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No Barriers Podcast Episode 124: Humor as a Mirror with Josh Blue

about the episode

Content Warning: Profanity and Adult Content. This week we are sharing an episode we recorded with comedian, Josh Blue right before COVID hit. Now more than ever we can use Josh’s joy and humor as we are still navigating the pandemic and our “new normal.” And, since we spoke to Josh last we’ve got some news! Josh has been competing in this season -#16- of America’s Got Talent and has made it all the way to the semi-finals! Watch Josh and make sure to vote for him TONIGHT. You can cast your vote for Josh on America’s Got Talent “AGT” app on your phone or head to NBC.com/AGTVote. We’re rooting for you, Josh! Enjoy today’s episode and some laughs before the holiday weekend.

Comedian, Josh Blue, sat down with Erik and Jeff at our studio in Golden, CO to discuss his career as a comic who happens to have cerebral palsy.

Following his groundbreaking win on NBC’s Last Comic Standing in 2006, Josh Blue has risen through the ranks to become a well-established headliner at venues throughout the world. His story has been featured on Fox, CBS, ABC, MSNBC,  and CNN.  He was the first comedian to perform stand-up on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, was named Best Winning Reality Show Guest on Live with Regis and Kelly, and made standout appearances on Comics Unleashed.

Recently, Josh crushed his set on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and was honored with a performance at the William H. Macy Gala at the prestigious Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Canada. He also just recorded his fifth-hour special at his home club, Comedy Works in Denver, CO.

Josh does over 200 shows a year, continuing to spread laughter and break down stereotypes of people with disabilities. His stand-up routine is in a constant state of evolution and his off-the-cuff improvisational skills guarantee that no two shows are alike.

Critics have said Josh is not a cerebral palsy comic; he’s a comic who happens to have cerebral palsy. However, his closest friends describe him as “a d-bag.

Resources:

Cast your vote for Josh on America’s Got Talent “AGT” app on your phone or head to NBC.com/AGTVote.

Check out more on Josh’s website: https://www.joshblue.com/

Follow Josh on FB and Instagram

Episode Transcript

Dave Shurna:
This week we're sharing an episode we recorded with comedian, Josh Blue, right before COVID hit. Now, more than ever, we can use Josh's joy and humor as we are still navigating the pandemic and our new normal. And since we last spoke to Josh, we have some exciting news. He's made it to the semi-finals of this season's America's Got Talent. Watch Josh and make sure to vote for him tonight. You can cast your vote for Josh on America's Got Talent AGT app on your phone, or online at nbc.com/agtvote. We are rooting for you, Josh. Enjoy today's episode and some laughs before the holiday weekend.

Jeff Evans:
Hey, listeners. Just a quick note: profanity ahead. If you got kids nearby, consider popping in your earbuds or save this episode for later. Thanks.

Josh Blue:
I always say this, "Yeah, yeah. I've got palsy and my body works differently than other people, but I have the exact right brain for this body because I'm able to deal with what I have to deal with," and not just deal with it, but have a laugh about it and not be pissed off or sad or upset or woe is me bullshit.

Erik Weihenmayer:
It's easy to talk about the successes, but what doesn't get talked about enough is the struggle. My name is Erik Weihenmayer. I've gotten the chance to ascend Mount Everest, to climb the tallest mountain in every continent, to kayak the Grand Canyon, and I happen to be blind. It's been a struggle to live what I call a no barriers life, to define it, to push the parameters of what it means, and part of the equation is diving into the learning process and trying to illuminate the universal elements that exist along the way, and that unexplored terrain between those dark places we find ourselves in, in the summit, exists a map. That map, that way forward is what we call No Barriers.

Jeff Evans:
Following his groundbreaking win on NBC's Last Comic Standing in 2006, Josh Blue's risen through the ranks to become a well-established headliner of venues throughout the world. His story's been featured on Fox, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, and CNN. He was the first comedian to perform standup on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, was named best winning reality show guest on Live with Regis and Kathy Lee, and made standout appearances on Comics Unleashed. Recently, Josh crushed his set on the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon and was honored with a performance at the William H. Macy gala at the prestigious Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Canada. He also just recorded his fifth hour special at his home club, Comedy Works, in Denver, Colorado. Josh does over 200 shows a year, continuing to spread laughter and break down stereotypes of people with disabilities. His standup routine is in a constant state of evolution and his off the cuff improvisational skills guarantee no two shows are alike. Critics have said Josh is not a cerebral palsy comic, he's a comic who happens to have cerebral palsy. However, closest friends still describe him as a d-bag.

Erik Weihenmayer:
It's just good to dive into people's stories, but also no barriers. Obviously, the barriers people have broken through and you've obviously broken through amazing barriers and you're crushing it. You never are this, but we don't like to be a motivational poster. I love real stuff and what people have really learned along the way and-

Jeff Evans:
That's awesome, man. I know that you don't try to be a motivational guy because I remember the first time I heard you, I was in the crowd at the Summit the first year you were there. What year was that?

Erik Weihenmayer:
Yeah, you entertained us two years at the No Barrier Summit. We were honored that you were there both times, man.

Josh Blue:
I was honored too, man. So fun, man.

Jeff Evans:
Was it Utah?

Josh Blue:
I think I did the Park City, and I did the one... Was it Breckenridge?

Erik Weihenmayer:
In Winter Park.

Josh Blue:
Oh, Winter Park.

Jeff Evans:
Yeah, so I remember Park City, and I remember being in the audience, and you were just irreverent as hell, and I was literally sitting in the back, cackling laughing. And then there was a few people who were like, "Whoa."

Erik Weihenmayer:
Well, yeah. You're always probably going to have those guys, right, like a couple of people squirming?

Jeff Evans:
Yeah, but at the Summit though, you want to make people squirm a little bit.

Josh Blue:
Well, those are the people that need to hear it the most. You know what I mean? If you're squirming, you're not learning.

Erik Weihenmayer:
So just I'll reveal something when you came to that first No Barriers. See, I always thought that you had to express this No Barriers idea with speeches about motivation, and when you came out to the Summit, there was also this guy named Mark Goffeney. He had no arms and he freaking drove his way from California to Colorado, and he took off his shoes and he plugged his amps all in with his feet, and he started rocking out. Remember that guy?

Josh Blue:
That dude's badass.

