Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers - JOSH JOHNSON Took One-Tank Texas Road Trips

Episode Date: July 7, 2026

This week on the pod, Seth and Josh welcome Josh Johnson! Josh talks about growing up in Alexandria, Louisiana, his path from working a variety of jobs to becoming one of comedy’s most prolific voices, and the moves that took him from Louisiana to Chicago and eventually New York. He also shares stories about family travel, including childhood road trips across the South, annual vacations with his girlfriend, mom, and aunt, and a memorable trip to Hawaii where the ocean literally knocked his family off their feet! Plus, he discusses the success of his HBO Max special Symphony and his upcoming Comedy Band Camp Tour. -------------------------Get your tickets for Family Trips Live!8/12 - Philadelphia: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/family-trips-with-the-meyers-brothers-il7k6b8/13 - Boston: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/family-trips-with-the-meyers-brothers-iipsfk ------------------------- Support our sponsors: Quince Make your summer wardrobe easier. Go to https://Quince.com/trips for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. IQ Bar Text TRIPS to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply. ------------------------- Family Trips is produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Theme song written and performed by Jeff Tweedy. ------------------------- About the Show: Lifelong brothers Seth Meyers and Josh Meyers ask guests to relive childhood memories, unforgettable family trips, and other disasters! New Episodes of Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers are available every Tuesday. ------------------------- Executive Producers: Rob Holysz, Jeph Porter, Natalie Holysz Creative Producer: Sam Skelton Coordinating Producer: Derek Johnson Video Editor: Josh Windisch Mix & Master: Josh Windisch Episode Artwork: Analise Jorgensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, Pashi. Hey, Sufi. Very exciting news, Pashi. What's that? We're going to be doing our live, our first American live family trip shows. Yeah, I'm very excited. I'm excited for both of them, but I'm particularly excited for the first one. You're excited for Philly?

Yeah, because I've never been to Philly. You've never been to Philly. I know. And I like, I keep meeting people from Philly. Yeah. I saw the Roots picnic. this weekend at the Hollywood Bowl and famously a Philly, Philly band. And yeah, I sort of like, you know, I have so much love for Pittsburgh. And I just feel like I know

Phillies, not Pittsburgh. But, you know, we did a lot of chatter for visit Baltimore last year, which is a town I really want to get to. And I feel like Philly's in that same kind of pocket. Yeah. You feel like maybe you should have done a little bit more for Philly while you were shouting out Baltimore all the time? I'm doing it now. I'm going there. We're going. Are you going to watch Mayor of Eastown or Task ahead of time? Well, I've watched them both. Yeah, yeah. I mean, Baltimore, Philly, and Pittsburgh may be the three most jarring accents to hear live if you've never heard them before. Yeah. It'll be like when we did,

when we were doing improv in Scotland, and it would take a few days of having audience members shout out suggestions to the stage to be able to actually decipher what it was they were saying. Yeah. Yeah, the ear has to get used to it. We're only going to be there for a day, so I don't know if you're ever going to fully good. I know. I'm going to try to maybe go a day or too early.

I think watching a full season of task is probably worth at least four hours in Philly. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's going to be great. I will tell you, the last time I was in Philly, I went for a run to go see the Liberty Bell. Yeah. And I listened to one song on a loop the whole time. The Rocky theme song?

Great. That would have been a great choice. I listened to Philadelphia Freedom by Elton Joe. And the only thing I'll say about Philadelphia Freedom is if there's ever a song where I think you're supposed to be on rollerblades, it might be Philadelphia Freedom. Yeah, it's probably skates, actually. It's more skates than rollerblades. Yeah. But I think, you know what again, I think they're lovely people in Philly.

I think if they saw a dude on like 70 styles roller skates today, kind of rocking down the street, they might check a couple double A's at them. D batteries. Yeah, but we're going to be at, yeah, we got a show at City Winery in Philadelphia on August 12th and then one at City Winery. in Boston on August 13th. So very exciting. And pretty high percentage chance you might get to see Hillary and Larry Myers in person

if you go to the Boston show. Yeah, I think a high, high level chance for that. Could be deep family for us at the Boston City Winery Show. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's exciting. I think I checked. I think there's no Red Sox game that day

because I was wondering if that would work out nicely. Yeah. Have you been watching? World Cup? I have been. And I, as we record this tonight, is the Netherlands first knockout round match against Morocco. And yesterday, just sort of on a whim, I sent a text out to our sort of boom Chicago, L.A. brethren. And I think I'm probably going to have between six and 20 people over here tonight.

I just can't tell. It's hard to get a read on it. but yeah. Deeply jealous of the West Coast start time. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I'm not loving a 9 p.m. kickoff. Yeah, that ain't right.

That ain't right. It's been crazy. There's been like games that have started at midnight on the East Coast. Yeah. Those like those Vancouver starts, those Vancouver games are somehow even later, I feel like. Yeah, but they're not supposed to be. It's crazy. I mean, there's never any West Coast sporting events that start at 9 p.m.

in any of the major sports leagues because they're like, well, nobody in the East Coast is going to watch them, but I think with the World Cup, they were like, yeah, we're okay with that. Yeah, we're doing just fine. It's very exciting. I'm definitely nervous.

I feel like the Netherlands, our beloved squad, has a tough, everybody, this might be the toughest first round matchup anybody has, Morocco as far as. Morocco's good. Morocco's great. Also, real connection.

I think, multiple players on the Moroccan team are, like, from Holland. They're like, there's a huge Moroccan community in the Netherlands. And obviously in this day and age, a lot of players end up playing for countries where they're not from, but their parents are from. And so it'll be, it's going to be great vibes. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. And then, you know, I did just mention it, but we've got McKenzie's mom, Linda, is out here right now. And she had never been to the Hollywood Bowl. So I told her, I was like, just look at the schedule for this year and pick a show and we'll go to a show. And you're like, and don't beat yourself up. I've never been to Philly. Yeah.

