan Clark?

  A or hard R?

• 35:06Speaker 03

  Always A. The fact that you wouldn't even ask me if I do a hard R is insane.

• 35:13Ryan Clark?

  Because you don't speak in slang.

• 35:16Speaker 03

  Yeah, I do, sometimes.

• 35:18Ryan Clark?

  When?

• 35:18Speaker 03

  Yeah, sometimes. I'll be like, you know.

• 35:22Ryan Clark?

  Like, if you a gun, you're gonna pull the trigger.

• 35:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, but that's a gun. This is a different thing now. Can't just apply it broad. Can't just put a broad brush stroke. You know, this is like the handshake thing. Yeah, yeah, I say it sometimes. Yeah, but it's rare. Or if it's said in the music, I'll say it.

• 35:52Speaker 03

  Are people in your crowd comfortable when you have said it though? No, no, I think they'd be pretty shocked. I, I don't, I mean, look, in, in the past, I've, I've done all types of like jokes and I try to talk about everything and everything like that. So I have cursed, but I probably, I don't know, I just don't really curse often. So then I think that would even be more out of like left field. Like, like the last time I did it, it definitely sucked the air out of the room. But that was actually the intention because I was saying, I was saying it the way it was said, when it was said, nasty. I don't know if y'all saw that video. There's an incredible video. It actually feels like it sums up a lot of the American experience. It's this guy, this is back when the Popeye's Chicken Sandwich had come out, right?

• 36:36Speaker 03

  And I'm pretty sure he was in Georgia, alright? And so then this white dude is in there, it's all black people, right? But he's been waiting on a sandwich just like everybody else. And then this guy loses it, like loses it enough, anytime somebody's already recording, you know something crazy happened that is not on camera to start them recording. Because no one just starts recording you. You act crazy, then someone is like, so from the beginning of the video, he's like, he's like bucking up at people and everything like that. And then he walked, he, he, he walks up to the front and he's like, "Give me my sandwich." And he takes a sandwich and then he turns around and is like, "Get out of my way, nigger." And then like, like, like bucks up at a couple people and you hear the person holding the phone go, "Oh no."

• 37:16Speaker 03

  And then, and then it cuts, it cuts to like clearly like 14 seconds later and he over here folded up in the parking lot like this.

• 37:28Speaker 03

  And then a couple people, like one dude like punched him, you know what I mean? Like, like held the bag, like held him on the shore like he was about to help him up and punched him again. And then somebody walked off with the bag and the person holding the phone is like, "Oh y'all have to take a sandwich though."

• 37:46Speaker 03

  And that, and that, I talked about that on, in a set because I was talking about how I feel like when I saw that video, I don't know, it just feels like a summing up of what a lot of people go through and just like what people feel like retribution is. On a scale, whether it's like any, any minority group, but like especially like racial. Because I think there's a, a feeling and a projection that people have who like, you, you know, from even being in the South, it's like, there are some people who very weirdly want a race war. Like, they've been like getting ready for it their entire life. And so then, even if you meet this person in debate, or you're having a conversation with this person, they'll be like, a good example is like when you talk about police brutality or something, right?

• 38:29Speaker 03

  And they'll be like, well, the cops killed this white dude, that didn't gain news coverage, I, I guess you don't care about that. And then I'll be like, no, that is also bad. That's also very bad. And actually, if you were to implement all the things that we're talking about, that person would also be safer as well. So no, I, and it's like, I think they, they expect you to be like, no, I'm glad the white dude died because a black dude died.

• 38:52Ryan Clark?

  But I'm not.

• 38:52Speaker 03

  No, that's not what anybody's saying at all. And so seeing that clip was kind of like, as, as wild as this dude was acting, and as much as some people took it upon themselves to like handle him.

• 39:04Ryan Clark?

  Shouldn't take his sandwich.

• 39:05Speaker 03

  There was still a level of like, alright, but you had, he did wait for the sandwich.

• 39:10Ryan Clark?

  There was some decor.

• 39:11Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 39:11Ryan Clark?

  So, I do have a question for you. When your card, when your identity was stolen, on the date.