Erik Weihenmayer:
I mean, and then you came out-

Jeff Evans:
Foot playing guitar.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Playing guitar, but not a little bit, like killing it. Not strumming, full-on-

Josh Blue:
Shredding it.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Shredding it, right? And then you came out and you lifted everyone, you elevated people.

Jeff Evans:
But you did it in an irreverent way.

Erik Weihenmayer:
You did it in a irreverent way, but in this way that everyone connected with, everyone in the audience connected, and except a few people squirming and learning, I guess.

Jeff Evans:
I think they connected too.

Josh Blue:
I think they connected too. That's the beautiful thing about it. It makes them uncomfortable, but not too far where you can't enjoy the funny side of it.

Erik Weihenmayer:
But it was my first... I mean, you helped me grow because I said, "This No Barriers thing, you don't have to express it through speeches, you can do it through music, you can do it through humor, through irreverence." There's a million ways to express this thing, and so for me, that was a huge game changer, and the way we run No Barriers now, because the last thing I want to hear is that motivational person. I want to hear the real stuff.

Josh Blue:
Well, yeah. I just think that motivational shit doesn't work. I mean, you can, "Oh, this is my story and pay attention." Nobody gives a fuck. They really don't. I mean, at the moment, it's cool, but I swear, I'd much rather... My thing is I always say, "Sure, you take a lot from my show, but you almost don't even realize that you're learning anything because you're just laughing the whole time."

Jeff Evans:
Do you create humor with sort of a double narrative in the background, or do you just assume that that's going to be part of it, learning process you're talking about? Do you write jokes so that you somehow will subtly influence people, or?

Josh Blue:
Some of them. Some jokes with that intention, but ultimately, my goal is just being as funny as possible.

Jeff Evans:
So if it happens, it happens.

Josh Blue:
Right, but then ultimately, I find what makes people laugh the hardest is the realest shit and the stuff that really jars them and go, "Oh, I do think of that this way, or I do underestimate a disabled person when I see them just because that's what I was taught to do." And meanwhile, I'm going through your pockets and trying to fuck your girlfriend.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Exactly. The way you do comedy is really... The many times I've heard you, it's amazing, because I mean, you're just talking about your life and funny shit that happens along the way.

Josh Blue:
Right. Yeah, well, a lot it is just, I mean, just based in reality, just all the random shit that's happened to me day-to-day. I just go outside and it writes itself. And then finding the way to bring that to stage and make it accessible to everyone in a way that they can relate too in their own personal story.

Jeff Evans:
In a succinct way too, right?

Josh Blue:
Right. I mean, in as few words as possible. A joke is just a story with all the fat taken out of it, zero fat and my jokes, that's my ultimate goal is just set it up, knock it down. Here comes another one.

Erik Weihenmayer:
How'd you figure out that blend? You know what I mean? Because I remember hearing this blind comic one time, and all he did was blind jokes, but they were gimmicky kind of blind jokes like, "Good to see out there," and it felt so goofy.

Jeff Evans:
He used that same one all the time.

Erik Weihenmayer:
But I'm goofy, I'm not a comedian.

Josh Blue:
Right, he can get away with it.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Yeah, exactly. But the way you do it is so... You're laughing, and it's so authentic the stuff you talk about, the way you make people laugh. You nailed the balance.

Josh Blue:
Yeah. I mean, again, I'm telling you things that I think are funny. I'm telling you my perspective and just my take on it. And I always say this, Yeah, I got palsy and my body works differently than other people, but I have the exact right brain for this body because I'm able to deal with what I have to deal with, and not just deal with it, but have a laugh about it not be pissed off or sad or upset or woe is me bullshit."

Jeff Evans:
Do you feel like in part that that came out of you as a way to manage or from a defense mechanism emotionally in any way, or no?

Josh Blue:
Sure. I mean, I've had that question before and I think it's definitely something that is a logical explanation of why, but I've always been funny. Ever since I was a little kid, my friends would be pissing their pants, and I did get in trouble because I made them laugh too hard, and I was like, "This is the gift I had," but then obviously, there's evolution to figuring it out. And then as you get older, junior high, and you start figuring out, "Oh, I can use this to my advantage," and I could... And then high school's like I was friends with everybody, there was very few bullies to me because I'd verbally fuck them up in front of everybody and everyone would laugh at them, and they're like, "I don't want that cripple kid to make fun of me again."

Jeff Evans:
Nobody wanted to joust with you.

Josh Blue:
Right, yeah.

Jeff Evans:
And let's just say, as far as your dude play with the ladies, it works, right?

Josh Blue:
Yeah. I mean, that's the thing is there's a lot of angst and woe in high school, but that's anybody because nobody wants to be different in high school, right? I mean, I was obviously different. I was making it okay in that way, but to step out and like, "Oh, you're actually dating the dude?" But then I got to college and everything changes like, "Oh, yeah. Different is good." And I mean, definitely had a good time in college.

Jeff Evans:
Did all right?

Josh Blue:
Yeah, it was fun.

Erik Weihenmayer:
When did you decide that you were going to do this professionally?

Josh Blue:
Be a player, or what?

Erik Weihenmayer:
Yeah, exactly.

Jeff Evans:
That's what he was asking.

Josh Blue:
No, I actually started studying stand-up in college. I went to a really liberal arts hippie college in Olympia, Washington called the Evergreen State College. So there you can create your own courses, so I actually studied stand-up my senior year, and pretty cool. I mean, honestly, I'm one of the only people I know that takes you working in the field they studied in.

Erik Weihenmayer:
And did you go out and test it out in the beginning?

Josh Blue:
Basically, the idea was I would study all the greats, so it was a lot of renting Richard Pryor VHS and getting high, and fucking watching it. But it's different when you watch a stand-up not just laugh, but to pick it apart, "Oh, look at how he stood when he delivered that. Look at the timing. Look at the silence. Look at the lack of silence. Look at the pausing." To study stand-up that way is definitely interesting thing. I will say it has really fucked up my ability to watch stand-up now because I can't really just enjoy it, I'm constantly like, "Where are they going with this? What are they doing?" So then I did that, and then part of my curriculum that I said I would do is I'd get a weekly show and start performing. Basically, I found a band that was playing in a coffee shop every Tuesday.