It's not your fault. You haven't been to the Hollywood Bowl. So she looked and she picked this Roots Picnic as the show she wanted to see, which I already had tickets for. And it's so fun. Like they get like some classic hip-hop acts. And then the roots are the backing band. The Roots, like, perform. But then they back up De La Sol and Nas and TI.

And it is such a good vibe. It was such a fun night out. And I was so glad we got to take Linda to that. She really enjoyed it. And yeah, it was fantastic. Fabulous. How long a show is it? Like three hours.

Okay. They say it starts at 7.30 and that's when the roots come out. And they were done by 10.30. Great. Yeah, it was awesome. It was like truly one of the best vibes I've ever experienced at the bowl. Like people were having so much fun. It's a picnic.

Obviously it's called a picnic. It's not an actual picnic though. Like what's the vibe at the bowl with like bringing your own food and stuff? You can do it. You can bring in, yeah, food, wine, beer. We had a box, we had a terrace box, which is the garden boxes are like up front, but we were set back from that. You know, nice tickets, nice seats.

And if you get there early enough, they will set up these little tables for you in the box so you can have dinner there, which is what we did. And then you break those tables down. What are you laughing about? I'm thinking about something I'm about to tell you. Okay. You're not listening to what I'm saying? No, I'm listening, but it's like, I know what a picnic is, and now I'm like kind of ahead of you. Okay, yeah.

Well, you're the one that asked the question. I just thought it's something that made me laugh, and hopefully it'll make you laugh. Okay. We went out last night and we went to some place that I once brought mom. And I'm always trying, in stand-up, I'm always trying to find an example of the kind of questions, Mom asked. Yeah. That are, you know, that it puts you in a corner because to answer the question, there's almost no way to answer it without being rude. Hmm.

Because it's so, I don't want to say inane because mom listens to the pod. But we went to a place and we brought her. and on the menu it said kimchi oysters. And mom said, what's kimchi? And I said, it's like a fermented cabbage. And she went, oh. And so what are the kimchi oysters?

And like, I swear I almost had like an aneurysm like trying to figure out of wait. I'm like, you know what? I bet it's oysters with kimchi on it. Yeah. Also, mom wouldn't, she's not into oysters. I'm not going to eat or kimchi.

Yeah. But the good one that I've been doing on stage that I should think is maybe the perfect one, which is we were backing out of a friend's house. They were visiting us. We were backing on mom with shotgun. And as I was backing out of the car, we were facing a barn.

Have I told you this? I don't think so. So, like, picture every barn you've ever seen in a children's book. That's what it looks like. Yeah. And so we're facing it. And mom says, is that a barn? Is that a barn? And like, this is where I, again, I know, that's why I'm so happy when mom appears on the, on the pod. Like, you know, you know, hurry has an act of mine, a voracious reader.

And like, sometimes I tell stories about her and I think that people must picture, like, her just, like, drooling. Well, we, like, feed her his soup. Is this, is that a barn? Yeah. And I'm, like, just, like, sitting there and I'm like, I don't know what you want me to say. No, that? That's a pizza. Oh, man.

So, yeah, well, we might get some of that action in Boston, everybody. Yeah, we'll get her, she'll have a long explanation for why it was a very good, question that you can never be she's always said you can never be too safe with the question of is it or isn't it a barn um josh johnson a delightful conversation he's a great stand-up comedian with a fantastic new special you know him as a daily show correspondent and uh we love talking to him yeah symphony is his new special you can see it now and uh yeah cool and every now and then on the pod i'm i'm very taken this is an example of someone who, uh, uh, the, the sound of their voice plus their cadence is just sort of mesmerizing to me. Yeah. I feel like there are a lot of comedians out there and it's sort of like,

uh, being strafed by a machine gun. Um, yes. But Josh Johnson is not that. He is a thinking man's comic and his cadence is just like, it's soothing and, uh, yeah, got a really, I also, uh, sometimes when I watch him, crush by talking at the pace he does. It's a reminder that maybe I could give myself the grace to slow down on stage. It's not your style. I just white knuckle it. I'm like,

I gotta get to the next joke. Or else you're going to remember you don't like me. All right. Well, enjoy everybody. Yeah. Oh, and there was something I forgot to say. Yeah. But first, Jeff Tweedy.

Posh hates when I do that. That's fine. And I kind of finally backed off it, but I wanted you to know that you're never, you're never free of me. Take it away, Jeff. Hello. Hey, hey, hey. How are you? I'm doing well.

I want to make sure I'm not too noisy. I live in Brooklyn, and there is a lot that's always happening outside of my apartment. but I also just want to see for what I can control if this sounds good. We would, it looks like you're in a limbo and outer space and sounds like it as well. Yes, okay, yeah, that part is just having a lot of bare walls. I'm not, I'm, as much as I love posters, I can never decide which ones to put up. We're not, we're not much better in terms of, yeah, we have liminal spaces that we're existing. And it's all very backrooms at the moment.

Yeah, but at least it's backrooms. This feels like from a different decade. This feels like a different indie movie. And not one that ends well. Before you joined, Josh and I were talking about how much we enjoyed symphony, especially your karate story about Kevin. I don't want to spoil it for anybody. Just a killer.

Thanks. Just a killer bit, killer story. So many good jokes. within it. And for anybody who hasn't seen Symphony on HBO Max, I don't want to give anything away, but the Kevin Karate story is an all-timer. Oh, well, thanks, man. That means a lot. I, yeah, it's crazy because you put stuff out there and then you meet people who watched. And it's like, you watched? Yeah, that feels, that feels wild. It's also funny because, especially when it's like personal stories, which I do a great many of what I do stand up, it also feels weirdly like a

violation when people are like oh my god i love stories about your kids i'm like hey man those are my kids yeah you're the one who said it right right right right right you'll forget especially like every once in a while i will forget that i shared something and i will think that this person just knows this about me because i wear it on my face yeah like like there was someone i met one time i'm trying to remember what story i put out but they were like hey man i really like your stuff and i'm want you to know, I was bullied a lot too as a kid. And I forgot I had just talked about bullocks. I was like, did I just, do I just walk like that? But also, as you put stuff out over years, you've had several specials now, there are things that you've talked about in your earlier

material that someone else might have just seen and it's very fresh for them. And it lives in your deep history now. And they will talk about it like you, you know, told them that this morning. And then you have to sort of pull back in your history where it even originates from. Yeah. Or it wasn't me. Well, sure. Ooh, that does happen. Yeah.