• 39:19Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 39:20Ryan Clark?

  Did you talk about it to your date?

• 39:23Speaker 03

  Nah.

• 39:24Ryan Clark?

  Were you like, hey, don't order that, my identity stolen, I might have to cut my card off?

• 39:32Speaker 03

  No, no, no, no. So, she didn't know, and I genuinely was just pressed the entire time, hoping that she would. Like, I was more of a hope than it was a, a conversation, you know what I mean? Because I was able to get the card run and everything, and the card, card was actually on for like a little while longer. But I was, the whole time I was just like, I hope she's full.

• 39:53Ryan Clark?

  So, what made you pick up the phone at the table? Like, you're on a date, your phone rings, it's your bank. How did you even know to pick the phone up, though?

• 40:03Speaker 03

  Well, she went to the bathroom, so I wasn't even really thinking about it. I was sitting there by myself, anyway, and then my phone rings, and I'm like, oh, yeah. This is before, like, I feel like 10 years ago, you didn't have as many robocalls. So 10 years ago, you know, you go back all the way to 2015, most of the people calling you did want to talk to you.

• 40:24Speaker 03

  And so I'm like, alright, I don't know this number, but something must... And it may have even said Chase in the ID. It may have even said, like, Chase Inc. or something like that in the ID. And so I pick it up, and then, yeah, problems.

• 40:38Ryan Clark?

  Say, somebody's stealing, and you're on a date. You had a backup car, some cash?

• 40:44Speaker 03

  No, no, not at all. So, I didn't have it like that when I moved to New York at all. Like, basically, every time I've moved, it's been kind of by, not quite the skin of my teeth, but almost. Like, when I moved from Louisiana to Chicago, it's not like I had much money. And then, when I moved from Chicago to New York, I had saved up a little bit, but it's not like I had much money. And so, I went on this date, and, I don't know, I feel like, I was just excited to, like, connect with somebody, and sit and, like, talk with a person, and everything. Like, I felt like, uh, maybe there was some potential here, but I was just excited to have a date, right? And so then, I get the phone call while she's in the bathroom,

• 41:27Speaker 03

  and it's like, now that I'm older, I would have known not to pick up. Because the bank never calls you for good news. A bank has never called and been like, there's more in there than you thought.

• 41:41Ryan Clark?

  You're right.

• 41:42Speaker 03

  Anytime a bank calls, it's a problem, you know? So, I should have known by picking up, this isn't going to be great. And then, I pick up the phone, and they're like, "Hey, are you, like, currently purchasing, like, ski equipment in Arizona?" Which is already, like, too specific of a question. And I was like, no, I live in New York. I used to live in Chicago, but I moved here. And then they were like, "Oh, then there's fraudulent activity. We're going to have to shut off your card." And, and I was like, um, well, I'm on a date. Right now, can you let them steal for 30 more minutes?

• 42:19Speaker 03

  Please. And then she's like, well, now that you've told me that there's fraudulent activity, I like, I actually can't let, I was like, ma'am, please. It's going alright.

• 42:32Speaker 03

  Cause I'm not gonna lie to the lady, it's not like, it's not like it was a great date or anything like that, it's just general conversation and everything, but I was just like, please, please, you know, and then she's like, as I've stated before, blah blah blah, and as she's talking, now I'm just trying to keep her talking, and cause I'm trying to get the server's attention, so I'm like, go ahead, and then I hand him the card, I'm like, run it now.

• 42:54Speaker 03

  Now. And I'm like, yeah, you do what you gotta do, I understand and everything, and then she was nice enough to leave it on for like, a little bit longer, but woof, that was terrible.

• 43:04Ryan Clark?

  I wish you, I would, could you imagine, Chan, Fred, your date get back to the table? And you like, say boo, like, you gonna have to pay for this food, cause somebody stole my identity and they buying ski equipment in Arizona.

• 43:16Speaker 03

  Also, the fact that I was me before you went to the bathroom, and now I'm like, hey, actually, a lot has happened since you've been gone.

