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Arts & Entertainment

Josh Johnson is D-FW's best comedian you've never heard of

Rising Fort Worth comic Josh Johnson is seriously funny. His jokes range from contemplating suicide to a SWAT team raiding a neighbor's house -- heavy stuff that he manages to make light.

And you better see him while you can: He's been called one of the most talented comedians in North Texas and he's poised to launch a career outside of Texas soon.

Comedian Josh Johnson may not be special to North Texas for long: He's currently filming a...
Comedian Josh Johnson may not be special to North Texas for long: He's currently filming a pilot for CMT and is getting noticed in the national comedy circuit.(Rod Alalay)

"I hate him, and can't wait for him to leave this city so he'll quit taking all the work," says fellow DFW comedian Clint Werth.

Johnson just got back from Hawaii, where he filmed an appearance on an upcoming episode of Adam Devine's House Party. He also performed recently in front of a sold-out crowd opening for Janeane Garofalo in Dallas. He's about to shoot a pilot for an unnamed Country Music Television show.

He has flirted with success a few times over his five-year career as a comedian. When his standup shots got big online few years ago, major label Capitol Records courted him for a debut comedy album. Instead of talking about contracts, the executive asked him open an R&B concert at the Majestic Theater with a quick comedy act.

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"The silence was so loud," Johnson recalls. And then the audience started booing. He remembers one angry heckler who screamed at him all the way through his 15-minute set. Johnson finished, then fled, traumatized; he never heard from the label again.

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Johnson doesn't fit the stereotypes for what some expect from a black or urban comic, although he is, by definition, both. He says there's an oversaturated mindset about black standup. "It's not the classic, 'white people do this and black people do that,'" Johnson says.

"The focus is more on the embarrassing similarities we share."

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His recently-released comedy album, Tabitha, is full of hilariously strange material. Here's the thing: It's all true, Johnson says. His struggles with depression and even suicidal thoughts are no joke. And his Gilmore Girls marathon really was interrupted by a SWAT team raiding the house of a drug-dealing neighbor.

"It takes me the entire day to gather that energy and go out there and put that smile on," Johnson admits. 

Comics have accused him of making it all up and some audiences have found his humor to be too dark. But he's received letters from fans who have experienced similar struggles and were inspired by his ability to turn tragedy into comedy.

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"There are people who really do see the layer of sadness that is there," Johnson says. "The humor helps them. It's a weird life to be so depressed that you just want to make people laugh."

By Jeremy Hallock, special contributor