That one stings. Just when you think you're like a little bit famous. It's like there's a person with just your forehead even. They don't look like you. Yeah. And then everyone's like, I love your bit from this other person. And you're like, I don't remember saying that ever. Yeah.

Yeah. Wow. We met years ago with Neil Brennan, and you were just on Neil's podcast blocks, and that was also great and very funny. Oh, thanks. Yeah, no, Neil's great. I can't believe he helped me so much and then forgot.

Yeah, there's a great story about how Neil literally helped you buy clothes, new clothes. And it is a wonderful thing to watch. I was joking with Neil. I'm like, this is why, this is the most Neil thing in the world. that you are so hard on yourself that you actually forget you're helpful. Yeah.

You know, he's doing, like, I'm like, I wish you could like go tell your therapist, like, hey, actually, I got it wrong. I'm a great person. Yeah. That's such a, that's so funny, too. Because he's so, I say to him all the time too. Like, my, you know,

Neil was an incredibly helpful asset to me at my darkest times. And I think he does that for a lot of people. And then he doesn't give himself enough credit for, being helpful. It is the opposite of the realization some people have that they were a bully. Right. Do you have me? Like, you know, years, years passing, you're like, oh, I was kind of like mean to that kid one time. And Neil's case, it's like, oh, I have been doing community service. Right. He keeps acting like he's going to get caught for some crime he never did and get sentenced to community service. And instead, he's just been doing it. for free. Yeah. Yeah. On his own. So you are from Alexandria, Louisiana. Is that where you fully grew up? It is. It is. I moved to Shreveport for college, but I was in, yeah, I was in Alexandria.

Good portion of my life and then moved to Chicago after college. Gotcha. And is your mom still in Louisiana? No, no. A lot of us are in Atlanta now. Okay. Gotcha. Gotcha. And what was what was growing up in Alexandria like? I mean, it feels tough to call the first, you know, 18 years of your life mid. But like it is, it's like, look, I wouldn't replace it because then I wouldn't be who I am and everything. But yeah, yeah, it's hard to not look at, if you look at lives on a show, shelf and how the first 18 can go, there are places where you're like, all right, I could have, I could have done well anywhere else. But I feel very fortunate in that all the experiences I had

there kind of like molded me into the person that I am now. I really don't think, like, when I moved Chicago, there was a small part of me. And I'm still young as well at the time I'm like, you know, 22 and I'm in Chicago for the first time. There was a part of me that was like, I wonder what my life would be like if I had grown up here instead. Yeah. And I try not to like dwell on that sort of thing because the truth of it is that if I didn't come to Chicago with so much curiosity and with a real hunger for comedy because I just didn't have access to much live comedy the entire time I was growing up even though I was obsessed with stand up and I was obsessed with comedy, then I don't think, yeah, I might have petered out. Like I might still started stand up and then been like, all right, this is fine. I also live in Chicago, which is dope.

Yeah. I think, I mean, I think mid beginnings are incredibly helpful for creative people. I think, and I often think this, you know, through the lens of the fact that I'm raising three kids in New York City. And so they're exactly what you're talking about. But Josh and I had similar journeys to you where we kind of started in very mid-suburbia. Then we worked our way to Chicago. And then, you know, we just kind of kept going to bigger and bigger cities. And I think that's like a nice aversion to live your life of just sort of like going to places where there's more going on each step of the way as opposed to less.

No, that's very fair. And that's also what I tried to remind myself when I moved to New York. And New York was even more intense than Chicago and the stakes were higher and everything. Because I feel like in Chicago, you can very much get by only like not even chasing your dream, just sort of following. I think that's right. Yeah, you know the person that you're like, they're not, I guess you can stalk your dream in like in a comfortable city. And then in New York, it's like, it's expensive enough. And I didn't move with money.

You know what I mean? Like I don't come from money like that. So then it's, if you're here, you have to be here on purpose. It's very important that you're here for a reason. Yeah. And so all, yeah, all goals. aside just for you as an individual you look at the prices of everything and the price of everything everywhere else and you're like yeah you need to be here on purpose like this heck this has to be

what you want to be doing i'm blown away by people who are like move to new york like i rented out my room this is man this is bad so i i rented out my room when i went on the row for the first time because i was like okay i can offset the cost of my travel with just not having to pay rent for the months that I'm gone. And then because I was doing all the booking myself, I just very poorly handled the books. So there was one point where I got back into town and forgot I had sublet my room. So then, but I really didn't have anywhere to go and I didn't have money for a hotel. And so I came back home and then slept on the couch in my apartment. And, just got like I was only back for like 18 hours but I got a real glimpse at the guy renting my room living the dream. Yeah. It was it was it was kind of devastating because I was like, oh, this room is already being put to better use than I was. And then I flew back out and then I took a bus.

It was just it was one of those things where looking back versus Chicago, it was like that the, the, the, the, the, the, The gigs that I got and just being out on the road for the first time, so not making much money at all, it still would have stretched so much further in Chicago than it did in New York. Because then I did all that stuff and sublet my room just to have to be sure I was back to clock in at the grocery store on Monday. Yeah. And so it's, I think it's good, though. I'm glad that it went this way. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support comes from Quince.

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This message is a paid partnership with AppleCard. Planning family trips can get chaotic, but my Apple Card makes things way easy. I applied right for my iPhone in as little as a minute, and now I use it for everything travel-related. I saw it in action when you picked up dinner last time I was in L.A. for your birthday. Well, you didn't have your wallet or your phone. Oh, my phone is in my pocket. But you love your Apple Card, right? Yes, because with Apple Card, I can spend, track my purchases, and earn up to 3% daily cashback when I use Apple Card with Apple Pay. No fuss.