Jeff Evans:
This is very Evergreen.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, and then they had two bands. So they wanted me to do the middle spot between the bands, like a 10 minute while they changed out. And then the first week I went, it was packed out, I did my set and then everybody left for the band. It was their thing. And then that happened again the next week, and then the owner was like, "Everybody's clearly just here to see you, so you need your own night." So they gave me the Josh Blue hour every Wednesday, and I packed it out every week and I was doing a new hour every week, which is not a thing that anyone should possibly try do. I just didn't know that's not what you did. Finally, someone was like, "I was a comic for a while. You kind of got to say the same jokes again and do them until they get better." I was like, "Oh, okay!"

Erik Weihenmayer:
You were doing new material every-

Josh Blue:
Every week. I did eight weeks of that.

Jeff Evans:
But that's when you said, "This could be my jam going forward professionally."

Josh Blue:
Yeah, I mean, it's weird to see a thing... I don't know. I won't say... Evergreen doesn't have a big man on campus, but I was the dude that everybody knew. I was the dude with a soccer ball. I went everywhere with a soccer ball, kicking it everywhere, playing with everybody, social experiments, just waiting on the main square and just juggling the ball, and then people would come, and then they join the circle and play, or if somebody is walking by too much in their head, you kick it to their feet and get them out of it like, "Hey, come play with us." Just watch people evolve. And then the next day they walk by, they'll either come or they'll avoid the whole thing, and you're like, "I see you!"

Erik Weihenmayer:
Was your comedy different back then? If you could hear yourself back then, how would it sound?

Josh Blue:
I would gouge my eyes out, and just scream.

Jeff Evans:
Is it recorded? Can you?

Josh Blue:
Yeah, there's some VHS of it. It's brutal. I'm sitting at a table, I'm not even standing up, and it was just because I had to fill the time. Just a very storyteller style. So just telling stories about being a camp counselor. As a counselor for four years in Minnesota at this camp for inner city youth, and it was a real primitive camp, no electricity, and then we'd do these three day canoe trips where I'd be in charge with another person on the river like, "Bye! Hopefully we'll see you at camp." But then just all the stories of these inner city kids getting in, "You want me to get in a boat with that man? I'm not getting on the river with that dude," and just all these stories about the adventures there, and then Africa. I was born in Cameroon and lived in Senegal when I was 15, and I went back to Senegal in college through Evergreen, again another course I studied. I did an internship at a zoo in Dakar and told a bunch of Africa Zoo stories, like the white man zookeeper.

Jeff Evans:
So you weren't really doing stand-up then per se, literally or figuratively, but you were just throwing material out and you're like, "This could be better."

Josh Blue:
Yeah. Well, I mean, I didn't even know how bad it was, but the thing is, people-

Erik Weihenmayer:
But that's the beauty of it. If you did know, you might have been intimidated. There's a beauty in just being fresh and new, and not knowing everything.

Josh Blue:
Right, but the crazy thing is it was still filled up. People came every fucking week. It filled up. So it wasn't as bad as... Again, it's terrible to watch now, but at the time, among your peers that are the same age as you. You know what I mean?

Jeff Evans:
You're an artist, right? You consider yourself an artist, you do different modalities too other than comedy? Do you do [crosstalk 00:18:38].

Josh Blue:
I do painting.

Jeff Evans:
You have that artistic mind.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, I do woodcarving, big old totems and African masks.

Jeff Evans:
Well, so as an artist, I think every artist has to take chances, right? And what happens with you when you write material and you test it out... Nowadays, I'm not talking early on, but nowadays you write content and you throw it out to a room. Can you tell when an audience really is digging the humor, and whether that's a keeper or whether that's a throwaway as soon as it leaves your mouth?

Josh Blue:
Definitely, yeah. I've never written anything down. I just go up and I'm like, "Okay."

Erik Weihenmayer:
You said that when you were in front of us last time, and I was like, "He's got to be lying."

Jeff Evans:
What?

Josh Blue:
Nah, I've never written any of this shit down.

Jeff Evans:
Hold on a second. You were creating all that content, all that material week after week, and none of it's written down at all?

Josh Blue:
No.

Jeff Evans:
Did you have the ability to pull that out? You could still pull out those jokes from 10 years ago or whatever?

Josh Blue:
I mean, I'd have to watch my special to get a refresher.

Jeff Evans:
But maybe? But it sits in there somewhere?

Josh Blue:
Oh, yeah. It's in there somewhere.

Jeff Evans:
So you don't document any of it? All right.

Josh Blue:
So I'm about to release my fifth our special this year. I've never written any of it down. By that rationale, the way I write is like, "Oh, I have an idea," and then I'll just bring it to the stage. And I mean, I do over 200 shows a year, so most people have to go to work out a new joke at an open mic or something, whereas I'm like, "I'm doing so many... I'm doing five hours a week of shows." I just put in a new thing in the middle or something just to see if it works, and then if it gets a laugh, there's a couple of different... To your question, it comes out, it gets a big laugh, you're like, "Oh, yeah. That's a winner," or it comes out, it kind of gets a laugh, and you're like, "Okay, I'll try it again tomorrow, say it differently," so you go and say it differently. And then it slowly evolves in that way. I did that this weekend with a story about my girlfriend. We were driving somewhere and my girlfriend's the sweetest person, never mad about anything, but she was pissed for some reason. She's just venting, and then we drive by this couple and they were super beautiful dressed up so nice, and then she goes, "And they look beautiful and we look like shit," and I was like, "We do? This is what I look like all the time."

Jeff Evans:
It's an indictment.

Josh Blue:
Right. So it worked, but it's not there yet. You can see how that's funny, but I got to find a way to make it so tight.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Maybe you can embed it in a bunch of other stuff that you know is perfect, right?

Josh Blue:
Well, the key is... I mean, what I'm finding is with that joke, I said, "I do?" and then people felt bad that she was saying that I look bad. Whereas, "We do," puts it on us. There's a lot of little... Even words of it. You have to figure out how to make them not feel bad, but see the humor, make her still look good.

Jeff Evans:
Because me as an audience member, I want you to talk poorly about yourself, more than talk poorly about her. I want to look at her in a positive light. I see what you're saying.

Josh Blue:
You always want to throw yourself under the bus as opposed to making someone... But if you make fun of yourself enough, then it opens the door to then be able to kick a old man down a flight of stairs, if you want to. Whatever. So by me showing them that I don't take this shit seriously, then I can then bring others into it, and I think that's where the education part comes in because all of a sudden, I'm pointing it out to you, where you're like, "Oh, fuck. I am that guy."

