CheekyChicago

A regular on Chelsea Lately, Josh Wolf is known for his storytelling style and trademark backwards baseball cap.  During a conversation with CheekyChicago, he reveals his creative inspiration, stand-up idols and what’s funny about herpes.

CheekyChicago: When did you realize you wanted to be a comedian? And how did you start your career?

Josh Wolf: When I was a 16. I went on stage for the very first time and I loved it. My parents had to drive me to the show because I didn’t even have a license. I did seven minutes and humiliated my parents – they were in the front row and I just made fun of them. I loved the freedom to rip on people with no repercussions. I finished high school and college knowing in the back of my head this is what I wanted to do. After graduation I moved to Seattle and got on stage as many nights and as many times as I could. I’ve never had a problem performing in front of people.

Cheeky: When you’re faced with a terrible crowd, what joke or story always saves you?

JW: I’m more of a storyteller than a joke teller. I kind of have a flow where I segue from story to story. I don’t want you to feel like it’s a joke there, a joke there, a joke there – I trust all my stuff.

Cheeky: How important is timing when you’re performing? How do you pace yourself on stage?

JW: My material is well-timed, but there’s a flow to it. Anyone who tells you comedy isn’t a science doesn’t know anything about comedy. There’s timing and a difference of waiting half a second on a punch line to make it funny or not funny. It can be huge. Some people have innate great timing. You find your own timing. Eventually you find out what you say funnily. There are jokes I write that I can’t tell – it’s just not my style of joke. It’s like a band….knowing you wrote a good song and can’t sing it…but Metallica could.

Cheeky: How does your creative process work?

JW: The ideas come in the shower or in the car. And I just have to say them out loud, usually on the stage. There’s a fight or flight instinct – when I do it on the stage the need to be funny usually forces me to find the funny somewhere.

Cheeky: Who are your comedic idols?

JW: Bill Cosby, Sam Kinison, Chris Rock and Richard Pryor. It’s the storytelling style versus one- liners.

Cheeky: Do you have any great stories from Chelsea Lately?

JW: I told a joke one time on the show about Spencer and Heidi and how we should call them “Herpes.” I was walking down the street later that day with my brother and someone drives up to us at a crosswalk and this dude sticks his head out the window and goes, “Herpes!!!!!” and all day people were screaming “herpes” at me. My brother was like, “Don’t tell anymore jokes like that.”

Cheeky: What advice would you give for someone who wants to have a better sense of humor?

JW: Start drinking. You should be drunker…or the people around you should be drinking so they’ll think you’re funnier.