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Yes. Our mother was a school teacher. How were they with your journey into the arts? Because college was that as well. It wasn't comedy, obviously, but they knew you were artistic, yes? Yes, yes. So I went to college, which they were both very much pro. Educators tend to be.

Yeah, they tend to, like, this is a weird thing that I feel like a lot of teachers look at education, the opposite of how football stars look at football. Like, you talk to an NFL player, and they're like, is your kid going to play? And most of them are like, no. Like, the whole reason that I bash my skull on Sundays is so that they don't have to do this, you know? That would be a punishment in their mind. And then with educators, it's like, you should probably learn as much as possible. Because from what I've learned about the world, you're not going to get very far if you're not very smart.

Yeah. And so I went to college. I majored in design for lighting, thinking maybe I'd do lighting for theater. At one point, I was like, maybe I can be an L.D. on Broadway and everything, like, you know, really shoot for the star stuff. But I still had this sort of quiet obsession with comedy. And I really love making people laugh and I always have. And so when I moved to Chicago, Chicago was the perfect place to basically go, still have a fork in the road. because Chicago was where I could get like a union start and everything,

but Chicago was also where I could just start doing open mics and be part of like I.O. or the annoyance or something like that. And so I still move there with the intention of getting into comedy. I was just very quiet about it. And then I really didn't tell my mom how much comedy I was doing until I got passed at my first club. Because then I was like, okay, at least if there's like some income, involved. Right. And I haven't quit my job because I was working at a grocery store in Chicago as well, but I did a bunch of odd jobs. And I was like, as long as I look like I'm taking care of myself,

I think that there'll be nothing but supportive. And they were. That's really cool. Did they ever travel up to Chicago to see you do stand up there? You know what was rough? Okay. So my mom did come to Chicago and I had a set. My mom and aunt came and that was like the worst set I had in months. I had been and I'm not this type of person. I'm really not trying to pump myself up, but this is just to show you how far I fell. I was killing. Like, like I was, I was, from the time I got passed, like this, I still remember my first night after being passed, like first night as a paid regular and like, yeah, for those listeners who don't know, like getting past means, you You have done like free sets and then the club's like, you know what?

We would love to have you as like a paid performer at the show. Is that an accurate representation of it? Yes. Like you just become a paid regular. So now you're on the roster. Yeah. You're part of the schedule and everything. They're going to give you spots every week.

You're in the world. Yeah. And from the first set that I had, I was like absolutely killing. So then I was I was extra proud that my mom and my aunt were going to be there and everything. And then I didn't quite. I didn't like bomb to the point where I left the stage quiet, but just nothing was going as well as it had ever gone before. It was like they knew my mom and my aunt were there, and they were like, we're going to give you less.

Did you, do you feel like there was any difference in your performance knowing that they were there, even subconsciously? Are you someone who, I mean, I'm so hyper aware when my parents are in the crowd? You know, I think I only thought about them being. there once the third joke didn't get what it usually got. Like initially I was like, all right, it'll

be nice that my mom will see me do this thing and something I'm so passionate about and want to pursue. And also, I think it will give me some extra I won't say leeway, because it's not like anything was being held over my head, but I think it would

give me some extra trust if she saw how well this thing went in the room, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And so then for it to go, for it to not look like I should quit the grocery store was like particularly devastating. It was like, I, and you can't really tell people, it doesn't matter where else you were winning.

They watched you just do, uh, you know, a six out of ten. So it's like, not a whole bomb or anything, but just like, ha ha. Do you go out with them after that? Like is there you go out for a drink or do you go out for food and do you? We just went back to my apartment and I and my mom and my aunt were at a hotel and I can't remember. Whatever my mom said, I was I was like partially devastated. I can't remember what it was. I think I've blocked it out.

But like, like it was in the vein of you did your best. Right, right, right. Which is like not a wholly devastating thing to say to a person, but it is when the thing is completely subjective as an art form. And so you have just, you've revealed to me now that you think it was subpar. And to your best. Our dad, our dad leads the league in partially devastating comments. Yeah. Just, just all you, just constantly.

From any place on the court, he can sink a partially devastating comment. It is really, Josh just did convocation at Northwestern School of Speech and invited our parents late because you wanted to make sure you had a real solid speech before you were willing to risk having them there. Yeah, I finally got it written maybe three days before and I called them and I was like, do you guys want to come? And they came. And I was glad that I did it. But prior to having it written, I was like, I don't know if this is going to work. And yeah. Yeah.

Because our dad would be there with you. You tried your best. He would be. There's also, and this one more comics do than parents. But there's also the, how'd you feel about it? Right. You could have just stabbed me. I mean, I, who director?

your special who directed symphony uh so my best friend jacob manachi okay um we've we've worked together on pretty much all my stuff like he also does my uh weeklies a good portion of the time great um um he did the special that we sent to peacock for a little bit the up here killing myself and everything so he's he's been directing for years and um he directed this one we were like concepting it out a while back and yeah he was like really the the sort of glue that held together the ideas um as we progress because i really came to him with the sort of nugget of the concept before i even had all the the jokes and the stories in place i've had neal has directed both my specials because neil is never will never be gushing with his praise but he also if he tells you you have it

you believe him. Yes, that's exactly how I feel about Jacob, where it's like, if Jacob says I got it, I believe that I got it. And so it was so good to, yeah, wrap up and have him be like, we did it. Because then you're in your head as far as how the jokes and the stories go, but you don't even see the other aspects. Like, you know, whenever, whenever people direct their own thing, I'm always so, perplexed how that happened. Do you have me? Like when people directed the thing, but you were on the other side.

Yeah. Like you were performing. So what signals were you given someone to turn the camera a little bit? Like, when? Do you have a lot to weigh in on in terms of lighting design in your shows? Because you studied it. Do you lean back on the degree? Not as much because I feel that here's the thing.