Jeff Evans:
I am that guy, yeah.

Erik Weihenmayer:
So when you were a camp counselor, right? So these inner city kids show up and you got CP. I lead these No Barriers trips, and I show up and they're like, "You're blind." You know what I mean? So I kind of like relate. Did you have to explain yourself? You have to, at first, get it out of the way, and you said this up on stage, you're like, "The reason I make some of these jokes is because the audience is probably wondering does he know?" I think that... I mean, I'm totally hideously messing up your joke, but when these kids show up, you kind of have to learn to explain yourself proactively, get it out of the way so that everyone's cool, right?

Josh Blue:
Well, you know what's funny is I went the opposite way, and I would just go make them even more scared.

Jeff Evans:
Like what?

Josh Blue:
Well, they'd all come in and get off the bus, and then you go to the circle and you pass the paddle around and introduce yourself, and I'd be like, "My name's Top Saw," and just like, "I'm in crew B, and I can't wait to meet you." And they're like, "Holy fuck. I don't want to be in crew B, I know that much." And then when they get to you, and then you're nice and not that, they're like, "Oh, thank God he was just fucking around." But then it leaves the door open to still do that kind of shit, where like, "I'm going to like listen to this dude because he's obviously a psychopath."

Jeff Evans:
He could go either way at any moment, so I need to be I need to be more attentive.

Josh Blue:
But again, it would be three day canoe trips, two nights. It was back before cellphones, so it'd just be like, "Okay, good luck." I can't even take care of myself, why am I in charge of these kids? We did a incident where a girl got hypothermia. It was a nice hot day, she fell in the river with her sweatsuit on, and then left it on, and then the sun went down and it just gave her the chills and she got hypothermia. My fellow camp counselor and I were reading the... Chills, losing consciousness, death, and we're like, "Death?" And we're both like, "What the fuck are we going to do?" So I just ran off into the woods, just ran and found a house two miles into the woods, just had to find somewhere.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Someone to help?

Jeff Evans:
Oh. I thought you were just running away from the situation, just like, "I'm out of here. This is too much."

Erik Weihenmayer:
Too much happening, I'm gone.

Josh Blue:
I'll dig the hole.

Jeff Evans:
You went and got a shovel. You came back with a shovel. Perfect.

Josh Blue:
Okay. Ready, ready.

Jeff Evans:
No, then you realized you're a camp counselor and the remedy for hypothermia with wet clothes is you got to get them buck naked, and you're like, "Now what do I do? Because this is very inappropriate. I don't think this was in the send off."

Josh Blue:
Yeah. It was a girl's week, and my fellow camp counselor was female. So you do that part, I'll run into the woods.

Jeff Evans:
Yeah, you went into the woods. That's probably the best play.

Erik Weihenmayer:
I was a camp counselor as well, and one time I left a kid in the McDonald's bathroom. Yeah, we got on the bus. I didn't do the count, and we get back to camp and I didn't even notice he was gone ever. Somebody told me later like, "Yeah, he found his way back." That was my last camp counselor leadership opportunity.

Josh Blue:
Well, maybe don't have the blind guy doing the count either.

Erik Weihenmayer:
And then when I heard you as well, some lady goes to the bathroom and you were like, "Let's all wait and check it out." Is that stuff ad-libbed, or is that... Do you always have somebody leave for the bathroom?

Josh Blue:
Oh, at the shows? So basically, somebody during my show got up and left and I was like, "I'll just wait for you to come back," and then I do, and it's like-

Erik Weihenmayer:
And it's like an Andy Kaufman kind of thing. My buddy told me, he was sitting next to me, he's saying your facial expressions... That's lost on me, but he was trying to describe. He said you got the facial expressions and the eyes so funny. So is that just natural?

Josh Blue:
I mean, that's one that I've done a bunch, but that is one too that took me a long time to actually wait. I'd get halfway through and be like, "All right." But now, I can-

Jeff Evans:
You really wait it out.

Josh Blue:
I wait the whole time, and it's like-

Erik Weihenmayer:
It's funny.

Josh Blue:
And you heard it, they laugh when you say it, and I'm waiting and then everyone's like, "Is he really doing this?"

Jeff Evans:
Then it becomes uncomfortable, but then it becomes funny.

Erik Weihenmayer:
It's uncomfortably funny.

Josh Blue:
Right, and then it just up and down. I mean, the one time I did it, and the woman never came back. Just gone.

Erik Weihenmayer:
I think that might have been our show. The show I saw, yeah. Yeah, she never came back.

Jeff Evans:
At some point, you've just kind of got to break it then.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, you go, "All right. Well, I guess she died. I don't know."

Jeff Evans:
Well, you got kids, right?

Josh Blue:
I do, yeah. Two kids. My son Simon is 11, and Seika is nine.

Jeff Evans:
11 and nine. Do they laugh at you?

Josh Blue:
Not necessarily in the right ways, but yes.

Jeff Evans:
Derek and I commiserate with our kids because we feel like out in the regular world, we can make people laugh a little bit and engage them, and our kids could give a shit about anything we say or do.

Josh Blue:
Well, yeah. No, that's true. Same for me. It's interesting though because there's that comedy radio here in Denver, Comedy 103 or whatever.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Yeah, I've heard you on there.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, that's my son's favorite station, so it's like he gets to hear my material and he thinks that's funny, but... It's cool, his friends at school like, "I heard your dad on the radio." It's pretty cool thing to have a radio station dedicated just to comedy. It's like having your song on the radio.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Yeah. So your kids are like, "That guy's cool." So as a parent, I relate to this. I remember wanting to play games with my kids, and I was like, "I can't play catch with my son," and I'll try to play soccer and I remember I wrapped up a soccer ball with a plastic bag, and I was playing soccer with my daughter so I could hear it crinkling as it rolled, and I just went to kick the ball and I missed the ball and I kicked my five year old daughter in the knees, and she just was like, "Dad," and I just... It was one of those moments where you're like-

Josh Blue:
Okay.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Yeah. Like, "Oh, man." And I don't know how to turn things into comedy. I was fucking crying almost. I mean, what's it like for your situation as a parent?

Josh Blue:
Well, you remember that I played in the Paralympic soccer team, so-

Jeff Evans:
How many goals did you score?

