June 8, 2026 • 48 mins
Joyelle enters the Comedy Archives in 2012 at the long since closed Red Star Bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. This was a show run by Annie Lederman. I love that we have Annie greeting Joyelle as she walks on stage and into the archives. Joyelle had two boxes of photos and we only got through one. Around the time of her taping, I began to realize that we just may not get through everything in one interview and that's perfectly fine. I've already seen her at a comedy show since we taped this interview. She headlined a show at the St. Nell's Reunion in Williamsport, PA. So we will have even more to discuss when she visits for a part two. Follow Joyelle. Watch her special on Peacock!
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Host
Mindy Tucker
Theme Song
Taking Pictures by Hula
Podcast Consulting
Seltzer Kings
Cinematographer
Eric Durkin
Editor/Sound
Jeremy Balon
Chief Administrative Officer
Jin Moon
Booking Consultant
Marianne Ways
Graphics
Howdy.nyc
Executive Producer
Mindy Tucker
Sponsor
Blonde Medicine
Special Thanks
Pat Byrne
Listen
Watch
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mindy Tucker (00:00):
With me today is Joyelle Johnson. Frankly, I
(00:04):
don't see how we're gonna getthrough all the photos that I've
taken of her. I also don't seehow we're gonna get through it
with a straight face. We laughedtogether all the fricking time,
and thank you for being here,friend.
Joyelle Johnson (00:17):
Oh my gosh. Hey buddy, I'm happy to be here. I'm
like already feeling like I'mabout to cry.
Mindy Tucker (00:36):
Alright. So Yeah. We're gonna start with box one.
Joyelle Johnson (00:40):
Oh my gosh. The box oh, see. Oh, Annie. I start
there like that.
Mindy Tucker (00:51):
Yeah, that's exactly it.
Joyelle Johnson (00:53):
Oh, look at Annie Leatherman. Look at both
of us. So very
Mindy Tucker (00:57):
what's funny is you enter the archives in
Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Yeah. Acouple of blocks from where we
are today.
Joyelle Johnson (01:06):
Really?
Mindy Tucker (01:07):
It would take us about three minutes to walk
there.
Joyelle Johnson (01:11):
Is this the first picture you took of me?
Mindy Tucker (01:13):
This, you enter the archives, yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (01:14):
Oh my gosh.
Mindy Tucker (01:15):
Yeah, you enter the archives. Annie Letterman
had a show at a place that's nolonger there. It was called Red
Star Bar. And I'm looking forthe date, 11/02/2012.
Joyelle Johnson (01:32):
Wow. Yeah. This is wow. Oh my gosh. It's been a
long time.
Oh yeah, because we both had, dowe both have gray hoodies on?
Yeah. I remember that hoodietoo, Brooklyn hoodie. I was so
proud of it with the microphone.Patrice O'Neil would roast me
because I, when I first started,I wear like little microphones,
(01:53):
and he'd be like, Oh, you wantus to think you're serious?
He would roast me. So I worethat sweatshirt with pride.
Mindy Tucker (02:04):
Yeah. So this is Red Star bar. And then I think
we have some performance photosfrom that night. I keep going.
Photos in there.
Yeah, you just
Joyelle Johnson (02:12):
keep Oh my goodness.
Mindy Tucker (02:14):
So we're gonna have some nights where we have
like a bunch of photos. Iincluded these because I just
think sometimes it's fun to havea moment where a comedian You
see the comedian bringing you onstage. And I just love that we
have Annie bringing you on stageand also bringing you into the
(02:34):
archives is so fun.
Joyelle Johnson (02:39):
Look at that. That is amazing. I barely
recognize this human being. I'mwearing glasses. I have since
had LASIK eye surgery.
Oh, wow. And it is since fadingand I might be back to glasses
soon again. Oh, I'm now thispicture. This is one of my
(02:59):
favorite pictures that you I wasusing that as promo for a very
long time. That was one of myfavorite pictures.
And I remember, oh, this is adifferent show. Okay. Yes. Wow.
Look at me.
Mindy Tucker (03:13):
And how long do you think you'd been doing
comedy at this point?
Joyelle Johnson (03:17):
That was 2012. I've been doing -TANCE
since 2007, so Okay. That fiveyears? -NANCY: Yeah. Am I
mathing?
Mindy Tucker (03:26):
So were you full time comic at this point?
Joyelle Johnson (03:29):
No, No. No, no. And I think I had just moved to
New York, so I'd been in NewYork about a year or so, and I
was just hitting it aggressivelydoing open mics. That was back
when I was still doing openmics.
Mindy Tucker (03:41):
-:
Joyelle Johnson (03:41):
Really? I don't miss that at all. Doing open
mics, doing bringer shows,barking. Luckily, I didn't have
to do barking or bringer showsthat many times. Shout out to
all the barkers in New York Cityand around the world.
Y'all are doing Lorde's work,and I was way too scared to
bark. And big, Excuse me, do youwanna go to a comedy show? No?
(04:04):
All right. I couldn't convinceanybody to come into a comedy
show.
I could not do it. No. No.Absolutely not. So I can't even
call, like, when you're callingfor a politician, calling cold
calling.
I panic every time somebody'sabout to answer the phone,
because I know they don't wannahear from me. Yeah. I don't
wanna bother people walking downthe street. No. Yeah.
(04:25):
So that oh, this was one of myfaves. Sorry to cover your face,
Annie, but I will.
Mindy Tucker (04:31):
That's one of my faves too. Yeah. And then the
next photo is gonna be fromfifty first Jokes in 2014. This
is 01/03/2014. Yes.
And this is your first fiftyFirst Jokes. Do you remember
Joyelle Johnson (04:48):
anything I about remember being terrified.
Fifty First Jokes is a showwhere all comedians are on stage
behind you. Yep. And I didn'tknow that
Mindy Tucker (05:00):
until I got you didn't
Joyelle Johnson (05:01):
know that. I didn't know the comics were
gonna be
Mindy Tucker (05:02):
on And
Joyelle Johnson (05:04):
that just made me so scared because comedians
are terrible people. And it'slike, why? I don't want to tell
my new joke with all of my peersjust judging me behind me.
Right. Yeah.
So that was terrifying. Iremember that. I absolutely
remember that. I don't rememberthe joke that I told, but I
(05:25):
remember being very scared.
Mindy Tucker (05:26):
Yeah. How Do you remember how it went?
Joyelle Johnson (05:29):
I I feel like I've only done this show a
couple of times, and each timeit went great, but it feels like
you're being shot out of acannon. Yeah. That's how most
comedy shows feel to me, thatone especially was like, Oh my
God.
Mindy Tucker (05:42):
Yeah. And you know what's crazy is that show
started as a way for comediansto hang out with each other. And
I always call it ComedyChristmas. Because everyone's
been away for the holidays. Alot of people have been touring
in the fall.
Maybe they went home forThanksgiving. Everybody's been
(06:03):
kind of scattered. And everybodycomes together for fifty first
jokes. And once upon a time, itwas all comedians in the room,
comedians in the audience,comedians on the stage. And then
at some point, industry startedcoming and the structure of the
night changed.
But yeah, you're right, by 2014,it's a daunting thing to think
(06:25):
about being on fifty firstStrokes. Yeah, absolutely. But
it started out as a hangoutshow.
Joyelle Johnson (06:31):
Wow, look at me deep squatting here. I have no
idea what I'm doing right now.Would have to look at my bits
from that time to wonder why I'min a full squat position. And
also look at those knees.
Mindy Tucker (06:46):
What year was I
Joyelle Johnson (06:48):
think 2014. I had way more collagen back then.
I'm taking collagen now guys.And it's so funny because every
picture looks like I'm doing aTED talk that is very intensely
serious and not a comedy show. Ilove that.
I remember that jacket I woreall the time.
Mindy Tucker (07:09):
And then this next one is at The Creek In The Cave.
Oh. This is in February 2014.
Joyelle Johnson (07:18):
I remember this one. I used that one a lot too
for promos. Look at thoseglasses. Remember those glasses
were like $10. I think I gotthem at like a Walmart in
Atlanta when I was visiting myparents.
Yeah. And I wore those puppiesuntil I think I lost them. Oh my
goodness.
Mindy Tucker (07:39):
Yeah. Wow. And then this is you with Michelle
Wolf and Rebecca Trentdownstairs at The Creek in the
Joyelle Johnson (07:47):
Cave, just hanging out after the show. Wow.
We had so many nights at TheCreek. That is amazing.
Mindy Tucker (07:57):
And this show was called 1,000,000,000 Laughing,
an Evening of Comedy. So I'm Abillion? A billion. That's
Joyelle Johnson (08:06):
a A billion with a B. That's aggressive.
Mindy Tucker (08:08):
I'm thinking it must have been a fundraiser
show.
Joyelle Johnson (08:10):
Yeah. Yeah. And this is when my hair is twisted
out and it's very it takes avery long time for me to get my
hair like that. And I love whenit's like that, but oh man,
can't do it every day.
Mindy Tucker (08:22):
Yeah. And these are some of the best performance
pictures I've taken of you.
Joyelle Johnson (08:29):
Wow, that's amazing. Now I look like I'm
doing stand up. This looks likestand up. The other ones looked
so intense. Aw, Aw, I wonder ifthat was the first time we met.
That's Cheryl, right?
Mindy Tucker (08:47):
Yeah, so I think this is, yeah, like I said, I
think this is a fundraiser ofsome type. So, the next picture
is you sitting around in acircle with our friend Liz
Winstead.
Joyelle Johnson (09:03):
And Oh, wow. Was this the first meeting for
Lady Park's Justice?
Mindy Tucker (09:09):
If it's not the first, it's early on. Wow. Which
is, I mean,
Joyelle Johnson (09:16):
yeah. Oh my gosh. Wow. What year is that
picture?
Mindy Tucker (09:22):
Yeah, that's 2014
Joyelle Johnson (09:24):
at the creek. That was probably the first time
I met Liz.
Mindy Tucker (09:29):
Wow. Yeah. And you guys are still friends, like
you're working together a lot,right?
Joyelle Johnson (09:36):
I am on the board of the abortion access
front. I am a board member.That's the most grown up thing
I've ever said in my life. I'm aboard member of the abortion
access front, and I'm extremelyproud to have gone from, I mean,
at this point, it was aninception of an idea that Liz
had to start this organization.Back then, was called Lady Parts
(09:57):
Justice, and I traveled all overthe country with them.
I've done countless things. Lizhas had such an impact on my
life. Oh, shout out to Liz.Yeah. That one makes me wanna
cry.
Because we have so many picturestogether through the years and I
feel like that's the first onewe took.
Mindy Tucker (10:18):
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And the next picture is
you and Kyle Grooms.
Joyelle Johnson (10:29):
I love Kyle Jersey, Jersey in the building.
I'm from New Jersey. I'm veryproud of it to most people's
chagrin, but I love being fromJersey and I love hanging out
with people that I believeKyle's from Jersey. I assume
that maybe he lived there at thetime, but I also remember that
sweater dress I have on. It wasone of the hottest sweater
(10:51):
dresses of all time.
I couldn't breathe inside of it.But I loved it so much. And I
would wear it. And when Ifinally got rid of it, I was
like, bro, this thing, I couldhave wore that to Antarctica and
no coat. That's how hot thatsweater dress was.