As far as an actual designer, I felt like I was okay, but I really look to a sort of like overall big picture look. And then I speak the language enough that I can communicate it. But then I trust other people to like deliver how that thing is going to look because I personally feel like once I get involved, it's like I technically know what I'm doing. don't actually know what I'm doing. Especially now, you know, been doing comedy for all these years and not doing design. So I've been left behind by a lot of the tools. I've been left behind by pretty much every program. Yeah.

Yeah. He, uh, I remember I was over. My vanity was getting in the way, just in the way, like, I think I look. And I was, like, choosing different shots purely on, like, what I think is better angles. And Neil was like, I'm going to tell you something. this is how you look to people people see you from every side it's fine also you're never going to watch it again

yeah can I can I tell you something yeah you do an impeccable Neil thank you I might I like might talk too much like Neil in real life he is one of my I think cadence wise he might be my favorite person to listen to that's so funny yeah because it is everything

is a matter of fact and everything lands on. He's very good at making the last word of his sentence the most important one and the one you remember. Well, I've never heard him say like, I'm not sure. Yeah. Like, he does this. Even with me, even when he was, even, I told him this on the podcast, I was like, I walked in and you were like, you don't know how to dress. And I'm just standing like, huh? What happened?

I just walked in. Oh, man. Did you, what, you're an only child, correct, Josh? Yes, yes. So did you guys, would you take trips when you were little? Where would you guys go? So we would take a couple of trips to Texas. We were in Louisiana, and I guess at the time, gas was expensive.

We, yeah, we went to Mesquite, Texas one time because my aunt was living there. She had moved away, which I was so broken over because my aunt was the closest thing I had to assist her as far as hanging out and like taking me places or just like spending time talking and everything. And I don't know how old I was. Maybe I was like nine or something like that. And she moved to Texas. And I remember just being devastated. I was just like, oh, no, what am I going to do? Because I wasn't like a cool kid either.

Right. So I was like, I was like, all right, y'all get ready. I'm going to start talking to the wall. I dare you to move. And so then we went to visit her. And there was a place that they took me to called Celebration Station, I think it is. and it's basically just a Dave and Busters. But hanging out there with everyone was one of the most fun trips I had up until that point.

Now I've been blessed enough that I'm able to save up every year and take the family on trips. So I try to schedule a trip for us at least once a year. but when I was growing up, we didn't really have that much money for trips or anything. And so I remember that one. And then I remember we went to Dallas one time. I think everything was Texas. Everything was like, this is how, this is what we, how far we can get on tank. I mean, it's a good way.

It's a good way to travel. It's a good sort of benchmark to give yourself. Yeah, yeah. That's, so this, this is going to be the circle. We're going to, this circle is where we're going to get. And wherever the car stops is where we're going to vacation. Are you still close with your aunt? Yeah, yeah, I'm still close with all of the family.

And so my aunt's part of all the trips that we go on together. Where, so how, when you take a family trip these days, sort of that you help organize, how big is the group? it is my girlfriend, my mom, my aunt, and I. So really just four. And that allows us to do some cool stuff. If it was five, Yep. Five is a problem.

Five becomes like, because now five is like, okay, there's three hotel rooms now. Yeah, right. Because my mom and my art could usually stay together and then I stay with my girlfriend. If we bring a fifth person, Yeah. Now it's like it changes the whole. Now I'm dealing with like here's a tank of gas. We'll see how far we can get. Yeah. Well, we, you know, we have a, when we had a third kid and became five, I said to my wife, like, we should have just had six.

You know, we should have, once we went over four, we should have just gone for eight. Yeah, because even numbers help you out. They do help you out with all, with all things. What, um, how is your, um, how is your, How many trips has your girlfriend taken with your aunt and your mom? Wow. It's been a lot. That's great. So I would assume it's a good relationship then.

Yeah, yeah, that's good. It's good. It's very nice. And my girlfriend's good about planning aspects within the trip that really helps. It really helps it all look like I'm super thoughtful. Is she like restaurant and excursion based? Like is that the stuff that she's planning? Restaurant and a little bit excursion but more just activity.

Like it's more destination. Yeah. Because we're very much a we need to be at this place for the day. Oh, that's a good way to travel. Yeah. Yeah. We're not the type of people who can hop a bunch. I can do that with my girlfriend, but we, we, we, we,

can't as a group we got to pick one maybe two places and that's when i'm in atlanta like wherever we go we need to really want to be there and only there and they go back to a hotel is your aunt still in texas or is she close to your mom now no no also in atlanta oh great yeah that's fantastic i'm glad they found their way back together what was uh what's the best trip best destination the four of you went on first time we went to hawaii Oh, fantastic. Yeah, and just like the way that, yeah, the way that everything worked out was just perfect because my mom had been a little bit sick. She's much better now, so she's doing great. But I told her, you know, when you get better, I'm going to take you to Hawaii. And she was like, really? And I can just remember her face and everything. And she got so excited and stuff. And so. You know, the time comes. We have that part of the year.

Everybody's in good health, good spirits and everything. And then we make the trip. And my girlfriend was amazing. She planned pretty much the whole thing as far as like where we were going to stay and stuff and had all these like incredible reasons why we should stay at this place and what it was close to and what we could eat and everything. And then we all made it over there. and I just remember both my mom and aunt being so, like, floored. Like, like, they, you know, when, when you are from where we're from, it's not something that's not just top of mind.