• 43:27Speaker 03

  There's not gonna be a second date, you know what I mean? There's no, there's no way, and so, you know, I had like, a little bit of cash, but the card was, the, one of the worst times though, was I was trying to get money out of the ATM, and I had $19.98.

• 43:46Speaker 03

  And so it was-

• 43:47Ryan Clark?

  Total?

• 43:47Speaker 03

  Yeah, total, so it was all trapped. It was all, there was nothing I could do, except look at the balance.

• 43:58Speaker 03

  Cause you need at least, they, cause, cause sometimes your bank will let you overdraw, but then the overdraw wasn't worth it, cause the overdraw is over here, this, I mean, this was, would have been like, 2013 when this happened, but the overdraw is like, five bucks in of itself, so you would have, you would need two cents to not have five. Just some of the saddest word problems you could imagine. It's terrible.

• 44:21Fred Taylor?

  Do your dates usually make you feel big or small?

• 44:25Speaker 03

  My dates? I feel like, okay, I like people who like me. So I'm, I'm, you know what I mean? That's always been my policy. I'm like, you like me? Wow.

• 44:38Speaker 03

  Come on with it. We're going on a date, you know what I mean? And so I've been with my girlfriend now for, for years, for years. So we've been together for eight years. What was that first date like? It was not quite ideal because I was, I was late. You don't say? Yeah, yeah. I was a little bit late because I was writing at Fallon at the time. And that day that I'm supposed to have the date, Jimmy wanted to have an all-hands meeting. And so the all-hands meeting was gonna be after taping. And I was still like, oh, we fine, you know what I mean? Then, like, we keep waiting. And I'm like, oh no, oh no, oh no.

• 45:20Speaker 03

  So then I'm trying to communicate. I'm like texting, like, hey, I'm still at work, this thing's happening, right? And then we finally meet up, and then the restaurant that we were supposed to go to is like, very full. But it's not full in like, oh, I didn't make a reservation, something like that. It wasn't like a reservation type place. It's full in like a New York way, where it's like, unless you wanna eat while having somebody's shoulder in your chest, you're not, you don't eat in here. And so we went, we went around the corner, got some pizza. And it was, that was, that was an amazing date. And then we walked for quite a while. And just were talking and everything, and just connected that way.

• 45:58Fred Taylor?

  You're a great storyteller. Even going back to Catfish and the Clan.

• 46:02Speaker 03

  Oh, thanks, man.

• 46:03Fred Taylor?

  White people and their pets. I think that was hilarious. Somebody got hit by a bat.

• 46:08Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 46:10Fred Taylor?

  The wildest story while on the Loud and Clear Tour with you and Trevor, Trevor Noah. Can you share anything with us?

• 46:18Speaker 03

  Yeah, there was a time where I was supposed to be opening for Trevor. I think it was in... It was either in Utah and I landed in Ohio, or it was like, it was like a vice versa thing. But... I go to the airport, not late. On the plane, everything, but I had a connection, right? Now, I'm a person who I can sleep easy on the plane. And so as soon as I sit down, I fall asleep. And I wake up and they're still de-icing the plane. Because basically, they've gone back and forth between, is air traffic control gonna allow them to go? Then the guy de-iced the plane and back and forth, back and forth. So I've been asleep two hours. And we're still sitting there.

• 47:01Speaker 03

  So now I'm freaking out because I'm like, oh no, I'm gonna miss my connection, right? So then, we finally take off, we land. Of course, I've missed my connection by like, half an hour. And so I'm running. I'm running to the help desk, trying to get some help and get on the next flight. They tell me to go to whatever gate. I go to that gate and they're like, alright, we may have one seat. But they basically have to put me on standby because the flight is full. So then, the woman at the gate is like, you about to get on. You're fine. It's gonna be great. Because there's a whole plane of people that was just like you, that had this same connection. And it looks like their plane just landed. I don't think they're gonna make it across the airport in time. So you're gonna get on. Like, giving full assurances.

