Is Josh Johnson (‘The Daily Show’) the 21st Century Comedian?

Is Josh Johnson (‘The Daily Show’) the 21st Century Comedian?

From Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso by Higher Ground

May 24, 2026 · 1h 1m

About this episode

Josh Johnson discusses his creative process and the intersection of comedy with current events.

Emmy-nominated writer and stand-up Josh Johnson is making comedy that’s timely and timeless. On the heels of his new HBO special Symphony , we begin with his creative process of shaping new material week after week, balancing life on the road with writing and hosting duties at The Daily Show (0:46). Then, we talk to Josh about the issues of today: Trump’s 1.8 Billion Slush Fund (4:26), pandemic fears (8:18), AI in commencement speeches (9:34), and “nonviolence as a psyop” (16:27). On the back-half, Josh describes how he transitions between writing topical and evergreen jokes (23:12), the comedic inspiration that came from his Catholic school years (29:00), and finding his way into performing while working at Trader Joe’s (39:30). To close, we unpack the final week of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (42:27), the role of therapy in Johnson’s 2023 special Up Here Killing Myself (46:00), and what he hopes to create in the next five years (56:20). Subscribe to our  new YouTube channel . As always, our email: talkeasypod@gmail.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

People in this episode

Host: Sam Fragoso

Guest: Josh Johnson

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Daily Show, HBO

Books & works: Symphony, Up Here Killing Myself

Places: California

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