It just doesn't seem possible to be able to have, like, this free vacation that they got. And so it was really special to be able to do that with them. There's also that burden of, like, how excited people are for a trip, and then the trip has to actually, like, follow through and be as exciting as it was to look forward to. And it sounds like it was. It sounds like they loved it as much as they thought or hoped they would. Yeah, yeah. They had they had such a great time. And there was this one point where we're not big on swimming. Like my girlfriend swims, but I, I'm more like, hey, I'll kick. I'll kick. And I'll get, I'll get knee deep. Like that, that water, ooh, it's going to feel so good on my shins. And my mom and aunt, like my, my,

My aunt swims more than my mom does. And they all went out to the, about knee height. And then a wave came in. And it didn't take them, but like they could not get up. Like they kept almost getting up. And by the time that they got up, another wave would come and it knocked them down. Oh, man. And like, my girlfriend was helping them up, but they were also still falling.

and and I admittedly I didn't help at all I was filming the whole thing it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen I was hopeful that your take on it was not fear but rather a delight this was genuinely one of the funniest were they laughing they were laughing very hard

oh there that's all you want yeah and then there were other people that had stopped because they were like should we help but then it was too funny to watch because in every they got up in every way and they fell in every way. And so it's like, they're just falling over and over again.

And it's in the, you know, it's in the like wet sand. So it's not like they could even hurt themselves, you know? Like they just like kept sliding back on their butts and they tried to get up. And they were like just so tickled from even how it feels. Because then you have somebody pulling your arm and you're like, okay, I'm going to get up. And then all of a sudden the ground beneath you is leaving. And so then you stick your hand out. But that's just wet sand too.

What was your favorite, like, activity that you did other than watching? I mean, the falling was pretty good. Yes, that's pretty good. They actually wanted to watch the video when I was doing. Because then they were like, why didn't you help us? And I was like, because I was doing this. And then they were watching it. And they were like, yeah, send it to us.

It's actually very good. But there were a couple places we found that were. were amazing to eat. And the pineapple in Hawaii, this is going to sound very touristy. Like, you know, the people that already know this are going to roll their eyes, but the pineapple in Hawaii is actually amazing.

So we went to a couple of different places together, but there was this one restaurant that had, it was basically a mix of like some spiced rice, some steak and pineapple. And as simple as it was, it was so good. It was so good. And I just remember all of us sitting down chatting and everything. And then we were in a hotel that had an actual kitchen.

And so it was like a suite with a kitchen in it. And so there was one meal that I believe it was my aunt cooked. And then we sat around the table playing Uno. and that was also great because we it's not until you play uno with other people that you realize that you don't know the rules either right right right every family has their own rules for uno and it's not until someone else gets involved where they're like well no the reverse card means it goes the other way yeah and then you're like that's not how we play when we have when we have other children in our house and we're playing uno and they're telling me i'm not playing it right it's a real issue yeah it's like it's like Like, you got to go home now. You have to go home now because I've been alive longer than you. I've been playing. You just met Uno.

This is our, these are our Uno rules at this house. Are you guys fruity cocktails? I mean, I know that's a big part of a Hawaii vacation. So we don't, I mean, my girlfriend drinks sometimes, but like the family doesn't really drink at all. Yeah. So all we end up really doing are our smoothies. We're real smoothie snobes. That's all right.

You're getting the best of it there. Yeah, yeah. the real fresh fruit because when you come back and you go to a smoothie place, you're like, oh, actually, all of this is syrup. Yeah. Like I straight up sometimes trick myself into thinking I'm having a healthy snack when I have a smoothie that's been prepared with one of those huge ninja blenders. And I need to just start accepting that unless a smoothie, unless a smoothie,

with kale in it is a little unpleasant. You're not actually getting anything but sugar. Yeah. You have to look, I mean, when I even like, we'll grab a green juice, if you see anything on the label that looks pleasant, it's ruined the whole thing. Yes. You know, once you see Apple, it's a dud.

You're just, you might as well go have the smoothie. It needs to look like an elixir from a Frankenstein movie. Yeah. Like it actually, when it's cold pressed like that, it needs to look dirty at the bottom. Yep. And then really light at the top. And then that's how you know you're getting actual nutrients. But the new scam, I don't know if you've seen this, is that people are on to the apple, like you said.

People are fully, they've caught up. And then they also start reading the nutrition facts. And if your green smoothie has like 30 grams of sugar in this little bottle, then yeah, it's not. Yeah. Whatever green you're getting, just throw it out the window. You're just getting the color by then. Yeah. It should be the color green that you've never seen on a shirt.

Yes. And what they've started doing now is that they are putting a bunch of lettuce in there. Yeah, it's mostly lettuce. You'll see it say Romaine and you're like, that seems, that seems wrong. That seems like it's not helping me at all. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by IQ Bar, our exclusive snack, hydration and coffee sponsor IQ Bar Protein Bars, IQ Mix, IQ Mix, and IQ Joe mushroom coffees are the delicious, low sugar brain and body fuel you need to win your day. What's up, Paji? What's up, Sufi? I'm getting ready. You know, I run a 5K every summer.

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including the ultimate sampler pack, plus free shipping to get your 20% off. Text Trips to 64,000 text trips to 64, that's trips, 264,000. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details. Take me back to Celebration Station, if you wouldn't mind for a moment. So it's a Dave and Busters kind of place. Are you more of like a hands-on ski ball kind of a guy? Are you more of a dance-dance revolution?

Are you video game, pop a shot? What's your go-to? I wish I was a DDR-type dude. I don't have that type of rhythm. That type of rhythm, it escapes me. But I will do a little bit of ski ball big on arcade when I was little. some Tekken, Pac-Man Miss Pac-Man, Tapper, Frogger, like all classic cabinet games I was big on.

And then as far as new stuff, I could get into the shooting games. But I was never really good at like the buck hunt. You know the stuff that's like actual hunting and you got to hit the deer and the meat or whatever? Yeah. That was always like, well, I think I did. Like, I couldn't get joy out of that because, one, it was just like the deer would just fall. And it was too recent to me having seen Bambi. I couldn't get down with it.

But also, the way the game is set up feels weird because it's like the game is so purely about the kill that you will then shoot the deer. and the deer keeps running, you're like, I don't think that's how guns work. We have a deer friend who's an actual, lives in Maine as an actual hunter in like deer season. Like he will spend like 12 hours in a deer blind, basically waiting and waiting and waiting. And this past year, he finally saw like the buck of his dreams.

