Playing Koy
Comedian Jo Koy knows how to work a crowd — a laugh-til-you-cry-and-your-stomach-hurts crowd. Currently on his Funny is Funny World Tour, Koy is constantly coming up with new material, often mocking his audience and counting on them to roll with the punches.
Being named Stand-Up Comedian of the Year at the 2018 Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Charts for his stand-up comedy album Live from Seattle in 2019, having had four successful comedy specials on Comedy Central and Netflix, and continuously selling out arenas and theaters everywhere, Koy is living the life. But his journey to comedic success — one with obstacles and rejection — is no laughing matter.
“That was the hardest part, dealing with those adversities, feeling like it’s just not going to happen,” says Koy. “(What kept me going was) I just love stand-up. My love for stand-up was everything. No matter what, I was going to die doing this. I loved it that much.”
Born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, Koy, whose real name is Joseph Glenn Herbert, moved to Las Vegas with his family after high school and briefly attended UNLV. He started doing stand-up in 1989, performing at a small coffee house in Las Vegas, and took on the stage name Jo Koy, a nickname given to him by his aunt Evelyn (though he found out 30 years later that she was actually saying ‘Jo Ko’ which means ‘My Jo’ in Tagalog).
Refusing to give up, Koy eventually got his big break: his first appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2006, followed by what he lists as his second big break: shooting his own special.
“When I shot Live from Seattle, Netflix didn’t offer me a special, they said no to it,” he recalls. “So, I went and shot it by myself with my own money and brought it to Netflix. That was another adversity I had to get over because imagine the person you want to sell it to saying no to you, and still doing it no matter what just to try and convince them, and that’s what I ended up doing.”
Along the way, he grew a massive following of fans, becoming the only comedian to sell out six shows at The Warfield in San Francisco, breaking the attendance record at Club Regent Event Centre in Winnipeg, selling out five shows at the San Diego Civic Theatre (the most consecutive sold-out shows for a comedian), and performing more than 30 shows in one year at the Brea Improv in Orange County (the only comedian to do so). But the highlight of his career, he says, was selling out at the Los Angeles Forum and then Madison Square Garden for the New York Comedy Festival, and then being able to share those “pinch me” moments with his family.
“I flew my whole family out and having them walk out on stage with me as well, just so they could take it all in and feel my hard work and representation,” says Koy. “That was a crowning moment of my career.”
For the past decade, touring with his nieces and nephews has become a tradition. It’s his way of sharing his success with the next generation and, hopefully, inspiring them to aim high.
“Big moments like this, I don’t want to celebrate that on my own,” he explains. “I want these kids to know that I’m doing this for them. When I’m gone, this is for them. So, either you get inspired by it or enjoy this process that I went through and see what happens when you accomplish things.
“That’s how I want them to understand what I did, and I want them to carry that on with whatever they get successful with … enjoy this and remember we’re doing this for us … that’s a saying I always say to the kids: When one wins, we all win. You take care of your family. Family first.”
Then there’s his love for Hawai‘i, where in 2017, he sold out a record-breaking 11 shows and 23,000 tickets (the most by a single artist) at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall. The mayor of Honolulu even proclaimed Nov. 24 as Jo Koy Day.
“We were only going to do two shows and we ended up selling out 11, and it was just like this love was incredible,” he remembers. “It went from falling in love with Hawai‘i to just being like I have this connection with Hawai‘i now. It’s part of my soul. It’s part of my body.”
Since then, Koy has been coming back to the Aloha State regularly, selling out show after show at the Blaisdell Arena in 2018 (when he also filmed his second special for Netflix, Comin’ In Hot), 2019, 2021 and most recently this past February.
“Anyone who lives in Hawai‘i, they’re living a dream,” says Koy, who resides in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. “It’s so beautiful, so perfect. When you have that island soul inside of you, there’s just something about you. You live life different here. You’re happier. I’m happier when I’m in Hawai‘i.”
In his routines, Koy often tells stories about his mom, his Filipino culture (he’s half-Filipino, half-white) and his millennial child (son “Little Jo” turns 20 this month). And the audience — no matter their gender or race — find it funny.
“There’s nothing better than saying something and then somebody who is not Filipino going, oh my god, my mom does that too …,” says Koy. “We do that a lot, we see somebody that’s a different color or ethnicity, and all of a sudden, oh, they’re different, they’re not like us. Then you hear my story and you’re like, oh, @#$%&!, my mom does that too! (Like that blue Danish cookie tin moms hold on to as a storage container.)
“Moms are moms. It doesn’t matter what color they are, what religion, what ethnicity, moms are going to do mom s#!+, so that’s what I love about standup. I love being able to tell my truth and seeing people relate to it.”
Growing up, Koy says he always knew he was funny, but it wasn’t until he heard a Richard Pryor tape that he fell in love with comedy. Then, he saw Eddie Murphy: Delirious and that was it — he knew he wanted to do stand up for the rest of his life.
When he’s not stage, you can find Koy doing jiu jitsu with his son and spending too much time at the mall (and “too much money on Prada”). He also has a passion for shooting and editing but admits he hasn’t had the time for it.
Last year, he starred in the film Easter Sunday, and says he hopes to do more screen work in the future, including writing and directing a movie one day. For now, he’s busy bringing much-needed laughter to the world, while inspiring people to dream big.
“It’s what I always say to the kids whenever we do a toast or a cheer; dream big ’cause if you ain’t dreaming, you ain’t living,” says Koy. “It’s true. What’s living without a dream, right? I’m living my dream.”