Erik Weihenmayer:
And he knows the answer already because we read your bio. Oh, when you were in the finals.

Josh Blue:
Oh, in the Olympics?

Jeff Evans:
Oh, in the Olympic team, yeah.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, I thought you meant in my career.

Erik Weihenmayer:
In your whole career. Yeah, start with that.

Josh Blue:
I think I did 13.

Jeff Evans:
All right, all right. In your career? Sorry, I was going off the...

Josh Blue:
No, the Olympics we didn't score shit, man.

Jeff Evans:
Got to represent.

Josh Blue:
Yeah. Obviously, there are some things that I wish I could do with my kids, but for the most part, I'm still getting on the trampoline and jumping with them and doing all that stuff. My daughter does ballet and it's so fucking boring. It's really not entertaining.

Jeff Evans:
No? Not to watch, not to do?

Josh Blue:
No.

Jeff Evans:
But she loves it?

Josh Blue:
I guess.

Erik Weihenmayer:
And you show up when you're not on the road?

Josh Blue:
I have to, yeah.

Erik Weihenmayer:
That's honest.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, it's true. I don't give a shit. It's boring. How about some soccer?

Jeff Evans:
Or some BJJ, or some martial arts or something.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, my son does Taekwondo, and that's a little more entertaining to watch, but not much. Maybe I'm just a bad parent. I don't know.

Jeff Evans:
What if your boy, who obviously has shown a propensity for comedy, what if he were to get into the family industry?

Josh Blue:
I mean, I don't have anything against that. I honestly think my daughter has much better timing than him, but besides that...

Erik Weihenmayer:
Is she thinking about it?

Josh Blue:
I think she's thought about it. I mean, she's funny. She's naturally funny, whereas my boy tries to be funny. She's a natural. And he's funny too, it's just a different level of... There's natural comics and there's comics that have to work at it.

Jeff Evans:
Where would you put you in that?

Josh Blue:
I'm fortunately in the nature, which is like I say, there's not too many people that don't write it down. I don't think Chappelle writes anything down. But then there's a George Carlin, who wrote everything down meticulously. Yeah, so it was like a different way of doing.

Erik Weihenmayer:
So back to comedy, you talk a lot about the crazy things. The first time I heard you... All the times, but the first time I remember it making the biggest impression, all the crazy stuff that happens to you as somebody with a disability, but the way you told the stories were just connecting. And I know you've said earlier that you're just trying to be funny, but a byproduct is that I walked out of that room not only having laughed, but I felt elevated, I felt like, "This guy's talking to me." So is that just a byproduct, or?

Josh Blue:
I feel like it is a byproduct. I mean, again, there's certain jokes that I will think about, "Okay, how does this affect the overall education of the world?" I don't want to put anything out there that's going to have a disabled community step backward. I'm only trying to push forward this narrative of like, "Wow, I never thought of it that way, and now I do." So I feel like it is a byproduct of it because it's not... Like I said, I don't write this down. I always said, "if I ever like wrote this down, I might be really good at this." It's like, "If I gave a shit, maybe I'd be better," but I get standing ovations.

Jeff Evans:
Yeah, don't change what's not busted.

Josh Blue:
Right. That's what I was saying, that's where the joke is, it's like-

Erik Weihenmayer:
Have you ever pissed off a community? As a comedian, you're always trying to push the envelope, right? And if you don't write things down, you're trying new things out. Have you ever stepped over the line, just totally pissed off a group of blind people, or?

Josh Blue:
Sure. Usually one at a time, but yeah. No, what I've come to find is that if anybody has a problem with what I'm saying... It hasn't happened a lot, but where it does, it's like, "I have a friend in a wheelchair, and I take offense to what you're saying," and I'm like, "Why don't you ask your friend in the wheelchair how they feel about this? Because I'm pretty sure I'm speaking right to them about it." I guess as far as a community that I've consciously tried to not offend is the mentally disabled community. I used to use the word retarded or retard in my show, and I just found that it was upsetting enough to enough people for me to go, "Okay, I shouldn't use that." And again, I would never use it to step us back, but just the word itself was-

Jeff Evans:
It had its connotations.

Josh Blue:
Right, and I do have a joke where I use that word now, but it's in a way that... It's hard to explain it. Did I do it when you-

Erik Weihenmayer:
I think I've heard it. I feel like I've heard it maybe.

Jeff Evans:
I think I might've too because it was a couple like, "Whoa. All right."

Erik Weihenmayer:
But you're kind of addressing it.

Josh Blue:
Well, basically I say... Just trying to say it.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Let's just go ahead and do it. Let's go for it.

Jeff Evans:
Just do it.

Josh Blue:
So I say, "You guys are going to be mad as hell in 10 years when you find out I don't have cerebral palsy," and the crowd's like, "Oh." And I was like, "Yeah, that would make national news, right? Josh Blue doesn't have cerebral palsy." There would just be America collectively go, "This motherfucker. See, I told you use too funny to be a 'tard," and then it gets a laugh but a groan, and I go, "Oh, don't you dare get mad at me. You said that about me, and that's hurtful." It's putting it on them as opposed to... I feel like it's still very abrasive and very punch you in the face, but all sudden, you're like, "I am the asshole."

Jeff Evans:
Because part of what you're doing is you're disarming and desensitizing and almost putting a mirror up to a certain extent, right? You're asking people to look at how they perceive disability. Is that accurate?

Josh Blue:
Yeah. So my friend Jenny in college actually said this, and it wasn't about my stand-up because I wasn't really doing stand-up, she goes, "What you do is reverse teasing, where everybody thinks you're making fun of yourself, but really, you're making fun of them." So I was kind of that weird... That's why it's so disarming, I think, is because you think I'm making fun of myself, but really, I just want you to acknowledge that you're laughing at this because you have that thought already.

Jeff Evans:
Perfect.

Erik Weihenmayer:
I mean, you're crushing it now, but when you did Last Comic Standing and you were closer to the beginning of your career, you were like... I mean, you're still a pioneer, but you've opened a lot of doors for people, but back then it must have been more scary. You were stepping farther out of the box a while back. Were you ever afraid? You say, "I don't give a shit," but were you ever afraid, or just like, "Oh, man. I mean, am I doing the right thing here?"