Oh, this is for Todd Barry'sbirthday. It's in March 2014.
(11:13):
Todd Barry, Todd Barry, ToddBarry. Yep. I remember that.
I remember that party, actually.
Mindy Tucker (11:20):
Yeah. And then this is Oh, yeah. I think we
used one photo from that for abit, I feel like.
Joyelle Johnson (11:28):
A bit?
Mindy Tucker (11:30):
No, I mean, like for a while.
Joyelle Johnson (11:31):
Oh, a
Mindy Tucker (11:32):
while, a while. Feel like it maybe it was a
profile photo or something likethat.
Joyelle Johnson (11:37):
That I had?
Mindy Tucker (11:40):
Yeah, not that one, but I feel like one of
these.
Joyelle Johnson (11:47):
There's a few in here that I keep updating
because it's like after a while,we would just be like, Mindy,
what's the new Mindy? New Mindyjust dropped. Time to change
your profile pic. New Mindy. Andyou can tell through the years
where you're like, okay, takethe glasses off.
The glasses came off. The hairwent into the permanent puff. I
love my permanent puff.
Mindy Tucker (12:07):
So that's you and Rebecca Trent at a happy
birthday for Nikki T. NickTurner had a birthday. Looks
like we were looks like we wouldhave been at the creek in the
cave for that.
Joyelle Johnson (12:20):
Is that who's that in the background? I don't
know who that is the background.LOL. It's so funny when you see
yourself at people's birthdayparties. I'm like, I don't know
when the last time I even sawNick Turner was.
Mindy Tucker (12:32):
Well, he moved to LA.
Joyelle Johnson (12:34):
Oh, okay. That tracks. That tracks.
Mindy Tucker (12:36):
Yeah. Our next photo is in June 2014.
Joyelle Johnson (12:42):
Okay, June 2014.
Mindy Tucker (12:44):
And this is at the show Comedy as a Second
Language, the seventhanniversary of that show, and
this was a marathon show thatjust went on and on. Yeah. You
remember anything about it?
Joyelle Johnson (12:59):
Where were we? Is this the bellhouse?
Mindy Tucker (13:00):
This is a cabin.
Joyelle Johnson (13:02):
Cabin? Oh my goodness.
Mindy Tucker (13:03):
Yeah. Did you do Cabin a lot?
Joyelle Johnson (13:06):
Did Cabin a lot. Yeah. Was one of the shows.
So we had, you know, Sunday wasKnitting Factory. Monday was,
where were we Monday?
Whiplash. Whiplash was Monday,but I was never booked on
Whiplash back then.
Mindy Tucker (13:22):
Night Train was Monday.
Joyelle Johnson (13:23):
It was Night Train, then there was also What
did Nimesh and Che have? Oh,yeah, Matchless. -TANNIE: Yes,
Broken Comedy at Matchless. Andthen Tuesday, Wednesday was kind
of like a break, and thenThursday was Cabin. And that's
when we had like our run, like apretty good week run of like
hanging out all the time.
(13:44):
And Cabin was a good hang. Andthat was a tiny room. How many
people could fit in Cabin?
Mindy Tucker (13:50):
I don't
Joyelle Johnson (13:51):
know. More people in my bathroom right now
than you could fit in Cabin. Andit would just be tight and warm.
It was very moist in there. Thatwhole bar was very moist.
Yes, it I think it flooded alot. One of those places where
you're like, we shouldn't bebreathing this air. Yes, I
remember those shows. Rememberthat necklace? LOL, seeing old
(14:15):
clothes that you've gotten ridof throughout the years.
Mindy Tucker (14:19):
Do you know, like, about how often do you think you
were performing? Like, was itthree sets a night or one or
what do you About
Joyelle Johnson (14:28):
three sets a night would have been my
average. I remember we were, wewould talk about the people who
did comedy the most. And MikeLawrence was like the blueprint
of everyone.
Mindy Tucker (14:38):
He and Dan St. Germain.
Joyelle Johnson (14:40):
Six, seven open mics a night. Yeah. And I was
like, I ain't trying to do allthat. So, that's like, what's
the halfway point of that? Yeah.
So, I was like about three, Ican rock three.
Mindy Tucker (14:55):
Yeah. So I think Where do you think you were at
career wise when you were atthis Cabin show? Were you
touring? Were you mostly in thecity? Were you a full time
comic?
What year is this? I believewe're in 2014.
Joyelle Johnson (15:10):
I didn't become full time with jazz comedy until
2016.
Mindy Tucker (15:16):
Oh, wow. Okay.
Joyelle Johnson (15:17):
So I was not full time. So at this point, I
think, I was probablywaitressing.
Mindy Tucker (15:25):
Oh, you did waitressing?
Joyelle Johnson (15:27):
Yeah, was waitressing was my biggest gig
and also teaching. Was teaching.They let me teach children.
Yikes. I was doing that doingstand up at night.
Wow. So it was hard. So I'd worka lunch shift. Lunch shifts were
the best, but less money. But doa lunch shift and then work at
night and try to do stand up.
(15:48):
And the comedy room started at04:00. 4PM to about 2AM, can get
an open mic. That's how MichaelLawrence was able to do, you
know, every hour. He'd do a Anddifferent it got to a point
where he would show up to aspot, and then they put him on.
But usually, you had to sign upfor a list and just wait and
wait and wait.
Right. You know, so that wasprobably at the times where I
(16:11):
was just starting to get on thepopular shows, like, Cap'n.
Right. I think. Yeah, because Iwas touring with people.
So I was doing a little
Mindy Tucker (16:19):
bit touring, opening, opening. How did you
maintain the working a day joband then trying to get those
sets at night? What was thething that kept that going for
you?
Joyelle Johnson (16:32):
I don't know, insanity? Yeah. Not taking meds?
Like what? Not being a stablehuman being?
I don't know, yeah, because it'ssuch a weird pursuit to be like,
I wanna hang around all thesepeople and do this night thing
that's not paying me any money.Yeah. It was weird. So, I don't
even remember how much Cabin, orif Cabin paid.
Mindy Tucker (16:56):
Don't know that it did.
Joyelle Johnson (16:57):
I don't think Cabin paid. Yeah. So, we were
doing, and we were happy to bebooked on that show.
Mindy Tucker (17:02):
Well, was a hot, rhythmic It a great show. But I
still have a day job when thisphoto is taken. Yeah. Yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (17:11):
Yeah. I was working, I mean, anything I
would do production work, PA. Iwas transcribing for, what show
was that? Flea Market Flip. Iwas the transcriber for Flea
Market Flip.
That host never talked to me.Yeah, I did anything that I
(17:32):
could, you know, make some moneycatering, whatever it was. Was
doing it because I knew I wasnot fit for a day job. I knew
nobody wanted me behind theirdesk. Oh, I'm a get fired and
fired.
I got fired a lot.
Mindy Tucker (17:46):
So this is the launch of Lady Parts Justice.
This is at Union Pool,07/15/2014.
Joyelle Johnson (17:57):
Oh, my gosh. Yes. So that first Liz picture
was the prequel to this goingfor Lady Parts Justice. Oh, my
gosh. Look at Sherrell.
Look at Sharon. We're like agirl group.
Mindy Tucker (18:11):
I love Look
Joyelle Johnson (18:11):
at the skin. Bright gleaming. Oh, my
goodness. Look at that melaninpopping. That is so and Union
Pool had the best taco truck.
Mindy Tucker (18:21):
Still does.
Joyelle Johnson (18:22):
Still does. Is that taco truck still there?
Still haven't been there in solong. That taco truck was one of
my favorite reasons to go toUnion Pool.
Mindy Tucker (18:30):
Oh, yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (18:30):
I'd be like, Stand up, sure, sure, sure. But
the taco truck. Yeah, I lovethat that has made it through. I
haven't been there in a verylong time. But yes, no, I
remember that.
Oh, this picture. Yes. Look atthat girl. What is she like a
size? Oh, she's like a size six.
Come on, my mother would lovethese pictures. Oh my gosh, look
(18:53):
at that. That's so funny. Lookat me posing, trying to pose.
Amazing.
Aw, Mindy. I remember thatshirt. I don't know any of these
clothes anymore. Oh, yes. Andthis blazer.
That's so funny. All of us onthere. That's Eunice the uterus
puppet. I think that's Sarah soflicker in there. Oh my
(19:18):
goodness, Leah Bonhama.
Yes. That was amazing. I haven'tseen these pictures in so long.
Yeah, shout out to activism and,being all over the place. Yay.
Now this is a different day.Yes. Same shirt. Look at me.
(19:43):
Different day, same shirt.
I one thing about me is I willwear oh, I will wear an outfit.
I've had this hoodie on for thepast week because I'm just
comfy. I go week by week becauseI never see the same people.
Know? Every single day I seesomebody different.
Mindy Tucker (20:01):
I have a uniform, basically.
Joyelle Johnson (20:04):
Yes, you do.
Mindy Tucker (20:05):
Yeah. I just have a little uniform.
Joyelle Johnson (20:07):
Look forward again. You look like like HR,
you know? Mindy's always dressedlike HR. Noah. One of my besties
in stand up, as he would say,he's, I'm allowed to say this,
he is my favorite Jew.
(20:27):
And I love that man so much. Hehas since moved to, Vegas. So
hopefully I'll see him soon,but.
Mindy Tucker (20:36):
You were there the Comedy Freaknik one year
anniversary show, 08/09/2014.
Joyelle Johnson (20:45):
Wow. Comedy Freaknik?
Mindy Tucker (20:47):
That was the name of the show he had with the
other guy from Atlanta. Clayton?No. Andy, I think.
Joyelle Johnson (21:00):
Sanford.
Mindy Tucker (21:00):
Yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (21:01):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I haven't seen
Andy in the longest. I do notknow how Andy is doing.
Mindy Tucker (21:07):
Yeah, me neither.
Joyelle Johnson (21:08):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But Noah, I know is a
father, which, wow. Because thatNoah, not a father. No semblance
of father in that Noah. So he'sa different person now, I'll
tell you that.
Oh, yes. The fake proposal. Thisis What was this award show
(21:34):
called?
Mindy Tucker (21:35):
So this is the Creek Awards. Yes. This is
08/23/2014.
Joyelle Johnson (21:42):
Look at how pained Clark is to be pretending
to kiss me. That is so funny. Wedid a fake little proposal. I
was nominated for best girl. Ilost to Christicello.
Whatever. You could see straightthrough that skirt. I still have
this tutu. I'm a tutu girl. Ilove I love a tool.
I love a tutu. You will neverget me out of that. I don't care
(22:05):
how old I am. I will be a grownass woman in a tutu. I love it
so much.
It's so whimsical. You cannotsmile when you see somebody in a
tutu.
Mindy Tucker (22:14):
Yeah, it looks cute.
Joyelle Johnson (22:16):
Yes. Shout out to my brother Clark. I love him.
I miss him.
Mindy Tucker (22:20):
Yeah. Was he in Chicago now?
Joyelle Johnson (22:23):
I don't know. Clark is in a different city
every month. Oh, my gosh, thewhole progression of this fake
proposal. She said yes. I loveit.