• 47:47Speaker 03

  And so then, I'm waiting for boarding and everything. And I'm standing confident. I'm like chill now. I've even texted the team being like, hey, you know, hiccups, but you know, God is good. We're on the way, everything, just overconfident. Then, I'm sitting there and I see, almost like, remember Home Alone? Remember when they were running for the plane? Because they were like, Home Alone, I think it was Lost in New York, right? The second one, where the whole family running? That's what it looked like. Because there's all these, I think they might have been Scandinavian. But all of these Scandinavians start running up to the gate, like, we're here, we're here. And I'm like, oh no. Oh, because it was like 15 people. So I went from being comfortably on the flight, most likely,

• 48:32Speaker 03

  to like, nah, I might not get on. And then they turn around and they're all talking, they're like, where's Jeff? Where's Jeff? Like, somebody in their party has fallen. Behind, but then they're like, oh, this is final call. So like unless Jeff is here, you know, we're gonna have to take off. And I'm like, yeah, unless Jeff is here. Josh got you. Everybody has to get on the flight and everything. And then she's literally about to change it over. And then this guy runs up, I'm here, I'm here. And I'm like, okay, all right, so not on this flight. And the next flight won't get me there in time. So then I just run outside. I'm like, I'm have to Uber. It's like, you know, a five, six hour Uber. But I could still make it.

• 49:15Speaker 03

  I could make it right at showtime if I take an Uber now, right? And I start ordering the Ubers. And then whenever I get a ride, whenever somebody picks me up, I call them to be like, hey, will you go to Ohio with me? Like I just, because you know, it doesn't show them anymore. And so I want to give these people a chance to be like, yes, no, whatever, right? And so three people cancel on me back to back after I tell them. And then I get, I get matched. It's this lady, especially because, you know, it's like, it's a different situation for, for like, a woman to be like, oh yeah, I'm gonna go. I, you know, I mean, and you don't want people to not feel safe. I call her as well.

• 49:56Speaker 03

  I'm like, hey, look, this is gonna be a pretty big fare because I have to get to Ohio or wherever I was going. And she's like, okay, yeah, I'm down. I think your voice is comforting as well. Like you don't sound. That's, that's true. If I had more bass, she probably wouldn't have taken me. Yeah, like. That, I can see that now. Yeah, she's like, I can take him. Yeah. And honestly, honestly, whenever I have like a tiny cold, do get a little bit more nasally.

• 50:24Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, like if it's allergy season, I'm gonna be a pitch higher. Did you make it to the show? I did make it to the show, but while we were in the car, okay. So we're in the car, we take off. And then even Uber's like, you're gonna just make it, right? So then I'm texting the team, like, I'm just gonna make it. Like literally, like about, about time is when I'll be there. So then we're in the car and maybe 10 minutes in, she's like, oh, let me also call my boyfriend because I now won't be home till later, whatever. And then she calls him, but he on speakerphone. And so then she's like, hey, I'm just driving to Ohio. Like I want you, you know, let you know and everything. And he's like, what? What? No! What you... Going to Ohio with who?

• 51:06Speaker 03

  And she's like, "I got a passenger, and he needs to go to Ohio, and it's a pretty good fare." And he's like, "No! No! What are you doing?" And then they start fighting. And so now, in my head, I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, she probably gonna drop me off here." Like, they start arguing back and forth, and she's like, "You never let me do anything," or whatever, and I was like, I was just sitting there, felt like a kid. Were your parents fighting? Because he's like, you know, he's going back and forth with her. And then it was just stuff came out about, like, the relationship. Like, not a lot of it, but just, you could tell there was some tension before this call.

• 51:42Channing Crowder?

  There'd been some beef.

• 51:43Speaker 03

  There'd been some beef. And so now, and then she's like, she's like, "Well, you're on speakerphone." And he got a little quiet, and he was like...

• 51:51Channing Crowder?

  But didn't you say, "If somebody calls you on speakerphone, that should be your last name?"

• 51:56Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 51:56Channing Crowder?

  Josh, you on speakerphone?