Josh Blue:
I mean, there's always going to be questions in any career of what you're doing or why you're doing it or if you should still be doing it, but I feel like it was at such a high velocity and fast-paced, just rocket ship that I was on, I didn't really have any time to think about that sort of thing just because Last Comic was the... It was said to be, I think, 10 or 11 episodes, and their ratings were so good they just kept dragging the show on so people would keep watching.

Jeff Evans:
And you were along for the ride.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, and I was along for the ride, and it was rocket ship because I was already booked pretty solid before I got on that show, and then all of a sudden, I'm on the show and people are like, "We want him next week." So I'd be in Long Beach filming, leave for three days, do shows, come back and film the next episode, and then do that, sell out these shows, and then come back, and then it's just like... I mean, honestly, it's kind of been like that since 2006. I mean, obviously not doing the filming part, but I'm on a plane every four days.

Jeff Evans:
So how often now do you field the social media or just straight-up inquiries of people who say, "Josh, you're my hero, bro. I was living a very, very dark life, and thank you for shedding light." I'm sure that happens.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, man. So I respond to everything. I have messages on my Facebook and Instagram, and I answer all those myself.

Jeff Evans:
And that does happen, right?

Josh Blue:
Oh, yeah. For sure. There's a whole bit about that too, where it's just like people say the most insane things. I mean, I don't know how many times I've had, "I had a gun in my mouth, and I turned on comedy for one last try. You made me not do it." I was like, "Okay. Well, fuck. Thanks for telling me that."

Erik Weihenmayer:
That's a lot of pressure.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, what am I supposed to do with that? Go be funny. I mean, I get probably three of those a month, things like that, or like, "my dad was dying of cancer. We watched your stuff together. Thank you for making him laugh." Good Christ. It's cool, but it's also just another byproduct of this. You know what I mean? I didn't go out there to do that. It's taken me a long time to embrace that because again, that's a lot of weight on a pothead's shoulders.

Jeff Evans:
You dig it now though, right? I mean, you're into it. You know you're changing lives, even though it is a byproduct? I get it, but...

Josh Blue:
Yeah. No, I won't say, "Dig it," but I get it and I understand it, and I'm able to process it in a way where I don't just delete them.

Erik Weihenmayer:
And with CP, you probably don't want to get pigeonholed. So if you come to a No Barriers event where there's a lot of people with different kinds of challenges, do you like that or do you like being in the mainstream? You know what I mean? Every disability group under the sun probably wants you to come in and connect with their group.

Josh Blue:
Sure, and that's the amazing thing is I've kind of... I won't say I've become the poster child, but it's that sort of thing of I'm not just representing palsy, I'm representing all of us, which is, again, a weird position to be in [inaudible 00:43:02] the voice because... And again, that's why I always said I don't ever want to put us in a light that makes us look bad. That's why I never say anything-

Jeff Evans:
Yeah, you didn't ask for that role. You didn't, right? I mean, you just liked comedy. You're a funny dude, you just happen to have palsy, so you've been sort of pushed into this role, like it or not.

Josh Blue:
Well, the other hard part is I am kind of pigeonholed. Like the industry, I'll just be real. If any other able-bodied comic was selling out shows the way I do all over the country, they would have heat all over them to do something, whereas they don't give me the time of day in LA. So I'll give you an example. All right, so I did the Montreal Comedy Festival. Huge, right? I did that last year, first time in my career, whereas anyone else that was doing what I was doing would have been the face of that those years. Last Comic, I would have been their shining star. So they didn't do it forever, then I finally put my foot down and told my agent, I'm like, "I'll have to move on if you can't get me on this." So they pulled a bunch of strings, made them do it, and I was like, "Why did this take so long?" I asked them that, and they said, this is their feedback, they said, "We just don't know where he would fit into this festival."

Jeff Evans:
What is that code for?

Josh Blue:
Right. So that's just saying that I guess it's basically they only see me as a disabled comic that talks about disabled topics. So again, I get that a lot, "Oh, he talks too much about palsy," but you'd never say that to a black comic about talking about their life or a woman or a fat person making fat jokes. This is the only thing that, for some reason, when I mentioned, it's too much. Because you saw the show. Well, you didn't see it, but you heard the show.

Erik Weihenmayer:
I smelled the show.

Josh Blue:
He smelled the show, the man-musk.

Jeff Evans:
Your brand, it just permeates.

Erik Weihenmayer:
I mean, the way you fit in, you're a comedian who crushes it.

Josh Blue:
Right, crushes it hard. So that got my blood boiling, right? So then I'm at the festival, I'm doing this William H. Macy Gala, big old show, and I'm in the middle. William H. Macy comes out, he goes, "This is my favorite comic of the night," introduces me, I murder that thing. I had that blood boiling rage like, "I'll show you why I'm fucking here and this is where I fucking fit in." And I got a standing ovation on a seven minute set. I came offstage, big wigs from the festival comes up, pats me on the head and goes, "You're so courageous," and I about punched an old man in the face. So to me, that was the moment where I was like, "Oh, okay. It's never going to happen for me that way. I'm going to have to go do this again my own way, go around all these fucks and show them this is the viewership that I have." That thing got me mad. So if I ever need to get amped up, I think about-

Erik Weihenmayer:
Think about getting pat on the head. Uh-huh (affirmative).

Josh Blue:
But I was the only one that got a standing ovation on the show. Again, that was his genuine reaction.

Erik Weihenmayer:
But that kind of thing you said becomes fuel, right? But in a way, it's angry fuel. Maybe it's not the best fuel, but it works.

Josh Blue:
It's murderous level of fuel.

Erik Weihenmayer:
I was on this TV show, and it was blind people who'd done amazing things.

Jeff Evans:
Was it just the one of you?

Erik Weihenmayer:
No, there was seven of us, and one lady was blind and helped somebody out of a fire, but really, two medics were carrying the person out of the fire and she was running along behind him, giving directions or something. And then one lady was... I don't know, but I hated it. I hated being on there with other blind people who had done extraordinary things. That was my pat on the head. I was just like, "I know I'm being honored right now for being extraordinary, but I hate this," and it's such a catch-22 because I was getting exposure on a TV show, and it's good for my career maybe. I don't know.

Josh Blue:
Well, that's the thing is that's their level of acknowledging your success, where in fact, they're undermining it like, "Look at how they were able to do something."

Jeff Evans:
It's so courageous.

Erik Weihenmayer:
I was. I was courageous.

