- Hi, I'm Jo Koy.
I've got two specials on Netflix,
and this is "How I Got Started".
(jazz music)
I grew up basically everywhere.
My father was in the military,
and it was every three to four years
we were in a different city.
Meeting new people was mandatory.
That's where I got that comfort zone
to be able to talk to people.
The times that we were living in,
my mom and dad met, late sixties,
there was a lot of race issues,
civil rights issues going on.
Seeing mixed race kids wasn't really the normal yet.
This is new to everybody, and I was part of that.
If you can just imagine the time I lived in.
I would wake up in the morning, and put a video on,
and watch it, and then go to school.
Come home, put the video on, watch it.
"Comic Relief" Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg.
That's all I would do, just watch specials.
That's all I knew.
Right when I saw "Eddie Murphy Delirious" I was like,
"I need to be Eddie Murphy."
And then about four years later,
he went on tour, and he did "Raw".
It was at the Seattle Coliseum and my mom was driving us.
She's like, "I thought this was a movie.
"This is a concert?
"I have to wait here the whole time?"
Went in, and it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen.
I still remember the openers.
And then we go to Eddie.
Mother fucker!
I shit myself.
This is my god right here.
And he walks out, and it was two and half hours
of non-stop Eddie Murphy live.
And that's when I was like, I'm gonna be a comedian, man.
Imma do that right there.
I entered this competition,
didn't tell anyone in my family.
I remember I had to paint my mustache in
because I wasn't 21 yet, and I had baby hair,
and I used my mom's mascara.
Security guard just looked right at me,
at this horrible mustache, he was like,
"Yeah, go ahead in."
And I was like, oh, I'm in!
And then it was my turn to go up after this guy
that did Lionel Ritchie, and he killed it.
He fucking killed it, and I bombed.
Bombed so bad.
It was so, so bad.
And then I walked offstage, I sat next to Lionel Ritchie,
Lionel Ritchie impersonator, I go, "Man, that sucked."
He goes, "Yeah, but I'll tell you one thing, man,
"you got stage presence."
He said that to me.
And he goes, "You should keep doing it, man.
"You bombed, but you looked good up there, man."
And literally, that was it.
And I bombed maybe 20 more times after that,
but I kept doing it.
My biggest break, I was a dolphin habitat tour guide
at the Mirage Casino.
They gave me a mic, and I would get in front,
I would always make it funny.
I didn't know any of the names of those dolphins.
That's Rainbow.
That's Snapper.
People walk up to me, "Which one's Snapper, again?"
You just point at any gray fish.
"That one."
"Oh my god, oh my god, Snapper!"
And one of the tour guides goes, "BET Comic View is here."
I was like, "What?"
I wanted to be on that show so bad.
I had to drive all the way home.
I grabbed my suit, drove all the way back
with this fake resume that my friend
made me on his computer.
Lied on everything. And I went to the front of the line,
and went to the security guard.
When has ever a security guard helped anybody?
Never!
I go, "Man, I'm a local comic here in town,
"and I would love to talk to the promoter."
I swear to god, he goes like this, he goes,
"I'll be right back."
I'm like, "What the fuck?"
He really went in, and he got the promoter!
And she walks to the door; she's like,
"Oh my god, thank you for the resume.
I wish I would have known.
We already got everybody for the show,
but next time we come back to Vegas, I'll make sure
to call you, and you can open. I go, "Oh my god, thank you!"
She goes, "Do you want to go to the show?"
I'm like, "Fuck yeah!"
She lets me in.
I'm sitting down; it's packed.
And all the comics are late.
Every single comic's late.
The crowd's getting pissed.
So she walks up to me, and she goes,
"Hey, do you wanna go up?" (chuckling)
And I went up.
I fucking crush.
And then I walk offstage and Bo P's standing
right next to her, and he goes, "Who the fuck is this?"
She's like, "This is Jo, I just met him."
He's like, "God damn, man, you ever been on Comic View?"
I go, "No."
He goes, "You on."
A week later, I get a phone call.
They fly me out to do BET's "Comic View",
and I couldn't believe what was happening.
I was a tour guide last week.
And here I am on "Comic View"!
It was crazy!
From BET's Comic View, I get the Black College Comedy Tour.
I would meet all these comics.
One comic by the name of Honest John,
he took me on, and he was like,
"Hey, I'm doing Def Jam.
"I'm doing it in Vegas.
"Imma tell Bob Sumner."
Bob Sumner is the guy that created Def Jam.
He goes, "Imma tell him all about you.
"Just come to the show."
So I go, and I'm backstage with Honest John,
and then here comes Bob Sumner.
This is at the height of Def Jam.
And he's like, "Yeah, John told me a lot about you."
I go, "Yeah."
He goes, "All right, here's what we're gonna do.
"We're gonna leave the house lights on,
"and while people are sitting, you go ahead
"and do your five minutes."
I was like, man, how am I gonna perform with the lights on?
This is gonna suck.
I'm gonna bomb.
The stage manager walks up to me.
He goes, "I ain't gonna do that to you, man.
"I can't open the curtains, but Imma turn those house lights
"down for you. "I'm not gonna do that to you."
I go, "Thank you so much!"
SO they said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Jo Koy,"
and they opened up the curtain,
like just a little triangle, and I sneak out,
and there's a packed house,
about 1,500 people.
It's just packed. And I just went for it.
"Hey, I'm Jo Koy, ba ba ba ba ba ba ba.
"Boom, goodnight!"
(cheering)
I crawl back through, close the curtain,
and it's Bob Sumner and Rudy Rush.
Rudy Rush used to host "Showtime at the Apollo".
And he looks at Bob and he's like,
"Who the fuck is this guy?"
And Bob goes, "I just met him.
"Honest John introduced me to him,
"and I just pulled him up real quick."
He was like, "Mother fucker, how am I supposed to follow
"that shit?" I said, "I didn't know; I didn't know
"it was gonna be funny!"
"Well shit, man!"
And then he looked at me, Rudy looks at me,
and he goes, "You ever do 'Showtime at the Apollo'?"
I go, "It would be an honor to do 'Showtime'.
"Please! I would love to do 'Showtime'!"
He was like, "You're on!
"You're on 'Showtime at The Apollo'."
I swear to god, three weeks later, you can go to the video,
I'm doing "Showtime at the Apollo".
And that's how I got started.
Thank you for listening to my story,
and my new special, "Coming In Hot" is streaming
right now on Netflix.
(jazz music fading)