Josh Blue is a touring comedian who was born with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy but that doesn’t stop Josh from performing and chasing the ultimate dream.

Photos of Josh Blue at Funnybone provided by Twin Spire Photography.

An interview with comedian Josh Blue during his recent visit to Cincinnati:

I know you’ve been in comedy for a good while at this point so I wanted to ask, who were your first influences growing up?

Josh: As far as comedy goes I would have to say stand-ups like Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock were my first influences. I’d be at a friend’s house where he stole his dad’s copy of Eddie’s standup cassette tape and we’d hide and listen to it. I’m also a huge music junkie, in high school I was into Nirvana but also loved Bob Dylan and Paul Simon.

Love that! Speaking of parents, I know your dad traveled a lot in his career, do you feel that kind of prepared you at an early age for touring? Did your relationship with your dad influence your decision to be a comedian?

Josh: My dad is a really interesting cat, I grew up in Minnesota primarily but we did travel a bit for his job. My dad is like a certfied genius, he knows 13 languages and he’s retired now but was a professor. I’d say it helped some but carrying a tour schedule like I have over the years is probably more intense. At this point I’ve traveled to 42 different countries and all 50 states working in comedy. I probably more so made the move into comedy in college but it was definitely an arts-centric home growing up. My dad’s prized possession is a baby grand piano that he’d play showtunes on while I’d be trying to watch Cheers or something on TV. He wasn’t the type to get into sports or playing catch or things like that so I’d get that in with my brother while dad was inside conjugating irregular verbs.

Using your life as a comedian with a neuromuscular condition as material is not something you have shied away from and I think it is safe to say it is something you have embraced. Are audiences ever afraid to laugh at this material?

Josh: You know what’s weird is that ever since I started I just come out and I kind of bullrush people so they don’t have time to think about their preconceived ideas about it. Laughter is such an involuntary act that you can’t stop it from coming out so even if you have some sort of guilt I don’t give you a chance to think about it. I’ve become very comfortable with who I am and have always been an open book. My show hopefully gives people a different perspective and everyone feels permitted to look and embrace it.

Being where we are tonight, north of Cincinnati, I can’t help but think of a story Dave Chappelle has told about filming a sketch on Chappelle’s show and experiencing what he would call “laughing for the wrong reasons” or laughing at you rather than with you. Having a visible physical disability, have you ever had to deal with something like that where someone was out of line?

Josh: So, I’m fortunate to know Dave and have opened for him about 50 times and been to his house and I have heard that story straight from him pretty close to when it happened and I can say pretty confidently that nothing quite like that has ever happened to me. The closest I would say would be someone coming up to me after a show and sort of regurgitating things I’ve said from my set out of context or with the wrong angle or heart and I’m mostly just confused like “did they learn nothing from my show?” Like Dave was talking about in that interview, based on where and how people discover us, we have different people seeing us through different lenses based on where they found us along the way. Don’t get me wrong, I want people to laugh at the show, but the jokes are literally poking fun at people like that and how far off base they are in understanding me or people like me.

Thank you so much to Josh Blue for taking the time to speak with us from his perspective about his life and career! If you want to see more of Josh Blue and his work you can download his 1-hour special “Broccoli” on Apple TV, Google Play or Prime Video!