• 51:58Speaker 03

  I wanted to let him know he was on speakerphone as soon as he started. Like, as soon as he started, I just wanted to be like, "Sir, you're on speakerphone." Like, I knew he was having this conversation because he thought she had the phone in her hand, right? And so then, they have an argument. She hangs up. He calls back later, cooled off a little bit, and apologizes, you know? And then, from there, we make it right on time. Seven, like, seven o'clock. So it was a day.

• 52:28Channing Crowder?

  Like you said, your internet wormhole is crazy because you have so much content of comedy.

• 52:33Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah, yeah.

• 52:34Channing Crowder?

  And it's amazing.

• 52:35Speaker 03

  Oh, thanks, man.

• 52:35Channing Crowder?

  You're a funny dude. Even telling that story, and even, like, we're over here dying. Do you make an effort not to laugh? You know punchlines, you know you're doing comedy. Do you make an effort not to laugh? Because you just, you just, you hit your punchlines, and you just look around like nothing's going on?

• 52:50Speaker 03

  Sometimes I can recognize that something's, like, humorous, but it is not funny to me, because it's just what happened, if that makes sense. So it's like, there are some times where, I've definitely laughed before. Like, a good example is like, sometimes something will happen in the news, and it is so crazy that even if I'm relaying what happened, or I'm giving my, like, context on top of what happened...

• 53:18Speaker 03

  It'll still, something will still like get you, right? And for me, one of the best examples was that lady. There was a lady on TikTok who found a rug like buried in her backyard, like a rolled up rug buried under a tree. And then she was like, I think, y'all, I think I have ghosts. It was a, it was a whole weird thing. But then everybody in the comments was like, ma'am, this is a body. This is a hundred percent a body. And it cracked me up so much because at first she was like, y'all, it's not a body. And I'm like, you think it's a ghost. Like you, like you, you think it's, you think you're haunted. And then people are telling you that it's a body. And you're like, no, there's no way it would be a body just because I'm haunted.

• 54:03Speaker 03

  Is one of the funniest things to me. Because it's like, you need a body to have a ghost.

• 54:08Ryan Clark?

  Somebody gotta die.

• 54:09Speaker 03

  Yeah. And so the fact that she had this rolled up rug buried under a tree. Someone rolled up a rug, buried it, and then planted a tree over it. And you don't think that's a body?

• 54:20Ryan Clark?

  Is that, is that funnier than the girl on TikTok that looks like you?

• 54:26Speaker 03

  The girl on TikTok that looks like me?

• 54:28Ryan Clark?

  And she had the?

• 54:30Speaker 03

  Yes, I remember this now. Okay, the woman on TikTok who does-

• 54:35Ryan Clark?

  It's Talon or something like that?

• 54:36Speaker 03

  Yeah, does look like me. I remember when the TikTok was made because my mom called me. Because my mom also thinks she looks like me. And my mom was like, I swear I only had one baby.

• 54:52Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah. I, I mean, that's, that's, that's one of those things where you, you watch a TikTok like that and you, you realize the mannerisms you have. Because when someone does an impression of you, even if it's like a little bit exaggerated, you, you're like, oh, I don't, I didn't realize I was doing that that much for like another person to pick up on it. Like, like this thing, didn't realize I did this a lot. This is, this is a big one. Also the nodding, I suppose.

• 55:22Ryan Clark?

  You guys did the skit on The Daily Show. You're all lined up, the blue suits, red ties. And you guys are talking about being censored, right? And the president. And there's this unison of, no, we're not being censored. Everything's great. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

• 55:39Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 55:40Ryan Clark?

  You write for The Daily Show, correspondent, you're a host now. You'll be hosting next week. When you guys come up with those things, what are the conversations like before you actually roll out a skit like that?

• 55:53Speaker 03

  I think, I mean, I've been very blessed to be part of the writers' room and those morning meetings and everything where a lot of people give, a lot of people end up giving context to something where maybe you're just watching a news story or you have your own specific take on it, but then through conversation, you're able to, one, find out things you didn't know about the subject, because everybody's on like a different corner of the internet, you know? And then on top of that, you're able to run your ideas out loud by people, because sometimes you'll think something is killer. Sometimes you'll think something is the funniest thing you've ever said. You'll be like, this, ooh! It'll be like first day of school clothes, you know, like,

• 56:36Speaker 03

  where you're like, ew, they're not, they're not ready. They're not ready. And then you show up and everyone's like...