And when the moment came, he could not pull the trigger. Yeah, I, wow. And based on how you played buck hunt, I think the same would happen for you. Yeah. If you couldn't do it at the video game level. Well, I've talked about this before. It's like if I actually had to do the hunting, I'm vegan that day.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I will throw up if I have to shoot a deer. And by the way, you're not done once you shoot it. That's the beginning. Yeah, exactly. No, the whole thing is terrible. And so my thing that I got really into through that,

that trip was a little bit of like whack-a-mole. Those started to peak my interest every time. And then there's a couple of, I don't even know how I describe them. There are like spins on older games. Like there's a Pac-Man you can play, especially at David Busters, where it's flat. Like you're all looking down at the table. Oh, yeah, the four-player? The four-player?

Yeah. Man. Yeah. Man. I remember the first time I got on one, I was like, y'all must be crazy. I'm not leaving. How about leave it?

Yeah, I like those. Yeah, I mean, I still remember the first place ever was where I saw Miss Pac-Man. It was at the original in Pittsburgh, Seth. And it's, yeah. Yeah, I loved it. I was very, very good at it. Yeah.

Even now, there's like a... Good story. Good story. Yeah, yeah. There's like a trampoline park I take my kids to that has an arcade. And I'm very taken with the fact that I feel like the games people play at home now are so advanced that like the ones at arcade kind of have to be like big and basic. Like nothing seems very futuristic now.

It also feels like maybe like five years more advanced than when I was a kid. And it's been like 40. Yes, yes. Because the thing that you get, obviously there's the actual margins for a business and everything. And those cabinets are much easier to fix. That's true. That's true. But also, I found that there's a game.

I can't remember what it's called, but it's like time crisis like where you sit in this big thing. It's two-player game. You sit in what is like basically half of a minivan. And the whole thing shakes and like has hydraulics. So it's like bouncing you around. And you, instead of a steering wheel, you have your machine gun, whatever. And I remember getting out of it with, I was with Jacob. and we got out of it and I was so sick.

Like I was actually like, and I couldn't tell, I don't get motion sickness really. So then I couldn't tell if I was sick from it visually or the shaking or if I'm just like, oh, this is what getting older feels like. Like maybe a kid wouldn't care about this at all. But I'm like, no, a kid has a smaller body. Like a kid would have died. Like I think the way that I was getting shook up in there, I was. Like, this isn't built for someone that's under 100 pounds.

We, I took my kids like a little, like a county fair, like with the janky rides that they are sort of packing up every weekend to take to another, like, town in New England. And my daughter went on this little, like, dragon ride that, like, it was like a roller coaster in name only. It was just like up and down on, like, light hills. And, you know, she's like under five, right? She's like four and a half. And she came off and I'm like, how was it? And she goes, I kept banging my head on it. And I was like, no, you didn't.

And then the next day she was like had a big black spot on her head. I'm like, oh, and my wife was like, what happened to her? I'm like, looking back, I think it was the ride that she was banging her head on. Yeah. Yeah. Did you go to, did you let those type of fares travel to you or did you all ever go to them? We went. Oh, no.

I mean, I haven't. traveled very far to go to a county fair. I've kind of waited for it to come. Yeah, nor have I don't think. Yeah, we would have the parking lot type circus fair that would come to our town. Yeah. And that one was always

a little distressing. Because there would be someone at the end of the night, like if you really shut the place down and you're getting a funnel cake at the very end and just walking around and stuff is closing, there would be somebody walking around checking for screws.

Like checking for like bolts and stuff like that. And I was like, my man, no. You gotta wait until everybody's clear to bring out the metal detector and start wanding underneath the Ferris wheel. That's crazy. The worst is

like they just, the minute they turn on the metal detector, it's like me, me, me, me, me. Like they never don't find a bunch. Yeah, they don't find a lot and you're like, all right, mine felt loose. Like, I'm not I'm not an expert on Ferris wheels, but as soon as I got in, it felt like it twisted a little bit. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, was that always a big thing? Was that an annual? It would come to town, sort of a fair deal? There's definitely one fair that comes to town every year that I was growing up. The parking lot thing, I feel like it stopped when I was 13. Okay. And I don't really know why. But it seemed like a...

a function that was either like partially funded by the parish or was yeah or or just went bankrupt but i feel like if you're looking for screws at the end of the night you don't exactly have stayed to the art no yeah yeah were were you the who was the first in your family to move to Atlanta my aunt your aunt and so what was going there i imagine she was there before you had ever gone to Atlanta like what was like going to visit her there. Yeah, so it was, it was cool. You know, she, she had lived there for a little bit already. And then my mom basically went to kind of join her.

Once my grandparents were, like, not able to take care of themselves and everything, they were moved into assisted living. And it was really when my grandmother, past and it was just my granddad now in assisted living that my mom was trying to figure out like okay should i yeah should i stay here or is there more opportunity for us to go somewhere like atlanta just because we all grew up in Alexandria and so we kind of know the ends and outs of like what the prospects are you know and so uh she made the decision to move up to Atlanta and then also move my granddad up with her and everything.

And so that was great to now have everybody in one spot because Alexandria is not easy to get to. Like it's always at least two flights and they're never big flights. So it's also hard to get out. There was one time where Delta overbooked a flight, everyone showed up because everyone was very eager to leave. and they went up, they did that sort of $400, $600, $800 thing, and they got up to $2,000. Wow. Before anyone was willing to stay,

which feels like a testament to the state of the city right now. It's like, it's really true. Like maybe everyone really did have plans, but it feels like we don't want to stay here for long. It's also like, I think $2,000 means I'm going to be here for a long time. $2,000. And they were even like, hey, there's a flight tomorrow. And you could tell nobody believe them.

Because they were like, $2,000 is rent. Yeah. That's nuts. That's actually rent in every city. Yeah. It's such a real-life game show moment when they start jacking that price up or the kickback's going to be to you. if you're willing to wait because someone eventually is going to take it.