Aw, and those shoes. Oh, mygosh. Heels, ever since the
pandemic, no more of
Mindy Tucker (22:40):
those. No more.
Joyelle Johnson (22:41):
No more of those. If we fast forward this
to now, it would be this outfitwith some Jordans on.
Mindy Tucker (22:48):
And cut.
Joyelle Johnson (22:53):
What are you doing with all these pictures?
Mindy Tucker (22:55):
Joyelle, that's why you're here today. On my
website, there are now over1,000,000 photos. And people are
always like, hey, Mindy, whenare you gonna do a book? I'm
like, I don't know. Whenever Ihave the time to sort through
1,000,000
Joyelle Johnson (23:13):
photos. So,
Mindy Tucker (23:16):
I'm asking everybody to come in for, it's
kinda like several things. Oneis, what's the photo that you
like the best? Like, do we havea top five? Do we have a top 10?
Like, I need help.
Like, what's the stuff that'simportant to you? What's a photo
that's like, you know, there'ssomething that was going on that
day, and it's important to you,so you really want us to be able
(23:38):
to remember it? Or what's aphoto that's like, I don't care
about that photo at all. Sothat's part of it, is I
genuinely want to make a book,and I want everyone to be happy
with how they're represented. SoI would never just put together,
Here's 100 photos, have at it.
I, you know, I want you guys tobe happy, but also, I think
(24:03):
we're in a time where comedy haschanged so much. And I think
just asking people about theirprocess and about what worked
for them as they went from goodto great, like what's just the
really granular detail behindthat? Because we're seeing so
(24:25):
much on social media of finishedproducts. And I think that when
we were in this time where allthe shows were geographically
close to one another, and youall were, like you described
earlier, you know what MikeLawrence's joke routine was,
right? Now, you didn't take allof what he did, but you took
(24:48):
some of it.
You were like, If you're doingsix, I can do three.
Joyelle Johnson (24:51):
Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (24:53):
That's where I'm gonna land on that, right? But,
it developed you into someonewho now, we're gonna get to this
eventually in this episode, butthere's a photo of you coming on
stage at a show you weren't evenscheduled to be on and killing,
(25:13):
just absolutely owning the room.I have a photo of, like, people
just clapping just because shewalked onto the stage. Like just
the way she walked onto thestage, she had them. And like
all these moments, that's howyou get there.
Yeah. That's why it looks soeasy Because when you go up on
(25:36):
stage, it just looks like, oh,that's just Joyelle being
Joyelle. But it's all thesetimes that are in that. And so,
you know, I've talked earlierabout, I'm just trying to send
out a flare of like, Hey, ifyou're a young artist, like,
here's all these people. Here'sall the different things they
(25:57):
took from this.
Here's all the different waysthey did it. But with great, you
know, specificity so that thecomedy nerds can have fun too.
Joyelle Johnson (26:06):
Yes. Yeah. Thank you for being a comedy
merd.
Mindy Tucker (26:10):
And if you're watching this, you are. Right.
Anyway, here's some morecandidates from the Awards.
Joyelle Johnson (26:18):
Yes, the Creek Awards.
Mindy Tucker (26:19):
In 2014, such a fun night, 08/23/2014. I, you
know, I don't Artisticallyspeaking, I don't love a quote
unquote red carpet photo. Right.We tend to turn stuff like that
down when it hits the old inbox.But I am so glad that we do have
(26:42):
these photos of everyonetogether.
I do think that's special.
Joyelle Johnson (26:45):
I do too. I do too. Yeah, and I love I live for
a group shot. I love a groupshot. Is that Jeremy Wing?
Yeah. That's so funny.
Mindy Tucker (26:55):
Still working in comedy today.
Joyelle Johnson (26:58):
Yeah. A sweetheart. Still friends with
him. Yeah. I got one in with hiswife recently.
I love that. Oh, this was one ofmy faves. That is one of my
favorite pictures. With thetulle skirt gathered and just
being a I think this picture isthe essence of a Virgo.
Mindy Tucker (27:19):
This is you. So Joyelle is looking at a photo of
herself.
Joyelle Johnson (27:25):
Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (27:26):
That's hanging at the creek in the cave. This was
part of the year in comedy. AndJoyelle had quote unquote made
the wall I made the wall. Creek.
Joyelle Johnson (27:37):
Oh, I made the wall.
Mindy Tucker (27:39):
And she was excited about that. And it was a
joy. I was really excited totake this picture as well. This
was a really fun moment. Yeah.
That, yeah, it's Joyelle lookingat Joyelle.
Joyelle Johnson (27:50):
Joyelle loving Joyelle. Love Joy. And if
Mindy Tucker (27:53):
you're if you're in Austin, Texas, you can go to
the creek in the cave today andsee all the old urine comedies.
Joyelle Johnson (28:01):
They're Oh, they're all still hanging out
all there. Still
Mindy Tucker (28:03):
there. Yeah. She drove them down to Austin a
couple years ago.
Joyelle Johnson (28:06):
Oh, I love that. I haven't been in a while.
Austin's not for me. Yeah. Thatis a classic Joyelle face right
there.
Mindy Tucker (28:17):
So this is a show called Stand Up and Take Your
Clothes Off. L. O. L. Hosted byKaren Fian and Kitten Kent.
This is 12/07/2014. So you and Isaw a lot of one another in
2014.
Joyelle Johnson (28:33):
I love that.
Mindy Tucker (28:34):
That means you were out there working.
Joyelle Johnson (28:37):
I was working.
Mindy Tucker (28:38):
Do you remember if you had a goal at that time?
Like, were you working towards ahalf hour? Were you
Joyelle Johnson (28:47):
I was working towards a late night set. Okay.
And working towards getting pastat the popular comedy clubs in
New York City. That's what I wasworking towards.
Mindy Tucker (28:59):
So that's really evident in this photo spread,
is, you know, we initially seeyou in 2012, and then, you know,
you were probably doing openmics and things like that. And
then you show up in 2014, you'restarting to get booked on those
bigger shows, and it's Joyelle,Joyelle, Joyelle, Joyelle. Yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (29:18):
Yes. That is I remember this time because I was
like, stand up and take yourclothes off. It looks like I'm
about to take my clothes offbecause I have, like, the
perfect hoodie on to be nakedunder, but absolutely not. Are
you kidding me? Stand up isscary enough.
You want me to do it naked? Thatis terrifying. That's a no for
me, dog. That's a no for me,dog. This is a fifty first joke.
Mindy Tucker (29:43):
Yeah. And
Joyelle Johnson (29:46):
this is January 2015. All of my colleagues look
positively at me, which Iappreciate. Well, there's one
person with his head in hishands, but other than that,
everybody else's faces lookpromising.
Mindy Tucker (30:03):
Hello, Leon Torreso.
Joyelle Johnson (30:06):
Is that Matteo in the back?
Mindy Tucker (30:07):
I think so, yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (30:08):
And Liza? Who you?
Mindy Tucker (30:10):
Sweet pie Liza.
Joyelle Johnson (30:13):
Love that. That is I know what's about to
happen. I'm probably gonna cry.
Mindy Tucker (30:18):
Yeah. I cried putting it together.
Joyelle Johnson (30:24):
I love that dress. Good lip. Good red lip.
My hair is straight. Yeah.
Which for those of you thatdon't know, this is not that.
And to get my hair straighttakes a very long time. It does
not last for long. The second ifthere's any humidity in the air,
(30:47):
it will right back up into anafro. So having my hair straight
in any pictures is a feat.
Clapping about Everest, and Idon't do it often. Yes,
backstage, Bell House is myfavorite venue in the country,
in the world. I shot my specialat Bell House. I love the Bell
House. I love Aparna.
(31:09):
Is that the side of JoshGonderman's head? Yep. Probably
is because he has a cardigan on.We got Lisa. We got Naomi.
Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (31:16):
We shall know him by his cardigan.
Joyelle Johnson (31:18):
Yes. We will know Josh Gonderman by a hat and
a cardigan and a really niceshoe. A really great shoe. Wow,
look at us. Okay, so JanelleJames and Joyelle Johnson are
actually about to do a showtogether at the end of May in
(31:39):
Atlanta.
So I'm And excited about I havesometimes gotten deal memos for
Joyelle James. I've gottenoffers for Janelle Johnson. -Oh,
wow. -And when I asked Janelleif that ever happened to her,
she was like, No, that's neverhappened. And then the next time
I saw her, she was like,Somebody just bought me up as
(32:00):
Joyelle James.
Was like, I told you it wascalled Happy Girl. Because it's
the JJ's and Janelle is more ofa more common name than Joyelle.
So if I say Joyelle to somebody,they'll be like, Janelle? And
I'm like, you're just notlistening. Yeah.
Yeah. So holler, shout out. Oh,wow, we was really mugging.
Mindy Tucker (32:21):
Yeah, I, you know, I actually called, there were
like more photos of the two ofyou together, and I was like, I
don't know how to pick, becauseyou guys actually look good in
all of them, I feel. And also,was just such a fun moment to
have you both together there.
Joyelle Johnson (32:38):
Yeah. Her cheekbones are I know. So
beautiful. Astounding. Oh mygosh.
Face beat. Who's that guytalking to Josh?
Mindy Tucker (32:50):
That is Jeff Wesselsmidt. Did comedy with
Joel Wachowski and Eli Sayers.They were called The Wildcats.
Oh, cool.
Joyelle Johnson (33:01):
Has he still do comedy?
Mindy Tucker (33:02):
No. For him. Really, really, I know. I'm lit.
We had Joel in for an interviewrecently, and I'm always so
happy for people putting herout.
Joyelle Johnson (33:15):
Well, come the waterworks. Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (33:22):
Yeah. So, this is Everybody with Kevin. This is
our Kevin Barnett, and he justwas so funny. But what's so hard
for all of us is that he wasfunny, he was an incredible
(33:43):
writer, but he was also such agood friend and artist. He
really was on the more artfulside of things, which you
wouldn't know like, just onlyfrom his comedy.
Yeah, he just I always felt likesuch an artistic kinship with
(34:06):
him. And this is Kevin with Jayand Janelle and Seton
Joyelle Johnson (34:15):
Amber photobombing our black Amber
Mindy Tucker (34:20):
totally knowing what she's doing, having a great
time with it, and all of youknowing what she was doing and
having a great time with
Joyelle Johnson (34:26):
it. Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (34:27):
But, yeah, this was Kevin at fifty First
Strokes. And he was he wasaround for a lot of community
stuff. I think he I think healready had a TV show at that
point. I think.
Joyelle Johnson (34:42):
Yeah. I mean, he, he was doing fantastic.
Yeah. Him and his writingpartner, Josh. And, and I will
say that, he was holding out ona really good friend from
college that he never introducedme to, that I met at his
funeral, and that is my partner.
We've been together for sixyears. So, I feel like he kind
(35:07):
of like brought us together. Soyeah. Yeah. And that's all I can
say about it.
Mindy Tucker (35:14):
Yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (35:18):
Oh my gosh, I loved this picture. That and
also that's my first, that's notmy first time crying, but they
will not be the last, I alreadyknow. I'm gonna cry again, and
it is what it is. So if y'alllooking at me puffy eyed right
now, it's Huffle. BarbaraWalters of comedy.