• 56:44Ryan Clark?

  Have you ever had an idea like that, that you thought was really good?

• 56:47Speaker 03

  Many, many. I'm struggling to remember one now on the spot, but it does happen. Because I feel like so much of comedy is just like trying things and just like, literally, the feedback is the laugh. So if people don't get the joke or people don't like the joke, maybe it's not for that person, or maybe you need to make an adjustment, but it, the whole thing is supposed to be malleable, you know? So being in the writers' room ahead of time, writing with people, going over things with people, that's the stuff that lets you know really where you're at, you know?

• 57:20Ryan Clark?

  You're coming up on 10 years now in New York. I think that's extremely cool, you know, to move from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Chicago, and now to here. I love your address, because I want to give you a gift. You know, here in The Pivot, we like to give people gifts. I'd like to know your Crocs size.

• 57:39Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 57:40Ryan Clark?

  Because I know that's a, that's a shoe you feel is very, very valuable to New York.

• 57:47Speaker 03

  It is not. You gotta stay away from Crocs here. Like, look, Crocs, look, here's the thing about Crocs, all right? You're in a beachy town? Live. Do it. You know what I mean? Be breathable, be comfortable. But here, this is like, and I say this as someone who very much enjoys and loves New York, but I'm not like so in love with it that I'm willing to lie about it. This is a nasty place. There's like a lot of, a lot of gross stuff is on the street. I thought I had smelled all the smells. I thought as a grown man, I had smelled every mixture of smell. But then you'll be here in the summer and you'll be like, that's a, that's a whiff of something new. That's what hell smells like, you know?

• 58:32Speaker 03

  And so, the idea already that you would be in some sort of sandalware, that you would be, that you would, that you would have loose foot on the New York street is insane. And so then, you, and you'll get people with Crocs be like, no, it's different because like, it covers most of the foot. I'm like, show me the piece of the foot you would like for the bird poop to land on. Let, let that piece be out then. If that's, like, if that's, if that's who you are, if that's your life, then like, let, show me where on the foot you don't care about, because that's, that's the part they'll be affected.

• 59:08Speaker 03

  You know? Yeah. Because even, like, I was, I was talking to my friend about the drip. The, the, like, that New York mystery drip that'll hit you and you don't know what it is? That's terrifying. That's already, that could already happen on your head. Your feet are next to the ground. Some of the nastiest ground in the United States is here. Some of the nastiest, you just, you stepping on trash? We put our trash in the street. One of the oldest cities in the United States, and we're still like, yeah, throw it anywhere. That's fine. I'm just more scared of the rats than anything, though. Easily, though. So, you got your three different types of New York rats,

• 59:52Speaker 03

  as far as like, coming in, in like, human contact, right? You got your fast rat, that's the rat that's gonna like, run across your foot or whatever. You got your, uh, your slow rat, that rat's been poisoned. That, that, that's a sick rat, doesn't know where he is right now, doesn't even... Usually, when the lights come on or the people show up, rats have the presence of mind to like, get up out of here, right? Like, even if there was a rat in this room right now, it would run along the wall, and it would find a crack, it would go in that crack, right? These rats don't do that. These rats are very, they, they come up to you with that spare change attitude. They come up to you with that, "Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay." "You got something for me?" Right?

• 1:00:34Speaker 03

  And then the third rat just knows he's built different. Third rat built like kind of a cat. You know what I mean? Like got a big back and everything. Doesn't even try to run. I, there's, there's a video online of, of a big old rat eating a pigeon.

• 1:00:53Speaker 03

  Nothing's ever made me want a gun more than the possibility of running into a rat that big. That's also still spry, that like also, because the pigeon was minding its own business and the rat came and the pigeon tried to fly away and the rat was like, "Where are you going?" Took him back down, right? All of that's out here. So you got brave rats, you got sick rats. And then you got the scurrying rats. Your feet, your feet are, are, are a shoe's depth away from all those rats. So crocs are unacceptable.