Josh Blue:
You still are, buddy.

Jeff Evans:
So you'd mentioned though that because that interaction with that one douchebag that it told you that you would have to circumvent the system and continue to do it on your own terms? And what does that mean?

Josh Blue:
Well, I can't wait for them. They're never going to come to me and go, "Hey, you're perfect for our thing." I have to go out and create. Okay, let's just say YouTube. I just have to blow up YouTube. So I got to build a YouTube channel, I've been putting things on, and it's getting... There's millions of views on some of them you know. Well, that's the way you got to do it nowadays, number one, just because that's how the world is working. There's so many different like TikTok and Instagram, and this and that, but I think this YouTube thing is my new favorite way because, one, you don't need a producer, you don't need any of that. You just do your own shit. Put it on there, and if people like it, they like it. And it's growing 100 people a day right now on subscribers, which is pretty monstrous. But again, until I have a million followers on that then that's when you start making money for sure.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Yeah, you have a ton of subscribers.

Jeff Evans:
You also write your own ticket after that too. I mean, you have a lot more control.

Josh Blue:
Well, then I can go, "Fuck you, Montreal. I guess I don't need you."

Jeff Evans:
Here's your courageous.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, exactly. I'll start my own festival.

Erik Weihenmayer:
But it's a complex sort of subtle formula too, right? As a blind climber, I got attention because I'm a blind guy. You're talking about your life, you're working it. You know what I mean? It's funny stuff that happens to you, but there's a fine line, right? It's a subtlety that you're constantly probably walking, right?

Josh Blue:
Right. I mean, that's the thing about it though. Everything I talk about comes from the perspective of a guy with cerebral palsy. That's what I know.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Yeah, and anybody would do that, any comic would... That's what you do, right? Take the shit in your life and-

Josh Blue:
You talk about what you know. Let's just face it, why is it not okay for me to talk about palsy, right? Think about it. There's not too much taboo shit left in the world, a lot of stuff has been conquered, disability is still one of those ones where people are so uncomfortable, so awkward, just don't even know what to do with it. They don't know how to talk to you. I mean, I'm sure you had that. Can you hear me? I'm fucking blind, man. I can still hear you. People are still just so uneducated about it that they're afraid to even have it in their peripheral vision. I will say I've seen a lot more disabled people on TV over the last few years trying to incorporate wheelchairs and all that.

Jeff Evans:
Okay, so then here's a life-balance question. Erik and I are both on the road a fair bit too, but as I've gotten older, I don't like to be on the road that much, but you make your living on the road. So how do you strike that personal balance between knowing that you got to do four shows a week, but do you really have to, or do you want to be with your kids, or what does that look like for you?

Josh Blue:
I do the feel the call of wanting to leave the biggest stain on the planet if possible.

Jeff Evans:
What does that mean?

Josh Blue:
Like artwork, leave a, "What was that? That was Josh Blue. He made these African masks and his paintings. He has nine albums." And then I feel like that sided with I do feel the pressure of educating the world. I feel like I have this gift of being funny, and able to deliver a message that people need to hear, and who am I to not do it? I don't know if that makes.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Yeah, it makes total sense.

Josh Blue:
But try not to kill myself too because it's a lot of work.

Jeff Evans:
It's a lot sitting in airplanes and hotel beds and shitty bar food.

Josh Blue:
All that, yep.

Erik Weihenmayer:
And so you said the world's changing, probably some for the good, and you see more folks with disabilities out there doing everything, right? Have you ever taken another comic under your wing and mentored them, or maybe... I don't know. I'm no expert at all, but you see this guy on America's Got Talent, he's got some kind of disability and he's a comic, and do you take a guy like that under your wing, or anything?

Josh Blue:
Yeah, I have about six or seven comics that will take on the road with me, people that I love to work with. You probably saw the guy, John Novosad.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Love that guy.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, he's my mentor, but he opens for me. He's been in the game way longer than I have.

Erik Weihenmayer:
I always thought he looks a homeless dude.

Josh Blue:
Yeah, he looks really homeless.

Jeff Evans:
But he's genuinely funny.

Josh Blue:
He's just so funny. He's like the most consistent I know are, where it's just like, "He's on, let's go see him do his thing because do his thing because he... Goddamn it, that's funny." But then I have a bunch of young comics that I bring with me that I always... If you're funny and we get along, I want to give you the opportunity to just help you further your career. So I've been bringing this dude named Vishnu Vaka, and he's just been a delight on the road, and he's doing great. And from doing that, he's started getting re-booked and just all this stuff. And I am not one to watch your act too much. I just can't watch comedy.

Jeff Evans:
Too critical of it.

Josh Blue:
Right, right. But I'll watch five minutes at a time, and then I'll just give him... If I hear something, again, that analyzing thing, I'm like, "Have you thought of it this way?" And then it's really fun for me to help them develop their acts too. It's really cool. I take people that will take the chance too because a lot of people you're like, "Oh, you should change that," they'll be like, "No, I'm not changing that."

Erik Weihenmayer:
So have you see that, where somebody does change it to what you're thinking, and it works?

Josh Blue:
Yeah, it kills, and you're like, "Yeah, that's awesome." And then I've had where they tried it, and it just laid there like a dead fish, and I'm the only one in the back row laughing.

Jeff Evans:
Because in your mind, that shit's funny. Do you still get nervous at all ever?

Josh Blue:
Yeah, it just depends on the show, depends on the circumstances.

Jeff Evans:
Do you like that-

Erik Weihenmayer:
If you know a lot of people in the audience, does that make you more nervous?

Josh Blue:
Yeah, that does make me nervous. I was honestly more nervous for No Barriers than a normal show that I would do because I'm speaking for you guys in a way, and I want to make sure that it was how you felt. You know what I mean? That, to me is one of those ones I get a little like, "Okay, hopefully don't start a riot here." But yeah, the Tonight Show is definitely one of those ones where you're like, "Okay, dude. Don't fuck this one up."

Erik Weihenmayer:
And what's your plans for the future? What your dreams for the future? Just more, just make that stain bigger?

Josh Blue:
Yeah. Just want to keep doing it. I would like to slow down on the touring side of things. That doesn't mean not get out and do it, but go back to doing theaters as opposed to five shows in a week at a club, where I could just do one big theater, which would be nice. I mean, every show to me is like a chess match because I'm not writing it down, so it's pretty fluid. You can make moves anytime, anywhere, anything. And it's like I am good enough for what I do where I can just be fucking around. You're still laughing, but it's not like I'm going to play the most polished game of chess you've ever seen.