Mindy Tucker (35:37):
I just want you to come in here and cry. That's it.
That's the whole thing.
Joyelle Johnson (35:41):
Doctor. This archive is fantastic. And like,
I never thought about it thatmuch. Like, you really did
archive our careers. And thetimes back when we were all
friends.
Because that ain't the case asmuch anymore. Shout out to
Robert D. Robert D isresponsible for the one of the
(36:01):
sexiest moments I've ever seenin my life. We were at a
festival in Atlanta. He has hislong hair, and we were all
hanging out on, like, theseventeenth floor of this
building.
And then at one point, all thecomics just looked at the patio,
and he was making out with thisgirl, and his hair was, like,
blowing in the wind. And we alljust -Wow. Stopped and were
like, God damn. That was thesexiest thing I've ever seen.
(36:25):
Robert Crazy, crazy, crazy,crazy.
Yay, winter coats.
Mindy Tucker (36:31):
I love that one.
Joyelle Johnson (36:33):
I love the bell house. I love winter coats. I
love this dress. I think I stillhave it. I can't fit it, but I
still have it.
Mindy Tucker (36:42):
So this is Valentine's Day, 2015, the show
Hard, Lonely and Vicious. Yeah.Hosted by Peggy O'Leary and
Molly Austin at The Creek in theCave.
Joyelle Johnson (36:56):
Molly is supposed to have a baby.
Mindy Tucker (36:58):
I think they have the baby.
Joyelle Johnson (37:00):
Yeah, my God. Gosh, I can't believe any
comedians are parents. Thisdress, I love this dress so
much. And LOL at how dressy Igot. I probably thought I was
trying to get a man at theValentine's Day show.
Like, she's single, look at her.And then a winter coat,
Mindy Tucker (37:20):
And then which is this is outside the knitting
factory in April 2015, and Idon't think these photos are out
anywhere. I think I found themin the archives. Who am
Joyelle Johnson (37:36):
I talking to? Rami. I was like, that looks
like Rami. And a babushkalooking like an auntie. Yeah.
I was like, That is Rami. Aw.
Mindy Tucker (37:49):
Yeah. I love this because it's just, you know,
it's no flash, It's availablelight, and it's just a little
moment of people hanging out.And that was one of the great
things about the Knit.
Joyelle Johnson (38:01):
Yeah. Yeah. We love Knitting Factory. Oh, my
goodness. That was such a greattime.
I love looking back to thosetimes and just being like, Oh,
we did have a good time there.
Mindy Tucker (38:12):
Yeah. But I feel like a lot of you worked on
material. It was such a usefulplace for that, you know?
Joyelle Johnson (38:20):
Yeah. It absolutely was. This was one of
the shooter shirts. I remembershe gave me this shirt. I loved
how bright it was.
It was such a great shirt. Andthat's at The Creek.
Mindy Tucker (38:34):
Yeah. So, this is for the LPGA Carnival. This is
in June 2014. I'm sorry, June2015 at The Creek. And this was
John Fugal sang.
Yeah, love him. They did like abooth or something. That was
(38:55):
part of the festival. I can'tremember the whole thing. But it
was like, it wasn't just acomedy show.
There was stuff happening A lotgoing on. Out on the patio.
Yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (39:04):
That was I do I remember that. Oh, gosh. It's
like going back into the memorydump from inside out. This is
all from the memory dump,shooting back up that thing and
coming down. And all of mypersonalities are like, wow,
that was a crazy time.
Yeah, that's a, I love thatshirt. I wore that shirt till
(39:24):
it, the, the Boondock shirt. Iwore that shirt till it got so
thin. You could like see throughit. I love that shirt.
LOL at this. This is Stick orTreat?
Mindy Tucker (39:36):
Stick or Treat 2015 at the knitting factory.
LOL.
Joyelle Johnson (39:42):
Take a wild guess at who I am pretending to
be Yep. at this point. That wasyeah. That was a great time. I
love the background of thosegirls laughing at it.
It was that was a funny that wasa funny thing. I had a good time
(40:02):
doing that. Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (40:04):
And I think Sticker Tree was just a it was a
wonderful place for everybodykind of coming together. Yeah.
But then we had to, the nextphoto of you is at Littlefield.
Joyelle Johnson (40:19):
I love that. This photo was promo as well. I
used that photo as promo for alot. I missed that ring, that
little zebra ring. I love thatring so much.
And what year is this?
Mindy Tucker (40:32):
I believe that this is the fall of fifteen.
Wow. And let's see.
Joyelle Johnson (40:39):
I love that leather jacket.
Mindy Tucker (40:40):
This was Night Train, Wyatt's and Knacks show.
Yes. And this was the fifthanniversary show.
Joyelle Johnson (40:47):
Yeah. That's a great shot. That hallway is
great for pictures. I feel likeI have a lot of good Mindy shots
in that hallway.
Mindy Tucker (40:55):
I miss that hallway. That's the old
Littlefield.
Joyelle Johnson (40:58):
That's the the original Littlefield location.
And I did love, I used that walla lot. Yeah. Yeah. Judging by
this picture, I was doing animpression of Seton there.
Oh, yes. I love that jacket. Ohmy goodness. And the necklace. I
(41:19):
remember having that necklace.
And I also have a sheer shirton. I've never met a mesh or a
sheer that I do not love. Yes, Ido. These pictures were coming.
These are some of my favoritegroup shots.
Getting down here. I'm glad Idon't have nails on. Thought I
was gonna wear nails. Yes. Shoutout to Jeffrey Joseph, who has
(41:40):
escaped America.
That is in Canada. Good for him.
Mindy Tucker (41:44):
He got out early.
Joyelle Johnson (41:45):
Sure did. I love this picture. I love Parna,
Hari, Rojo. That's a great shot.Mary Anne.
I love that. I love thatpicture. I really do. I love a
group shot. I love a good groupshot.
Mindy Tucker (42:01):
And this next one, you came out to support Julia
Rozzi's album releasecelebration, 02/18/2016.
Joyelle Johnson (42:11):
Wow. Amazing. There's that, shirt again. I
love that shirt dress. It waslike a thin sweater dress.
I loved it.
Mindy Tucker (42:21):
And then this next one is from, also from February
2016. Yes. This was the Oscarsat The Creek In The Cave.
Joyelle Johnson (42:35):
Yes. Now this skirt, I don't know whose skirt
that was. I don't know where Iwore it. I don't remember that
skirt. I feel like it was one ofthose things I had and didn't,
and couldn't really fit and woreit once.
And there was like, girl, yougotta get this away. But it's so
cute. It's like feathers, Butyay, all. I love that.
Mindy Tucker (42:57):
And then I want you to to just some real life is
happening.
Joyelle Johnson (43:01):
Uh-oh.
Mindy Tucker (43:07):
So, the next photos of you
Joyelle Johnson (43:09):
Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (43:10):
From Yeah. When we did the women in comedy thing.
Joyelle Johnson (43:13):
Yes. Yeah. I remember that. I remember women
in comedy. Oh my gosh.
Mindy Tucker (43:22):
And so we did individual photos of each
person. And then we did groupphotos. And then we had breakout
groups.
Joyelle Johnson (43:34):
Yes. And I remember these. Jean, I was just
on the phone with Jean. She sayshi.
Mindy Tucker (43:45):
I love Jean simply, she's so artistic and
the best.
Joyelle Johnson (43:49):
Yes. One of the besties. Yes, great breakout
groups. Yeah. I love that.
Mindy Tucker (43:56):
But the thing is
Joyelle Johnson (43:56):
Has that little field?
Mindy Tucker (43:57):
This was such a data heavy day that only the
individual photos are captioned.And I'm gonna need a fellowship,
you guys. I'm gonna need one ofthose things where they give you
a bunch of money to go away tothe woods for a while, and they
(44:17):
pay all your living expensesbecause this gallery isn't
captioned, the group photos. Andso, I remembered at the last
minute before you were comingin, like, way
Joyelle Johnson (44:32):
How many people are in these pictures?
Mindy Tucker (44:33):
Like, wait, Joyelle. So you didn't come up
automatically on the internalarchive search Yeah. When I
entered your name, but I waslike, wait.
Joyelle Johnson (44:42):
There's other pics.
Mindy Tucker (44:43):
There's other pics. Oh, there's
Joyelle Johnson (44:45):
lot going on in that braid there.
Mindy Tucker (44:48):
Thank you.
Joyelle Johnson (44:51):
Good braid. Big braid. Bigly.
Mindy Tucker (44:56):
It's a lot. You're amazing. You know, it's like,
allegedly, this is thedefinitive Joyelle Johnson pull
up until this moment in 2016.Yeah. But there could be a photo
somewhere that I missed.
(45:17):
Like, it's highly possible.
Joyelle Johnson (45:21):
Selena got on. Is that a, yeah, girl. Okay,
flat stomach. You ready
Mindy Tucker (45:26):
to So, do was in 2016. Yeah. And we want to do
this again. So, hopefully in thefall, we're gonna bring everyone
together again to do this.Because did you meet anyone that
day that you had never met orwas it mostly just hanging with
people you knew?
Joyelle Johnson (45:47):
I'm sure I did. I'm sure I met people I'd never
met, but I feel like the wholecareer has been such a blur.
I'll tell people, I'm not surewhere I met you. Right. You
know, it'll be somebody whereI'm like, I recognize your face.
I don't remember your name. AndI realized that you just have to
be like, remind me your nameagain. And it's that simple.
(46:08):
Just remind me your name again.And I'm sure I mean, I'm looking
at these pictures becausethere's so many people I know,
but there's so many faces Idon't know in there.
So, yeah, let's do that again.So I can meet more people. Oh,
my little box. Box number one.
Mindy Tucker (46:23):
So, you guys, we got through box number one
today. There's a whole otherbox. So, I think you guys, what
you're gonna have to do here isyou're gonna have to like,
you're gonna have to subscribe,you're gonna have to subscribe
to my newsletter, and we'regonna have to have Joyelle back
(46:44):
again.
Joyelle Johnson (46:45):
You gotta do that. This is crazy, so I can
cry again.
Mindy Tucker (46:48):
Yeah, I cried too. Yeah, yeah, anyway, I just,
don't wanna rush it, you know?Never. Is there anything from
this time you wanna, like talkabout or you think you got it?
Joyelle Johnson (47:04):
No, I just I've had fun. Yeah. I've had a I'm
having a fun life and this isjust evidence of that to be
like, oh wow, you're having agood time. And I wouldn't I
don't think I would change asingle thing about anything
(47:25):
because those were ups and downstimes a lot a lot of rough
things happened but wow lots ofsmiles. Yeah.
And I love you. I'm takingpictures of you. I'm taking
pictures of everything.
Mindy Tucker (47:45):
Do you remember your first joke?
Joyelle Johnson (47:48):
I was a young girl, and I always knew I was
gonna be a performer. And one ofmy favorite movies is The Sound
of Music. And there's a scenewhere they sing a song called 16
going on 17. And when you watchthe scene, they're leaping off
of these benches so that theycan leap all around the room.
And I would do that in theliving room.