• 1:01:27Fred Taylor?

  A rat cat.

• 1:01:28Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:01:29Fred Taylor?

  So we always ask our guests, Josh, what's their biggest pivot in life? That's the one moment you can look back on and say, because this happened to me or for me, I am who I am today.

• 1:01:40Speaker 03

  Honestly, like getting, career wise, getting that job at, um, at Fallon really like started it all. That was my first like industry job and you could say that it like was the first door that led to other doors being open, but I, I, I, because I don't use the pivot of not engaging with my degree more, because I feel like that's something that happens to a lot of people, whether they want it or not. It's like you go to school for a certain thing and then you get out of school and that, that thing is not hiring. So I feel like that's a pivot a lot of people make and I got to make it into something I really wanted to do anyway. But yeah, that job at, at Fallon really kicked off everything, because then it led to eventually

• 1:02:24Speaker 03

  me having my first, um, late night spot, which was Fallon and.

• 1:02:30Speaker 03

  And then like now I'm at The Daily Show and have been for a long time. So, yeah, I think tho- those moments like happening for and people taking a chance on you and stuff like that, it just has such a ripple effect, you know?

• 1:02:43Ryan Clark?

  When did you realize you were funny? Because, so I'm around Channing all the time. He is a very obviously funny person, right? Like, I know when he's trying to be funny, right? I know when he thinks something is funny. I don't know when you think something is funny.

• 1:03:03Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:03:04Ryan Clark?

  You don't, and, and, and I, I don't see you, and I mean this as respectfully as possible, as the big crowd, lots of friends person.

• 1:03:14Speaker 03

  Got you.

• 1:03:15Ryan Clark?

  That would be like, this dude is entertaining for all of us. He is.

• 1:03:19Speaker 03

  No, I'm with you, I'm with you.

• 1:03:20Ryan Clark?

  So, when did you, when were you like, "Man, you know what I could do? Comedy."

• 1:03:25Speaker 03

  He did put in the most hurtful way possible, though. Like, you didn't have to include the friends.

• 1:03:31Ryan Clark?

  You ain't got no friends.

• 1:03:32Speaker 03

  You could've just said, "crowd." Like, it's like, you could've, you could've just said, "I don't see it's the life of the party." There's so many ways to say, "I don't see you having a lot of, like, people around you that wanna be there or anything." Like, you don't seem like a big friends person, which is a way, lengthier way to say loser. That's crazy.

• 1:03:54Ryan Clark?

  What's your answer, loser?

• 1:03:55Speaker 03

  You don't seem like a big friend individual, you know? You know, some people have, like, friends, girlfriends. You, you seem more like a, a book by himself type of guy.

• 1:04:06Ryan Clark?

  God damn it.

• 1:04:07Speaker 03

  I didn't, no, yeah, yeah.

• 1:04:09Ryan Clark?

  That was crazy.

• 1:04:09Speaker 03

  Yeah, I didn't.

• 1:04:10Ryan Clark?

  You don't look like you have many friends.

• 1:04:13Speaker 03

  No, I wasn't friends. Friends is wild.

• 1:04:16Fred Taylor?

  You doubled, you doubled down.

• 1:04:18Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:04:19Fred Taylor?

  He doubled down on it respectfully as I possibly can.

• 1:04:23Speaker 03

  Look, look, I wanna put this in the most respectful way, 'cause this is what I thought he was gonna say. I thought he was gonna, 'cause I have heard this my entire life, even when I started doing comedy, that because I'm like quiet... In life, and because I have like, um, like a meekness about my demeanor and stuff, people just don't think I would do comedy. Because they're like, I always imagine someone who does comedy as someone who is like, very, um, uh, extroverted and like, super outspoken all the time. And you just don't seem that way. And I'm not expecting you to read my mind, but friends is wild.

• 1:04:55Ryan Clark?

  Okay, so.

• 1:04:56Speaker 03

  Friends is amazing.

• 1:04:58Ryan Clark?

  The show has to end, right? But I will say this.

• 1:05:01Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:05:01Ryan Clark?