Jeff Evans:
It may be a little rough around the edges.

Josh Blue:
Right, but I think that's where I do a lot of my writing too in those moments where it is rough, and they present me with something, my retort is good enough to say again the next day.

Erik Weihenmayer:
So you got to be on. You can't just be going out of your head.

Josh Blue:
Right.

Erik Weihenmayer:
It forces you to be in, in the chess game. Well, last question from me, which is... And this a little bit esoteric, so forgive me if you're just like, "I have no idea." So you've just had a little bit of experience with There Are No Barriers community, but you're kind of a no barriers, dude, and so what's your definition of no barriers? What's your definition of a no barriers life, of the way you want to live, kind of what you want out of life?

Josh Blue:
Sure, man. I don't know. I just don't want to be told that I can't do something. That's my thing. I love, and I've always loved showing off, I guess, is one way to say it, but sporting-wise. When I was a kid, we used to play street football, and my friends would pick me first and then all the other kids were like, "Why are you picking the cripple guy first?" And then five touchdowns later, they're like, "Fuck! We can't cover that kid." That's always been my thing. I wanted to show these able-bodied fucks they ain't shit. No, I'm just kidding.

Jeff Evans:
You're not kidding. You're not kidding at all.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Of course not. Of course, it's not like that.

Josh Blue:
But I do that in everything I do. I mean, sports was really fun just because when you look at the way I move, you're like, "There's no way that guy is going to be faster than me," and then when I juke the shit out of you, you're just like, "What just happened?" That's a new perspective that they have.

Erik Weihenmayer:
That applies to the stage too, right? You get up there and you're like, "Oh, boy." People are a little nervous, or something right?" And you're like, "I'm going to juke you. I'm going to show you how I crush you."

Josh Blue:
Right, and that is it. Across the board, I love to do that to people. And not in a mean way. You know what I mean? I want you to think about your perspective that you just had and all of a sudden you're like, "Wait a minute. I didn't judge this right."

Jeff Evans:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). That's perfect, man. That's a good way to put a bow on that. You're pretty amazing, man. You're fighting the good fight. I know you know it probably, but keep doing it.

Josh Blue:
Fuck those barriers, man.

Jeff Evans:
Yeah, that's a new tagline.

Josh Blue:
Right on.

Jeff Evans:
You're the man. Thanks, Josh, for making time for us today. You're a busy dude, so we appreciate it.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Yeah, you're so busy, So it's cool that you're all the way out here in Golden, right?

Josh Blue:
Beautiful Golden.

Jeff Evans:
Thank you, Josh.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Thanks, man.

Josh Blue:
For sure.

Erik Weihenmayer:
All right.

Jeff Evans:
Erik, it's very clear when you're around a professional comedian how unfunny that you really are. That's the thing, Josh is authentically funny in his bones. He's just purely funny, and you and I really not that funny.

Erik Weihenmayer:
No, so I don't even try. That's-

Jeff Evans:
Yeah, you do.

Erik Weihenmayer:
I guess it's shock and awe. I just like sitting and appreciating.

Jeff Evans:
Yeah, the true artist.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Yeah, exactly. No, I mean, Josh is so cool because he has broken through barriers, and I think it's this thing that people struggle with, especially anybody with any kind of challenge, like what kind of life do I want to live? How much do I own this thing, and work it and use it as my advantage, but yet not cheapen it?

Josh Blue:
You guys know that I'm still here, right?

Erik Weihenmayer:
No, you're not here, dude.

Jeff Evans:
You're not here.

Josh Blue:
I can hear everything you're saying right now.

Jeff Evans:
You're breaking the third mirror, bro, by doing this.

Josh Blue:
Sorry, I just wanted to-

Jeff Evans:
Matter of fact, shut the fuck over there.

Josh Blue:
Okay, I'm sorry. This feels fucking awkward to be here.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Our producer's supposed to shove cotton in your ears.

Jeff Evans:
I thought you were deaf too, Josh. Jesus Christ.

Josh Blue:
Carry on, you two non-funny motherfuckers.

Jeff Evans:
All right.

Erik Weihenmayer:
So that's my takeaway, just how to live authentically, how to crush it, how to own it. I think people squirm and get uncomfortable with themselves, and it's nice to see folks who own it in a hilarious way and connect and make people feel better through humor, and when Josh came to the No Barrier Summit, I tell you, man, I walked out laughing so hard I was crying, but because I was connecting. You know what I mean? It's a huge talent to be able to do that. You walk away laughing, but you're uplifted.

Jeff Evans:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, he seems to... Josh, you-

Erik Weihenmayer:
He's still looking at us. Josh, quit looking at us.

Josh Blue:
Sorry, guys. Can I leave?

Erik Weihenmayer:
Don't you have a stand-up you need to go?

Josh Blue:
Can I go now?

Jeff Evans:
Can I say my piece first?

Erik Weihenmayer:
Yeah, say your piece.

Jeff Evans:
Yes thank you.

Erik Weihenmayer:
He'll just look at you uncomfortably.

Jeff Evans:
Yeah, that's okay.

Erik Weihenmayer:
Just turn away.

Jeff Evans:
I'm feeling so vulnerable. I think Josh has done a good job at flipping the mirror. You've done that to a certain extent, but he's done it with different tools. He's way more clever than you and a lot of people that have the ability and the platform to be able to turn the mirror and have people look at themselves, and that was very insightful where he mentioned that he's making the self-deprecating humor, but he's even got some bits in his stand-up, in his routine, that in a not so subtle way says. "I'm making fun of myself, but I'm making fun of you and how you look at me," and I think that that's pretty badass. That says something about the narrative that's out in the world today, and I commend him for crusading that and in doing it in a funny way while it's still sophisticated and intellectual. Is that happy, are you good with that?

Josh Blue:
I tuned you out, man.

Jeff Evans:
You weren't listening to me. Perfect. For once, you weren't listening to me now. Okay, good.

Erik Weihenmayer:
And humor is at the top of it all. You know what I mean? Because he's not trying to be motivational or trying to... He's out there making the world laugh with his life, and I like that. I want to do that. I'd like to do that, make people feel comfortable and turn that mirror.

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