I would put on every singleskirt that I owned, and I would
(48:10):
jump from couch to couch tocouch. And my mother finally
caught me, and instead ofyelling at me, she was like, Oh,
I have a little baby entertainerand comedian on my hands,
because she just laughed at mewith every single skirt on in
the house, hers and mine,twirling around singing 16 going
on 17.
Mindy Tucker (48:30):
That's fantastic. Ready for the stage.
Joyelle Johnson (48:33):
Ready for the stage.
Mindy Tucker (48:34):
At a young age.
Joyelle Johnson (48:35):
At a young age, Barst.
With me today is Joyelle Johnson. Frankly, I
(00:04):
don't see how we're gonna getthrough all the photos that I've
taken of her. I also don't seehow we're gonna get through it
with a straight face. We laughedtogether all the fricking time,
and thank you for being here,friend.
Joyelle Johnson (00:17):
Oh my gosh. Hey buddy, I'm happy to be here. I'm
like already feeling like I'mabout to cry.
Mindy Tucker (00:36):
Alright. So Yeah. We're gonna start with box one.
Joyelle Johnson (00:40):
Oh my gosh. The box oh, see. Oh, Annie. I start
there like that.
Mindy Tucker (00:51):
Yeah, that's exactly it.
Joyelle Johnson (00:53):
Oh, look at Annie Leatherman. Look at both
of us. So very
Mindy Tucker (00:57):
what's funny is you enter the archives in
Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Yeah. Acouple of blocks from where we
are today.
Joyelle Johnson (01:06):
Really?
Mindy Tucker (01:07):
It would take us about three minutes to walk
there.
Joyelle Johnson (01:11):
Is this the first picture you took of me?
Mindy Tucker (01:13):
This, you enter the archives, yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (01:14):
Oh my gosh.
Mindy Tucker (01:15):
Yeah, you enter the archives. Annie Letterman
had a show at a place that's nolonger there. It was called Red
Star Bar. And I'm looking forthe date, 11/02/2012.
Joyelle Johnson (01:32):
Wow. Yeah. This is wow. Oh my gosh. It's been a
long time.
Oh yeah, because we both had, dowe both have gray hoodies on?
Yeah. I remember that hoodietoo, Brooklyn hoodie. I was so
proud of it with the microphone.Patrice O'Neil would roast me
because I, when I first started,I wear like little microphones,
(01:53):
and he'd be like, Oh, you wantus to think you're serious?
He would roast me. So I worethat sweatshirt with pride.
Mindy Tucker (02:04):
Yeah. So this is Red Star bar. And then I think
we have some performance photosfrom that night. I keep going.
Photos in there.
Yeah, you just
Joyelle Johnson (02:12):
keep Oh my goodness.
Mindy Tucker (02:14):
So we're gonna have some nights where we have
like a bunch of photos. Iincluded these because I just
think sometimes it's fun to havea moment where a comedian You
see the comedian bringing you onstage. And I just love that we
have Annie bringing you on stageand also bringing you into the
(02:34):
archives is so fun.
Joyelle Johnson (02:39):
Look at that. That is amazing. I barely
recognize this human being. I'mwearing glasses. I have since
had LASIK eye surgery.
Oh, wow. And it is since fadingand I might be back to glasses
soon again. Oh, I'm now thispicture. This is one of my
(02:59):
favorite pictures that you I wasusing that as promo for a very
long time. That was one of myfavorite pictures.
And I remember, oh, this is adifferent show. Okay. Yes. Wow.
Look at me.
Mindy Tucker (03:13):
And how long do you think you'd been doing
comedy at this point?
Joyelle Johnson (03:17):
That was 2012. I've been doing -TANCE
since 2007, so Okay. That fiveyears? -NANCY: Yeah. Am I
mathing?
Mindy Tucker (03:26):
So were you full time comic at this point?
Joyelle Johnson (03:29):
No, No. No, no. And I think I had just moved to
New York, so I'd been in NewYork about a year or so, and I
was just hitting it aggressivelydoing open mics. That was back
when I was still doing openmics.
Mindy Tucker (03:41):
-:
Joyelle Johnson (03:41):
Really? I don't miss that at all. Doing open
mics, doing bringer shows,barking. Luckily, I didn't have
to do barking or bringer showsthat many times. Shout out to
all the barkers in New York Cityand around the world.
Y'all are doing Lorde's work,and I was way too scared to
bark. And big, Excuse me, do youwanna go to a comedy show? No?
(04:04):
All right. I couldn't convinceanybody to come into a comedy
show.
I could not do it. No. No.Absolutely not. So I can't even
call, like, when you're callingfor a politician, calling cold
calling.
I panic every time somebody'sabout to answer the phone,
because I know they don't wannahear from me. Yeah. I don't
wanna bother people walking downthe street. No. Yeah.
(04:25):
So that oh, this was one of myfaves. Sorry to cover your face,
Annie, but I will.
Mindy Tucker (04:31):
That's one of my faves too. Yeah. And then the
next photo is gonna be fromfifty first Jokes in 2014. This
is 01/03/2014. Yes.
And this is your first fiftyFirst Jokes. Do you remember
Joyelle Johnson (04:48):
anything I about remember being terrified.
Fifty First Jokes is a showwhere all comedians are on stage
behind you. Yep. And I didn'tknow that
Mindy Tucker (05:00):
until I got you didn't
Joyelle Johnson (05:01):
know that. I didn't know the comics were
gonna be
Mindy Tucker (05:02):
on And
Joyelle Johnson (05:04):
that just made me so scared because comedians
are terrible people. And it'slike, why? I don't want to tell
my new joke with all of my peersjust judging me behind me.
Right. Yeah.
So that was terrifying. Iremember that. I absolutely
remember that. I don't rememberthe joke that I told, but I
(05:25):
remember being very scared.
Mindy Tucker (05:26):
Yeah. How Do you remember how it went?
Joyelle Johnson (05:29):
I I feel like I've only done this show a
couple of times, and each timeit went great, but it feels like
you're being shot out of acannon. Yeah. That's how most
comedy shows feel to me, thatone especially was like, Oh my
God.
Mindy Tucker (05:42):
Yeah. And you know what's crazy is that show
started as a way for comediansto hang out with each other. And
I always call it ComedyChristmas. Because everyone's
been away for the holidays. Alot of people have been touring
in the fall.
Maybe they went home forThanksgiving. Everybody's been
(06:03):
kind of scattered. And everybodycomes together for fifty first
jokes. And once upon a time, itwas all comedians in the room,
comedians in the audience,comedians on the stage. And then
at some point, industry startedcoming and the structure of the
night changed.
But yeah, you're right, by 2014,it's a daunting thing to think
(06:25):
about being on fifty firstStrokes. Yeah, absolutely. But
it started out as a hangoutshow.
Joyelle Johnson (06:31):
Wow, look at me deep squatting here. I have no
idea what I'm doing right now.Would have to look at my bits
from that time to wonder why I'min a full squat position. And
also look at those knees.
Mindy Tucker (06:46):
What year was I
Joyelle Johnson (06:48):
think 2014. I had way more collagen back then.
I'm taking collagen now guys.And it's so funny because every
picture looks like I'm doing aTED talk that is very intensely
serious and not a comedy show. Ilove that.
I remember that jacket I woreall the time.
Mindy Tucker (07:09):
And then this next one is at The Creek In The Cave.
Oh. This is in February 2014.
Joyelle Johnson (07:18):
I remember this one. I used that one a lot too
for promos. Look at thoseglasses. Remember those glasses
were like $10. I think I gotthem at like a Walmart in
Atlanta when I was visiting myparents.
Yeah. And I wore those puppiesuntil I think I lost them. Oh my
goodness.
Mindy Tucker (07:39):
Yeah. Wow. And then this is you with Michelle
Wolf and Rebecca Trentdownstairs at The Creek in the
Joyelle Johnson (07:47):
Cave, just hanging out after the show. Wow.
We had so many nights at TheCreek. That is amazing.
Mindy Tucker (07:57):
And this show was called 1,000,000,000 Laughing,
an Evening of Comedy. So I'm Abillion? A billion. That's
Joyelle Johnson (08:06):
a A billion with a B. That's aggressive.
Mindy Tucker (08:08):
I'm thinking it must have been a fundraiser
show.
Joyelle Johnson (08:10):
Yeah. Yeah. And this is when my hair is twisted
out and it's very it takes avery long time for me to get my
hair like that. And I love whenit's like that, but oh man,
can't do it every day.
Mindy Tucker (08:22):
Yeah. And these are some of the best performance
pictures I've taken of you.
Joyelle Johnson (08:29):
Wow, that's amazing. Now I look like I'm
doing stand up. This looks likestand up. The other ones looked
so intense. Aw, Aw, I wonder ifthat was the first time we met.
That's Cheryl, right?
Mindy Tucker (08:47):
Yeah, so I think this is, yeah, like I said, I
think this is a fundraiser ofsome type. So, the next picture
is you sitting around in acircle with our friend Liz
Winstead.
Joyelle Johnson (09:03):
And Oh, wow. Was this the first meeting for
Lady Park's Justice?
Mindy Tucker (09:09):
If it's not the first, it's early on. Wow. Which
is, I mean,
Joyelle Johnson (09:16):
yeah. Oh my gosh. Wow. What year is that
picture?
Mindy Tucker (09:22):
Yeah, that's 2014
Joyelle Johnson (09:24):
at the creek. That was probably the first time
I met Liz.
Mindy Tucker (09:29):
Wow. Yeah. And you guys are still friends, like
you're working together a lot,right?
Joyelle Johnson (09:36):
I am on the board of the abortion access
front. I am a board member.That's the most grown up thing
I've ever said in my life. I'm aboard member of the abortion
access front, and I'm extremelyproud to have gone from, I mean,
at this point, it was aninception of an idea that Liz
had to start this organization.Back then, was called Lady Parts
(09:57):
Justice, and I traveled all overthe country with them.
I've done countless things. Lizhas had such an impact on my
life. Oh, shout out to Liz.Yeah. That one makes me wanna
cry.
Because we have so many picturestogether through the years and I
feel like that's the first onewe took.
Mindy Tucker (10:18):
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And the next picture is
you and Kyle Grooms.
Joyelle Johnson (10:29):
I love Kyle Jersey, Jersey in the building.
I'm from New Jersey. I'm veryproud of it to most people's
chagrin, but I love being fromJersey and I love hanging out
with people that I believeKyle's from Jersey. I assume
that maybe he lived there at thetime, but I also remember that
sweater dress I have on. It wasone of the hottest sweater
(10:51):
dresses of all time.
I couldn't breathe inside of it.But I loved it so much. And I
would wear it. And when Ifinally got rid of it, I was
like, bro, this thing, I couldhave wore that to Antarctica and
no coat. That's how hot thatsweater dress was.
Oh, this is for Todd Barry'sbirthday. It's in March 2014.
(11:13):
Todd Barry, Todd Barry, ToddBarry. Yep. I remember that.
I remember that party, actually.
Mindy Tucker (11:20):
Yeah. And then this is Oh, yeah. I think we
used one photo from that for abit, I feel like.
Joyelle Johnson (11:28):
A bit?
Mindy Tucker (11:30):
No, I mean, like for a while.