And if you have an inkling, so you want to let it ride for as long as you can, but you don't want to be underbid. And what makes it a truly American game show is that if no one takes it, they just pluck someone off and they don't give them anything. Yeah, right. And that's like, that's those,

You know those moments on on weakest link? Right. Where it was like, y'all could have banked. That's, I've, I felt crazy watching this dude have a meltdown.

So basically, I was, I was, I was, I was, and they got up to 1,200. And everyone, and I was not in Alexandria,

this is in Chicago. And everyone still was like, I have to get where I'm going, right? And so then finally they were like, they plucked this dude off the flight. And he was like, all right, so who do I see about the 1,200? And the gate agent is like, oh, that time has passed.

Oh, gosh. And to just watch this dude, like, slowly realize what was happening was, it was insane to watch. One of the main reasons I'll miss Spirit is because Spirit was, like, actually how everyone feels at every airline, spoken out loud. Yeah. I don't know what it was with the public where they were willing to be too honest, too quickly to a spirit agent. And there was something special about the spirit agent where they were willing to give it right back immediately. Yeah. Immediately.

That's such a tough position for that gate agent to have to tell that guy like, oh, you're off and you're not getting the $1,200. Yeah. I don't envy. Who knows? Maybe they broke him off with like $200 or something, but they were like, no, that, That when I was saying 1,200 was when you were supposed to. But also, it's, I do you know the gay day. It's like, no, there was a time where I was looking to collaborate, where you could have helped me.

Yeah. Yeah. But now, everybody's even angrier. And I will not. Yeah. Josh, congrats on, you're on tour? Yes. Yes, I'm doing my comedy band camp tour.

We are going all over the U.S. and to parts of Europe this year. and then we're doing even more next year. We are going to be on the road. I'll be in Asheville, Greensboro, going to Dublin and Manchester, going to be in Cincinnati and Columbus, doing as many cities as I can this year, and then what we don't do this year, we're definitely going to do next.

Yeah, 34 cities is what I got for you for 2026, and that's a big year. Yeah, yeah. So I'm very excited to extend it, and you can get your tickets at Josh. Johnson Comedy.com. I always tell people to go to my website for the tickets because then sometimes I'll meet people

at the show and they're like, we went to fake tickets.com and they scammed us real hard and I want to make sure that does not happen to anybody. That's very, very good advice. And congrats again on Symphony. It's such a great special. Thanks so much, man.

On HBO right now. You can catch that. Before you go, though, Josh is going to hit you up with the speed round of questions. Yes, yes, okay. All right, here you go. only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational? Educational. What is your favorite means of transportation?

Plain. If you could take a vacation with any family, alive or dead, real or fictional, other than your own family, what family would you like to take a vacation with? I feel like the, was it, Robinson Caruso did really well? Yeah. Yeah. They were, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they crushed it. Oh, I think you mean Swiss family Robinson. Like that's the fan. Robinson. Robinson. Robinson did bad. Got you.

Yeah. Thank you. Yep. I used to make that mistake all the time. That's like buying Josh Johnson tickets on tickets. Dot scam. Yeah. When you end up with Robinson Caruso.

Yeah. If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would it be? Hmm. Yeah, I think my mom. All right. Yeah. What is your dream destination for a family vacation? I think seeing the northern lights.

All right. Very good answer. You are from, it's Alexandria. Yes. If you had to get more people to come visit where you had a mid-first 18 years in Alexandria, Louisiana, what would you tell them to get more families to come visit your town? Okay. All right.

I hope you're ready. And who knows? You may not like this at all. This may not actually do anything for you. But there's a place called, let me see, the Greenbrier Motel in Alexandria, Louisiana. And what I'm going to do right now is make sure that this is still there. So that way this will be the most up-to-date information. Okay.

Greenbrier Motel. It's on Masonic Drive in Alexandria, Louisiana. Now, it does as a motel have 2.9 stars, okay? But that is because there is so much color. There's so much stuff happening. It's like, imagine if Euphoria was a sitcom, and that is the Greenbrier Motel. In fact, if you want to go to your Google Maps right now

and look up the Greenbrier Motel, you'll see one picture, let's see if I can find, You'll see one picture in particular that shows exactly the type of thing that I'm talking about. Because every picture tells a story. Oh, yeah. Okay. Let me see if I can find it. There is a picture of, yeah, if you go to photos and you scroll to the bottom, there should be a picture of a dog on the roof.

Oh, yeah. I see it. Yeah. I see it. That's just a Tuesday. Yeah. I don't know if my camera's going to focus on this or not. But yeah.

Yeah. That's just a Tuesday. You know, the Green Breyer Motel has been the source of so many stories that I think that it should be a landmark. Yeah. The interesting thing about the Green Breyer Hotel, and by the way, everything's interesting, is the front of it has some, like, column. Like, you know, you wouldn't think of it as a place with columns, but they sure have them. They have columns as if they are a house. And people do live there.

I think that at one point the Greenbrier cost $15 a night or something. And when I tell you, wow, I've never hung out at the Greenbrier Motel, but I have had friends who had. And they're like, it is insane. And you read the reviews and you'll see why it's 2.9. Well, you did a great job of selling. it yeah yeah so if you're ever passing through don't look i'm not saying stay but but pass by and be like oh that's where this thing happened um and set has our final questions uh have you been josh have you been to the grand canyon i have not do you want to go i do all right good yeah i'm very happy to hear it i'm hoping that

by the time i am able to go whenever there's time that opens up that trump has not filled it for some reason That's true. He might fill. That's where they're going to put all the garbage they've dug up from the new ballroom. That's where all that's going to go. They're going to just talking there. Hey, man, what a pleasure to talk to you. Great to see you again. Keep up the great work everywhere on the road on the Daily Show.

Yeah, thanks so much for having me, y'all. Our pleasure. Our pleasure. Great to meet you. Yeah. Have a great rest of you. I hope so, too. All right. Be well, buddy.

You too. Bye. Bye now. They would go traveling Because everybody would just Change of it But typically would just go to Texas Because you could get there on one tank of