Humble Hustle, Non-Stop Grind
“By the time I finished cleaning the boats, I’d jet over to the Laugh Factory on Sunset at midnight just in time to perform, still wearing my stained waiters uniform”.
Jo Koy always had a passion for stand-up comedy and he realized there was no other option for him. He wasn’t going to college, or be a nurse or an accountant. For Jo, his only option was stand up comedy. He was 100% committed to making his dream come true from as far back as he can remember.
Jo hit the stand up club scene hard. He graced stages seven nights a week, often doing two shows a night, all while working straight jobs on the side.
He recalls his worst job was cleaning up party boats in Marina Del Rey. “By the time I finished cleaning the boats, I’d jet over to the Laugh Factory on Sunset at midnight just in time to perform, still wearing my stained waiters uniform”.
Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada noticed Jo’s work ethic and talent early on. Jamie took him under his wing and managed Jo. Jo took advantage of every opportunity to perform at the hottest comedy club on the Sunset Strip. It didn’t matter what show it was or who he had to follow or what type of audience was in the seats. Jo was a one man Asian invasion. He jumped at every opportunity to perfect his craft.
It took Jo 15 years of grinding just to get to the point where he could pay the bills and support his young son Joseph. Even today, Joseph is an inspiration for some of his best material. It was a scary leap for Jo but he knew he had to keep hustling.
When Jo finally started making some decent money, he stepped up his car game when he purchased his dream ride, a brand new 2007 5 series BMW with 20” Lexani wheels. He was finally able to ditch his 1991 Honda Prelude with one working flip up headlight and a hole where his tail light was supposed to be. “The hole was big enough to reach in and pull out whatever I needed”. The hole was courtesy of an accident between his Prelude and an armored truck; an accident admittedly caused by Jo. “I drove the car like that for 6 years because I couldn’t afford to fix it”.
Jo has had enormous success since those lean days, being awarded the Comedian of The Year in 2018 and multiple stand up specials on Netflix. He’s now selling out arenas, a rarity in the stand up world. The best time he had on stage was a show in 2001 in Hawaii at the Blaze Theater “I opened for Snoop, Ludacris and the Eastsiders. I was only supposed to do 10-15 minutes max, but because the show started 2 hours late, the promoter kept putting me back on stage”. The local newspaper, the Star Bulletin, called Jo the “bright spot of the night” and “the future of comedy”.
A lot of people have been introduced to Jo via his Netflix specials and TV appearances. People don’t realize that Jo was initially rejected by Netflix when he first pitched his special. Rejection wasn’t new to Jo and like so many times before Jo invested in himself and made it happen. Jo paid for and produced his own special which Netflix circled around and bought.
Now he’s on his 6th special with them titles Blue in The Face. He also wrote his first book “Mixed Plate”.
I asked Jo why he called the book “Mixed Plate”. He said it was inspired by a dish he would always order in Hawaii that included a variety of Korean bbq, rice, spam, mac salad, Katsuya and more. He said that dish was like his career, “every single culture was represented on that plate. I feel like I represent a little bit of everything, from my Filipino immigrant mother, my white father from New York, my adopted sister from the Philippines and black brother-in-law. That’s how I feel about my stand up and who I am as a person, so it was the perfect title for my book”.
Jo has moved on from his Honda Prelude and 5 series BMW to his all white Ferrari, a matte blacked out 911 Porsche, and blacked out Cadillac Escalade.
He hasn’t taken his foot off the gas career wise either, with several major projects in the works and just selling out Sofi Stadium performing with his friend Gabriel Iglesias a.k.a. fluffy.
Jo also starred in his first feature film “Easter Sunday” in conjunction with industry titan Steven Spielberg of Dreamworks. Also co-produced with industry heavyweight Dan Lin, founder and CEO of RideBack, the production company behind the LEGO animated franchise and Stephen Kings horror film “IT”. Jo’s film takes place over the course of one day, Easter Sunday. The story is based on his family and the chaos that ensues.
If there’s one takeaway from Jo Koy’s story its “invest in yourself, don’t wait for anyone else to make your dreams come true”.
Look for Jo’s film to be released Easter of 2022. And you can get his book “Mixed Plate” now on Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com, Jokoy.com and all platforms. Check him out on Instagram at @jokoy.