Joyelle Johnson (11:31):
Oh, a
Mindy Tucker (11:32):
while, a while. Feel like it maybe it was a
profile photo or something likethat.
Joyelle Johnson (11:37):
That I had?
Mindy Tucker (11:40):
Yeah, not that one, but I feel like one of
these.
Joyelle Johnson (11:47):
There's a few in here that I keep updating
because it's like after a while,we would just be like, Mindy,
what's the new Mindy? New Mindyjust dropped. Time to change
your profile pic. New Mindy. Andyou can tell through the years
where you're like, okay, takethe glasses off.
The glasses came off. The hairwent into the permanent puff. I
love my permanent puff.
Mindy Tucker (12:07):
So that's you and Rebecca Trent at a happy
birthday for Nikki T. NickTurner had a birthday. Looks
like we were looks like we wouldhave been at the creek in the
cave for that.
Joyelle Johnson (12:20):
Is that who's that in the background? I don't
know who that is the background.LOL. It's so funny when you see
yourself at people's birthdayparties. I'm like, I don't know
when the last time I even sawNick Turner was.
Mindy Tucker (12:32):
Well, he moved to LA.
Joyelle Johnson (12:34):
Oh, okay. That tracks. That tracks.
Mindy Tucker (12:36):
Yeah. Our next photo is in June 2014.
Joyelle Johnson (12:42):
Okay, June 2014.
Mindy Tucker (12:44):
And this is at the show Comedy as a Second
Language, the seventhanniversary of that show, and
this was a marathon show thatjust went on and on. Yeah. You
remember anything about it?
Joyelle Johnson (12:59):
Where were we? Is this the bellhouse?
Mindy Tucker (13:00):
This is a cabin.
Joyelle Johnson (13:02):
Cabin? Oh my goodness.
Mindy Tucker (13:03):
Yeah. Did you do Cabin a lot?
Joyelle Johnson (13:06):
Did Cabin a lot. Yeah. Was one of the shows.
So we had, you know, Sunday wasKnitting Factory. Monday was,
where were we Monday?
Whiplash. Whiplash was Monday,but I was never booked on
Whiplash back then.
Mindy Tucker (13:22):
Night Train was Monday.
Joyelle Johnson (13:23):
It was Night Train, then there was also What
did Nimesh and Che have? Oh,yeah, Matchless. -TANNIE: Yes,
Broken Comedy at Matchless. Andthen Tuesday, Wednesday was kind
of like a break, and thenThursday was Cabin. And that's
when we had like our run, like apretty good week run of like
hanging out all the time.
(13:44):
And Cabin was a good hang. Andthat was a tiny room. How many
people could fit in Cabin?
Mindy Tucker (13:50):
I don't
Joyelle Johnson (13:51):
know. More people in my bathroom right now
than you could fit in Cabin. Andit would just be tight and warm.
It was very moist in there. Thatwhole bar was very moist.
Yes, it I think it flooded alot. One of those places where
you're like, we shouldn't bebreathing this air. Yes, I
remember those shows. Rememberthat necklace? LOL, seeing old
(14:15):
clothes that you've gotten ridof throughout the years.
Mindy Tucker (14:19):
Do you know, like, about how often do you think you
were performing? Like, was itthree sets a night or one or
what do you About
Joyelle Johnson (14:28):
three sets a night would have been my
average. I remember we were, wewould talk about the people who
did comedy the most. And MikeLawrence was like the blueprint
of everyone.
Mindy Tucker (14:38):
He and Dan St. Germain.
Joyelle Johnson (14:40):
Six, seven open mics a night. Yeah. And I was
like, I ain't trying to do allthat. So, that's like, what's
the halfway point of that? Yeah.
So, I was like about three, Ican rock three.
Mindy Tucker (14:55):
Yeah. So I think Where do you think you were at
career wise when you were atthis Cabin show? Were you
touring? Were you mostly in thecity? Were you a full time
comic?
What year is this? I believewe're in 2014.
Joyelle Johnson (15:10):
I didn't become full time with jazz comedy until
2016.
Mindy Tucker (15:16):
Oh, wow. Okay.
Joyelle Johnson (15:17):
So I was not full time. So at this point, I
think, I was probablywaitressing.
Mindy Tucker (15:25):
Oh, you did waitressing?
Joyelle Johnson (15:27):
Yeah, was waitressing was my biggest gig
and also teaching. Was teaching.They let me teach children.
Yikes. I was doing that doingstand up at night.
Wow. So it was hard. So I'd worka lunch shift. Lunch shifts were
the best, but less money. But doa lunch shift and then work at
night and try to do stand up.
(15:48):
And the comedy room started at04:00. 4PM to about 2AM, can get
an open mic. That's how MichaelLawrence was able to do, you
know, every hour. He'd do a Anddifferent it got to a point
where he would show up to aspot, and then they put him on.
But usually, you had to sign upfor a list and just wait and
wait and wait.
Right. You know, so that wasprobably at the times where I
(16:11):
was just starting to get on thepopular shows, like, Cap'n.
Right. I think. Yeah, because Iwas touring with people.
So I was doing a little
Mindy Tucker (16:19):
bit touring, opening, opening. How did you
maintain the working a day joband then trying to get those
sets at night? What was thething that kept that going for
you?
Joyelle Johnson (16:32):
I don't know, insanity? Yeah. Not taking meds?
Like what? Not being a stablehuman being?
I don't know, yeah, because it'ssuch a weird pursuit to be like,
I wanna hang around all thesepeople and do this night thing
that's not paying me any money.Yeah. It was weird. So, I don't
even remember how much Cabin, orif Cabin paid.
Mindy Tucker (16:56):
Don't know that it did.
Joyelle Johnson (16:57):
I don't think Cabin paid. Yeah. So, we were
doing, and we were happy to bebooked on that show.
Mindy Tucker (17:02):
Well, was a hot, rhythmic It a great show. But I
still have a day job when thisphoto is taken. Yeah. Yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (17:11):
Yeah. I was working, I mean, anything I
would do production work, PA. Iwas transcribing for, what show
was that? Flea Market Flip. Iwas the transcriber for Flea
Market Flip.
That host never talked to me.Yeah, I did anything that I
(17:32):
could, you know, make some moneycatering, whatever it was. Was
doing it because I knew I wasnot fit for a day job. I knew
nobody wanted me behind theirdesk. Oh, I'm a get fired and
fired.
I got fired a lot.
Mindy Tucker (17:46):
So this is the launch of Lady Parts Justice.
This is at Union Pool,07/15/2014.
Joyelle Johnson (17:57):
Oh, my gosh. Yes. So that first Liz picture
was the prequel to this goingfor Lady Parts Justice. Oh, my
gosh. Look at Sherrell.
Look at Sharon. We're like agirl group.
Mindy Tucker (18:11):
I love Look
Joyelle Johnson (18:11):
at the skin. Bright gleaming. Oh, my
goodness. Look at that melaninpopping. That is so and Union
Pool had the best taco truck.
Mindy Tucker (18:21):
Still does.
Joyelle Johnson (18:22):
Still does. Is that taco truck still there?
Still haven't been there in solong. That taco truck was one of
my favorite reasons to go toUnion Pool.
Mindy Tucker (18:30):
Oh, yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (18:30):
I'd be like, Stand up, sure, sure, sure. But
the taco truck. Yeah, I lovethat that has made it through. I
haven't been there in a verylong time. But yes, no, I
remember that.
Oh, this picture. Yes. Look atthat girl. What is she like a
size? Oh, she's like a size six.
Come on, my mother would lovethese pictures. Oh my gosh, look
(18:53):
at that. That's so funny. Lookat me posing, trying to pose.
Amazing.
Aw, Mindy. I remember thatshirt. I don't know any of these
clothes anymore. Oh, yes. Andthis blazer.
That's so funny. All of us onthere. That's Eunice the uterus
puppet. I think that's Sarah soflicker in there. Oh my
(19:18):
goodness, Leah Bonhama.
Yes. That was amazing. I haven'tseen these pictures in so long.
Yeah, shout out to activism and,being all over the place. Yay.
Now this is a different day.Yes. Same shirt. Look at me.
(19:43):
Different day, same shirt.
I one thing about me is I willwear oh, I will wear an outfit.
I've had this hoodie on for thepast week because I'm just
comfy. I go week by week becauseI never see the same people.
Know? Every single day I seesomebody different.
Mindy Tucker (20:01):
I have a uniform, basically.
Joyelle Johnson (20:04):
Yes, you do.
Mindy Tucker (20:05):
Yeah. I just have a little uniform.
Joyelle Johnson (20:07):
Look forward again. You look like like HR,
you know? Mindy's always dressedlike HR. Noah. One of my besties
in stand up, as he would say,he's, I'm allowed to say this,
he is my favorite Jew.
(20:27):
And I love that man so much. Hehas since moved to, Vegas. So
hopefully I'll see him soon,but.
Mindy Tucker (20:36):
You were there the Comedy Freaknik one year
anniversary show, 08/09/2014.
Joyelle Johnson (20:45):
Wow. Comedy Freaknik?
Mindy Tucker (20:47):
That was the name of the show he had with the
other guy from Atlanta. Clayton?No. Andy, I think.
Joyelle Johnson (21:00):
Sanford.
Mindy Tucker (21:00):
Yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (21:01):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I haven't seen
Andy in the longest. I do notknow how Andy is doing.
Mindy Tucker (21:07):
Yeah, me neither.
Joyelle Johnson (21:08):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But Noah, I know is a
father, which, wow. Because thatNoah, not a father. No semblance
of father in that Noah. So he'sa different person now, I'll
tell you that.
Oh, yes. The fake proposal. Thisis What was this award show
(21:34):
called?
Mindy Tucker (21:35):
So this is the Creek Awards. Yes. This is
08/23/2014.
Joyelle Johnson (21:42):
Look at how pained Clark is to be pretending
to kiss me. That is so funny. Wedid a fake little proposal. I
was nominated for best girl. Ilost to Christicello.
Whatever. You could see straightthrough that skirt. I still have
this tutu. I'm a tutu girl. Ilove I love a tool.
I love a tutu. You will neverget me out of that. I don't care
(22:05):
how old I am. I will be a grownass woman in a tutu. I love it
so much.
It's so whimsical. You cannotsmile when you see somebody in a
tutu.
Mindy Tucker (22:14):
Yeah, it looks cute.
Joyelle Johnson (22:16):
Yes. Shout out to my brother Clark. I love him.
I miss him.
Mindy Tucker (22:20):
Yeah. Was he in Chicago now?
Joyelle Johnson (22:23):
I don't know. Clark is in a different city
every month. Oh, my gosh, thewhole progression of this fake
proposal. She said yes. I loveit.
Aw, and those shoes. Oh, mygosh. Heels, ever since the
pandemic, no more of
Mindy Tucker (22:40):
those. No more.
Joyelle Johnson (22:41):
No more of those. If we fast forward this
to now, it would be this outfitwith some Jordans on.
Mindy Tucker (22:48):
And cut.
Joyelle Johnson (22:53):
What are you doing with all these pictures?