  I was doing the thing, right? Here's the thing, you do a ton of research on a person, right? And you hear that person say something, or you read something about that person. And they may actually say, hey, listen, growing up, I wasn't like, I had friends. I didn't have a ton of them, right? You know, I had like, five friends, which is something he said.

• 1:05:20Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:05:20Ryan Clark?

  Now, I could phrase the question and go, you have said, you only have, you only had, five friends, you weren't a person that had a big group of friends. But then I'm just repeating what he said. So then when you ask the question, you ask it in a way, as if you didn't know, that he said this, and then he makes fun of you.

• 1:05:40Speaker 03

  No, no, no, I'm with you, I'm with you. Listen, I appreciate you being professional, and doing your research, and all that stuff. But even in rewording what I said, he found the most hurtful way to do it. You know what I mean? Imagine, I do, I do a story about like, a breakup I had, and then my man's over here like, so a lot of women leave you.

• 1:06:04Speaker 03

  But no, to, to, to answer your question, and to be fair, yes, that is like, I'm pretty like, uh, pretty much like, a homebody if like, left up to my devices. All the things that I like, are like, kind of like, nerdy type things and everything. Like, I, I love comic books, um, trying to get better at a Rubik's Cube, and stuff. So, it's like, I, I feel like, yeah, I don't put out, the type of personality, that you would see as someone who's like, oh, this guy, this guy's like, hilarious, and this guy's gonna... Going to do comedy. So I think the things that, the things that I find funny and the things that I find valuing, I try to share as best as possible.

• 1:06:47Speaker 03

  And then my entire time doing comedy has been me trying to get better at, at that. And one of the things that is, that is maybe, it may be one of the things I'm the most proud of is that we're building community at, at the shows and online with people who engage with what I do out of people who have very little in common. Like, like, you know, when you go to the show, it's so nice to have like, you know, multi-generations at the show. Like, like, there's, there's been meet and greets that I've done sometimes where like, the kids, the mom and the grandma all came because they all liked a different video and they all liked a different thing that I did and that means a lot to me.

• 1:07:29Speaker 03

  And then even people who, people who do things that I really admire but don't do myself, find value in, I guess, how I describe what they do. So then I get to meet people who, like, who, who don't have any sort of the same background to me or anything like that. And so that's been my goal for a long time is being able to make as much comedy as I can for, for everybody. So everybody feels welcome and has a, a good time, you know? Like, I, I do my best to portray the things that I even wish that I could do with both like a level, a level of like humor and respect to the point where the person that does that thing enjoys it. You know what I mean?

• 1:08:10Speaker 03

  Like, like, I, I don't play football at all and I, I've tried to play football. Like, I've given it, I've given it a, a real shot. And, and I talk about it onstage about how like in that sport, they hit every time. And it's like, sometimes I would get up, as a kid, I'd get up and be like, you knew I didn't have the ball.

• 1:08:33Speaker 03

  You knew I didn't have, you know what I mean? Because I went like this before you tackled me.

• 1:08:38Ryan Clark?

  You showed your hands?

• 1:08:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, easily. Ay, not me. Get him.

• 1:08:45Ryan Clark?

  Well, this is the show. That was the pivot with Josh Johnson. And I will say this, the Flowers Tour, y'all check it out. So much more to get into, the things he's doing to help teachers around the country in every spot he pops up in. Check out his YouTube page. And if you're going to sit with him or interview him, just basically quote him. Because if not, you'll be made fun of.

• 1:09:10Speaker 03

  I'm not, I'm not saying you did anything wrong. It's just the friends is, you don't seem like a big friends or in the middle of the crowd guy.

• 1:09:20Ryan Clark?

  I'll whoop his ass.

• 1:09:21Speaker 03

  I wish I could.

• 1:09:26Ryan Clark?

  Hey, I really tried to phrase that in like the best way possible.

• 1:09:30Speaker 03

  Thank you, man. I appreciate you. Thanks for having me.

• 1:09:33Ryan Clark?

  I very appreciate you, man. No, it was great. That was a perfect thing.