Mindy Tucker (22:55):
Joyelle, that's why you're here today. On my
website, there are now over1,000,000 photos. And people are
always like, hey, Mindy, whenare you gonna do a book? I'm
like, I don't know. Whenever Ihave the time to sort through
1,000,000
Joyelle Johnson (23:13):
photos. So,
Mindy Tucker (23:16):
I'm asking everybody to come in for, it's
kinda like several things. Oneis, what's the photo that you
like the best? Like, do we havea top five? Do we have a top 10?
Like, I need help.
Like, what's the stuff that'simportant to you? What's a photo
that's like, you know, there'ssomething that was going on that
day, and it's important to you,so you really want us to be able
(23:38):
to remember it? Or what's aphoto that's like, I don't care
about that photo at all. Sothat's part of it, is I
genuinely want to make a book,and I want everyone to be happy
with how they're represented. SoI would never just put together,
Here's 100 photos, have at it.
I, you know, I want you guys tobe happy, but also, I think
(24:03):
we're in a time where comedy haschanged so much. And I think
just asking people about theirprocess and about what worked
for them as they went from goodto great, like what's just the
really granular detail behindthat? Because we're seeing so
(24:25):
much on social media of finishedproducts. And I think that when
we were in this time where allthe shows were geographically
close to one another, and youall were, like you described
earlier, you know what MikeLawrence's joke routine was,
right? Now, you didn't take allof what he did, but you took
(24:48):
some of it.
You were like, If you're doingsix, I can do three.
Joyelle Johnson (24:51):
Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (24:53):
That's where I'm gonna land on that, right? But,
it developed you into someonewho now, we're gonna get to this
eventually in this episode, butthere's a photo of you coming on
stage at a show you weren't evenscheduled to be on and killing,
(25:13):
just absolutely owning the room.I have a photo of, like, people
just clapping just because shewalked onto the stage. Like just
the way she walked onto thestage, she had them. And like
all these moments, that's howyou get there.
Yeah. That's why it looks soeasy Because when you go up on
(25:36):
stage, it just looks like, oh,that's just Joyelle being
Joyelle. But it's all thesetimes that are in that. And so,
you know, I've talked earlierabout, I'm just trying to send
out a flare of like, Hey, ifyou're a young artist, like,
here's all these people. Here'sall the different things they
(25:57):
took from this.
Here's all the different waysthey did it. But with great, you
know, specificity so that thecomedy nerds can have fun too.
Joyelle Johnson (26:06):
Yes. Yeah. Thank you for being a comedy
merd.
Mindy Tucker (26:10):
And if you're watching this, you are. Right.
Anyway, here's some morecandidates from the Awards.
Joyelle Johnson (26:18):
Yes, the Creek Awards.
Mindy Tucker (26:19):
In 2014, such a fun night, 08/23/2014. I, you
know, I don't Artisticallyspeaking, I don't love a quote
unquote red carpet photo. Right.We tend to turn stuff like that
down when it hits the old inbox.But I am so glad that we do have
(26:42):
these photos of everyonetogether.
I do think that's special.
Joyelle Johnson (26:45):
I do too. I do too. Yeah, and I love I live for
a group shot. I love a groupshot. Is that Jeremy Wing?
Yeah. That's so funny.
Mindy Tucker (26:55):
Still working in comedy today.
Joyelle Johnson (26:58):
Yeah. A sweetheart. Still friends with
him. Yeah. I got one in with hiswife recently.
I love that. Oh, this was one ofmy faves. That is one of my
favorite pictures. With thetulle skirt gathered and just
being a I think this picture isthe essence of a Virgo.
Mindy Tucker (27:19):
This is you. So Joyelle is looking at a photo of
herself.
Joyelle Johnson (27:25):
Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (27:26):
That's hanging at the creek in the cave. This was
part of the year in comedy. AndJoyelle had quote unquote made
the wall I made the wall. Creek.
Joyelle Johnson (27:37):
Oh, I made the wall.
Mindy Tucker (27:39):
And she was excited about that. And it was a
joy. I was really excited totake this picture as well. This
was a really fun moment. Yeah.
That, yeah, it's Joyelle lookingat Joyelle.
Joyelle Johnson (27:50):
Joyelle loving Joyelle. Love Joy. And if
Mindy Tucker (27:53):
you're if you're in Austin, Texas, you can go to
the creek in the cave today andsee all the old urine comedies.
Joyelle Johnson (28:01):
They're Oh, they're all still hanging out
all there. Still
Mindy Tucker (28:03):
there. Yeah. She drove them down to Austin a
couple years ago.
Joyelle Johnson (28:06):
Oh, I love that. I haven't been in a while.
Austin's not for me. Yeah. Thatis a classic Joyelle face right
there.
Mindy Tucker (28:17):
So this is a show called Stand Up and Take Your
Clothes Off. L. O. L. Hosted byKaren Fian and Kitten Kent.
This is 12/07/2014. So you and Isaw a lot of one another in
2014.
Joyelle Johnson (28:33):
I love that.
Mindy Tucker (28:34):
That means you were out there working.
Joyelle Johnson (28:37):
I was working.
Mindy Tucker (28:38):
Do you remember if you had a goal at that time?
Like, were you working towards ahalf hour? Were you
Joyelle Johnson (28:47):
I was working towards a late night set. Okay.
And working towards getting pastat the popular comedy clubs in
New York City. That's what I wasworking towards.
Mindy Tucker (28:59):
So that's really evident in this photo spread,
is, you know, we initially seeyou in 2012, and then, you know,
you were probably doing openmics and things like that. And
then you show up in 2014, you'restarting to get booked on those
bigger shows, and it's Joyelle,Joyelle, Joyelle, Joyelle. Yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (29:18):
Yes. That is I remember this time because I was
like, stand up and take yourclothes off. It looks like I'm
about to take my clothes offbecause I have, like, the
perfect hoodie on to be nakedunder, but absolutely not. Are
you kidding me? Stand up isscary enough.
You want me to do it naked? Thatis terrifying. That's a no for
me, dog. That's a no for me,dog. This is a fifty first joke.
Mindy Tucker (29:43):
Yeah. And
Joyelle Johnson (29:46):
this is January 2015. All of my colleagues look
positively at me, which Iappreciate. Well, there's one
person with his head in hishands, but other than that,
everybody else's faces lookpromising.
Mindy Tucker (30:03):
Hello, Leon Torreso.
Joyelle Johnson (30:06):
Is that Matteo in the back?
Mindy Tucker (30:07):
I think so, yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (30:08):
And Liza? Who you?
Mindy Tucker (30:10):
Sweet pie Liza.
Joyelle Johnson (30:13):
Love that. That is I know what's about to
happen. I'm probably gonna cry.
Mindy Tucker (30:18):
Yeah. I cried putting it together.
Joyelle Johnson (30:24):
I love that dress. Good lip. Good red lip.
My hair is straight. Yeah.
Which for those of you thatdon't know, this is not that.
And to get my hair straighttakes a very long time. It does
not last for long. The second ifthere's any humidity in the air,
(30:47):
it will right back up into anafro. So having my hair straight
in any pictures is a feat.
Clapping about Everest, and Idon't do it often. Yes,
backstage, Bell House is myfavorite venue in the country,
in the world. I shot my specialat Bell House. I love the Bell
House. I love Aparna.
(31:09):
Is that the side of JoshGonderman's head? Yep. Probably
is because he has a cardigan on.We got Lisa. We got Naomi.
Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (31:16):
We shall know him by his cardigan.
Joyelle Johnson (31:18):
Yes. We will know Josh Gonderman by a hat and
a cardigan and a really niceshoe. A really great shoe. Wow,
look at us. Okay, so JanelleJames and Joyelle Johnson are
actually about to do a showtogether at the end of May in
(31:39):
Atlanta.
So I'm And excited about I havesometimes gotten deal memos for
Joyelle James. I've gottenoffers for Janelle Johnson. -Oh,
wow. -And when I asked Janelleif that ever happened to her,
she was like, No, that's neverhappened. And then the next time
I saw her, she was like,Somebody just bought me up as
(32:00):
Joyelle James.
Was like, I told you it wascalled Happy Girl. Because it's
the JJ's and Janelle is more ofa more common name than Joyelle.
So if I say Joyelle to somebody,they'll be like, Janelle? And
I'm like, you're just notlistening. Yeah.
Yeah. So holler, shout out. Oh,wow, we was really mugging.
Mindy Tucker (32:21):
Yeah, I, you know, I actually called, there were
like more photos of the two ofyou together, and I was like, I
don't know how to pick, becauseyou guys actually look good in
all of them, I feel. And also,was just such a fun moment to
have you both together there.
Joyelle Johnson (32:38):
Yeah. Her cheekbones are I know. So
beautiful. Astounding. Oh mygosh.
Face beat. Who's that guytalking to Josh?
Mindy Tucker (32:50):
That is Jeff Wesselsmidt. Did comedy with
Joel Wachowski and Eli Sayers.They were called The Wildcats.
Oh, cool.
Joyelle Johnson (33:01):
Has he still do comedy?
Mindy Tucker (33:02):
No. For him. Really, really, I know. I'm lit.
We had Joel in for an interviewrecently, and I'm always so
happy for people putting herout.
Joyelle Johnson (33:15):
Well, come the waterworks. Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (33:22):
Yeah. So, this is Everybody with Kevin. This is
our Kevin Barnett, and he justwas so funny. But what's so hard
for all of us is that he wasfunny, he was an incredible
(33:43):
writer, but he was also such agood friend and artist. He
really was on the more artfulside of things, which you
wouldn't know like, just onlyfrom his comedy.
Yeah, he just I always felt likesuch an artistic kinship with
(34:06):
him. And this is Kevin with Jayand Janelle and Seton
Joyelle Johnson (34:15):
Amber photobombing our black Amber
Mindy Tucker (34:20):
totally knowing what she's doing, having a great
time with it, and all of youknowing what she was doing and
having a great time with
Joyelle Johnson (34:26):
it. Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (34:27):
But, yeah, this was Kevin at fifty First
Strokes. And he was he wasaround for a lot of community
stuff. I think he I think healready had a TV show at that
point. I think.
Joyelle Johnson (34:42):
Yeah. I mean, he, he was doing fantastic.
Yeah. Him and his writingpartner, Josh. And, and I will
say that, he was holding out ona really good friend from
college that he never introducedme to, that I met at his
funeral, and that is my partner.
We've been together for sixyears. So, I feel like he kind
(35:07):
of like brought us together. Soyeah. Yeah. And that's all I can
say about it.
Mindy Tucker (35:14):
Yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (35:18):
Oh my gosh, I loved this picture. That and
also that's my first, that's notmy first time crying, but they
will not be the last, I alreadyknow. I'm gonna cry again, and
it is what it is. So if y'alllooking at me puffy eyed right
now, it's Huffle. BarbaraWalters of comedy.
Mindy Tucker (35:37):
I just want you to come in here and cry. That's it.
That's the whole thing.
Joyelle Johnson (35:41):
Doctor. This archive is fantastic. And like,
I never thought about it thatmuch. Like, you really did
archive our careers. And thetimes back when we were all
friends.
Because that ain't the case asmuch anymore. Shout out to
Robert D. Robert D isresponsible for the one of the
(36:01):
sexiest moments I've ever seenin my life. We were at a
festival in Atlanta. He has hislong hair, and we were all
hanging out on, like, theseventeenth floor of this
building.
And then at one point, all thecomics just looked at the patio,
and he was making out with thisgirl, and his hair was, like,
blowing in the wind. And we alljust -Wow. Stopped and were
like, God damn. That was thesexiest thing I've ever seen.
(36:25):
Robert Crazy, crazy, crazy,crazy.
Yay, winter coats.
Mindy Tucker (36:31):
I love that one.
Joyelle Johnson (36:33):
I love the bell house. I love winter coats. I
love this dress. I think I stillhave it. I can't fit it, but I
still have it.
Mindy Tucker (36:42):
So this is Valentine's Day, 2015, the show
Hard, Lonely and Vicious. Yeah.Hosted by Peggy O'Leary and
Molly Austin at The Creek in theCave.
Joyelle Johnson (36:56):
Molly is supposed to have a baby.
Mindy Tucker (36:58):
I think they have the baby.
Joyelle Johnson (37:00):
Yeah, my God. Gosh, I can't believe any
comedians are parents. Thisdress, I love this dress so
much. And LOL at how dressy Igot. I probably thought I was
trying to get a man at theValentine's Day show.
Like, she's single, look at her.And then a winter coat,
Mindy Tucker (37:20):
And then which is this is outside the knitting
factory in April 2015, and Idon't think these photos are out
anywhere. I think I found themin the archives. Who am
Joyelle Johnson (37:36):
I talking to? Rami. I was like, that looks
like Rami. And a babushkalooking like an auntie. Yeah.
I was like, That is Rami. Aw.
Mindy Tucker (37:49):
Yeah. I love this because it's just, you know,
it's no flash, It's availablelight, and it's just a little
moment of people hanging out.And that was one of the great
things about the Knit.
Joyelle Johnson (38:01):
Yeah. Yeah. We love Knitting Factory. Oh, my
goodness. That was such a greattime.
I love looking back to thosetimes and just being like, Oh,
we did have a good time there.
Mindy Tucker (38:12):
Yeah. But I feel like a lot of you worked on
material. It was such a usefulplace for that, you know?
Joyelle Johnson (38:20):
Yeah. It absolutely was. This was one of
the shooter shirts. I remembershe gave me this shirt. I loved
how bright it was.
It was such a great shirt. Andthat's at The Creek.
Mindy Tucker (38:34):
Yeah. So, this is for the LPGA Carnival. This is
in June 2014. I'm sorry, June2015 at The Creek. And this was
John Fugal sang.
Yeah, love him. They did like abooth or something. That was
(38:55):
part of the festival. I can'tremember the whole thing. But it
was like, it wasn't just acomedy show.
There was stuff happening A lotgoing on. Out on the patio.
Yeah.
Joyelle Johnson (39:04):
That was I do I remember that. Oh, gosh. It's
like going back into the memorydump from inside out. This is
all from the memory dump,shooting back up that thing and
coming down. And all of mypersonalities are like, wow,
that was a crazy time.
Yeah, that's a, I love thatshirt. I wore that shirt till
(39:24):
it, the, the Boondock shirt. Iwore that shirt till it got so
thin. You could like see throughit. I love that shirt.
LOL at this. This is Stick orTreat?
Mindy Tucker (39:36):
Stick or Treat 2015 at the knitting factory.
LOL.
Joyelle Johnson (39:42):
Take a wild guess at who I am pretending to
be Yep. at this point. That wasyeah. That was a great time. I
love the background of thosegirls laughing at it.
It was that was a funny that wasa funny thing. I had a good time
(40:02):
doing that. Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (40:04):
And I think Sticker Tree was just a it was a
wonderful place for everybodykind of coming together. Yeah.
But then we had to, the nextphoto of you is at Littlefield.
Joyelle Johnson (40:19):
I love that. This photo was promo as well. I
used that photo as promo for alot. I missed that ring, that
little zebra ring. I love thatring so much.
And what year is this?
Mindy Tucker (40:32):
I believe that this is the fall of fifteen.
Wow. And let's see.
Joyelle Johnson (40:39):
I love that leather jacket.
Mindy Tucker (40:40):
This was Night Train, Wyatt's and Knacks show.
Yes. And this was the fifthanniversary show.
Joyelle Johnson (40:47):
Yeah. That's a great shot. That hallway is
great for pictures. I feel likeI have a lot of good Mindy shots
in that hallway.
Mindy Tucker (40:55):
I miss that hallway. That's the old
Littlefield.
Joyelle Johnson (40:58):
That's the the original Littlefield location.
And I did love, I used that walla lot. Yeah. Yeah. Judging by
this picture, I was doing animpression of Seton there.
Oh, yes. I love that jacket. Ohmy goodness. And the necklace. I
(41:19):
remember having that necklace.
And I also have a sheer shirton. I've never met a mesh or a
sheer that I do not love. Yes, Ido. These pictures were coming.
These are some of my favoritegroup shots.
Getting down here. I'm glad Idon't have nails on. Thought I
was gonna wear nails. Yes. Shoutout to Jeffrey Joseph, who has
(41:40):
escaped America.
That is in Canada. Good for him.
Mindy Tucker (41:44):
He got out early.
Joyelle Johnson (41:45):
Sure did. I love this picture. I love Parna,
Hari, Rojo. That's a great shot.Mary Anne.
I love that. I love thatpicture. I really do. I love a
group shot. I love a good groupshot.
Mindy Tucker (42:01):
And this next one, you came out to support Julia
Rozzi's album releasecelebration, 02/18/2016.
Joyelle Johnson (42:11):
Wow. Amazing. There's that, shirt again. I
love that shirt dress. It waslike a thin sweater dress.
I loved it.
Mindy Tucker (42:21):
And then this next one is from, also from February
2016. Yes. This was the Oscarsat The Creek In The Cave.
Joyelle Johnson (42:35):
Yes. Now this skirt, I don't know whose skirt
that was. I don't know where Iwore it. I don't remember that
skirt. I feel like it was one ofthose things I had and didn't,
and couldn't really fit and woreit once.
And there was like, girl, yougotta get this away. But it's so
cute. It's like feathers, Butyay, all. I love that.
Mindy Tucker (42:57):
And then I want you to to just some real life is
happening.
Joyelle Johnson (43:01):
Uh-oh.
Mindy Tucker (43:07):
So, the next photos of you
Joyelle Johnson (43:09):
Yeah.
Mindy Tucker (43:10):
From Yeah. When we did the women in comedy thing.
Joyelle Johnson (43:13):
Yes. Yeah. I remember that. I remember women
in comedy. Oh my gosh.
Mindy Tucker (43:22):
And so we did individual photos of each
person. And then we did groupphotos. And then we had breakout
groups.
Joyelle Johnson (43:34):
Yes. And I remember these. Jean, I was just
on the phone with Jean. She sayshi.
Mindy Tucker (43:45):
I love Jean simply, she's so artistic and
the best.
Joyelle Johnson (43:49):
Yes. One of the besties. Yes, great breakout
groups. Yeah. I love that.
Mindy Tucker (43:56):
But the thing is
Joyelle Johnson (43:56):
Has that little field?
Mindy Tucker (43:57):
This was such a data heavy day that only the
individual photos are captioned.And I'm gonna need a fellowship,
you guys. I'm gonna need one ofthose things where they give you
a bunch of money to go away tothe woods for a while, and they
(44:17):
pay all your living expensesbecause this gallery isn't
captioned, the group photos. Andso, I remembered at the last
minute before you were comingin, like, way
Joyelle Johnson (44:32):
How many people are in these pictures?
Mindy Tucker (44:33):
Like, wait, Joyelle. So you didn't come up
automatically on the internalarchive search Yeah. When I
entered your name, but I waslike, wait.
Joyelle Johnson (44:42):
There's other pics.
Mindy Tucker (44:43):
There's other pics. Oh, there's
Joyelle Johnson (44:45):
lot going on in that braid there.
Mindy Tucker (44:48):
Thank you.
Joyelle Johnson (44:51):
Good braid. Big braid. Bigly.
Mindy Tucker (44:56):
It's a lot. You're amazing. You know, it's like,
allegedly, this is thedefinitive Joyelle Johnson pull
up until this moment in 2016.Yeah. But there could be a photo
somewhere that I missed.
(45:17):
Like, it's highly possible.
Joyelle Johnson (45:21):
Selena got on. Is that a, yeah, girl. Okay,
flat stomach. You ready
Mindy Tucker (45:26):
to So, do was in 2016. Yeah. And we want to do
this again. So, hopefully in thefall, we're gonna bring everyone
together again to do this.Because did you meet anyone that
day that you had never met orwas it mostly just hanging with
people you knew?
Joyelle Johnson (45:47):
I'm sure I did. I'm sure I met people I'd never
met, but I feel like the wholecareer has been such a blur.
I'll tell people, I'm not surewhere I met you. Right. You
know, it'll be somebody whereI'm like, I recognize your face.
I don't remember your name. AndI realized that you just have to
be like, remind me your nameagain. And it's that simple.
(46:08):
Just remind me your name again.And I'm sure I mean, I'm looking
at these pictures becausethere's so many people I know,
but there's so many faces Idon't know in there.
So, yeah, let's do that again.So I can meet more people. Oh,
my little box. Box number one.
Mindy Tucker (46:23):
So, you guys, we got through box number one
today. There's a whole otherbox. So, I think you guys, what
you're gonna have to do here isyou're gonna have to like,
you're gonna have to subscribe,you're gonna have to subscribe
to my newsletter, and we'regonna have to have Joyelle back
(46:44):
again.
Joyelle Johnson (46:45):
You gotta do that. This is crazy, so I can
cry again.
Mindy Tucker (46:48):
Yeah, I cried too. Yeah, yeah, anyway, I just,
don't wanna rush it, you know?Never. Is there anything from
this time you wanna, like talkabout or you think you got it?
Joyelle Johnson (47:04):
No, I just I've had fun. Yeah. I've had a I'm
having a fun life and this isjust evidence of that to be
like, oh wow, you're having agood time. And I wouldn't I
don't think I would change asingle thing about anything
(47:25):
because those were ups and downstimes a lot a lot of rough
things happened but wow lots ofsmiles. Yeah.
And I love you. I'm takingpictures of you. I'm taking
pictures of everything.
Mindy Tucker (47:45):
Do you remember your first joke?
Joyelle Johnson (47:48):
I was a young girl, and I always knew I was
gonna be a performer. And one ofmy favorite movies is The Sound
of Music. And there's a scenewhere they sing a song called 16
going on 17. And when you watchthe scene, they're leaping off
of these benches so that theycan leap all around the room.
And I would do that in theliving room.
I would put on every singleskirt that I owned, and I would
(48:10):
jump from couch to couch tocouch. And my mother finally
caught me, and instead ofyelling at me, she was like, Oh,
I have a little baby entertainerand comedian on my hands,
because she just laughed at mewith every single skirt on in
the house, hers and mine,twirling around singing 16 going
on 17.
Mindy Tucker (48:30):
That's fantastic. Ready for the stage.
Joyelle Johnson (48:33):
Ready for the stage.
Mindy Tucker (48:34):
At a young age.
Joyelle Johnson (48:35):
At a young age, Barst.
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