Introduction

Background Audio of Josh Blue: My mom is great though. She’s the only person in the world who can tell when I’m drunk. (Laughter) She’s like, Josh, are you walking straighter? (More Laughter) I heard you come home and put the key right in the door. (Laughter)

Interview

Gunnison: Well, welcome Josh Blue. This is xAble.com. Our community, we’re very excited to have you. Can you give us a “Hey Buddy” to get us started?

Josh: Hey, Buddy!”

Gunnison: Thanks, thanks a lot. So, we’re a community of persons with disabilities. You’re a famous comedian, a famous soccer star… who has a disability.

Josh: I don’t know about the soccer star part.

Gunnison: Well, a lot of people in our community know about you.

Josh: That’s awesome.

Gunnison: When you were a kid, growing up, what did you want to be?

Josh: I think a zookeeper.

Gunnison: Really?

Josh: Yeah. I’ve always enjoyed working with animals and, yeah I just love it. It’s a little bit different route than I’m on now, but the audience is pretty much like a zoo.

Gunnison: And you actually worked at a zoo in Africa.

Josh: I did, yup, in Senegal, in the capital city of Dakar. I did a three month internship there, and pretty much one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done, I have to say.

Gunnison: Really.

Josh: Yeah.

Gunnison: And what was your job there?

Josh: The first day that I was there, I cleaned a tiger cage.

Gunnison: Really!

Josh: I was like, are you sure I should be in here? You know, like, that’s a real tiger, and I did a lot of tours, like people or foreigners who would come to the zoo, I would sort of lead them around and explain and then make sure that the lot of unsupervised kids who would like throw rocks at the animals… I just sort of liked to go and ruff ‘em up, you know.”You wouldn’t throw that rock at that lion if that cage wasn’t there.” (Laughs)

Gunnison: And you learned how to play soccer when you were in Africa?

Josh: Yeah, I think that’s where I attribute most of my knowledge of soccer. It’s more of a street soccer. Just juggling, making the other person look silly.

Gunnison: And how did you get on the road to becoming a comedian?

Josh: I actually started in college. I attended the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and it’s a really layed back, hippie, liberal arts college. You can create your own majors, and I actually studied stand-up comedy.

Gunnison: Oh, very good. And what… you slowly transitioned to being a professional comedian.

Josh: Yeah.

Gunnison: And was it scary to do that transition?

Josh: No, not at all. It’s natural. It feels good.

Gunnison: So you knew you would succeed?

Josh: Yeah, I think so. I mean there’s still a lot that I’d like to accomplish, but you know its… there’s no more natural feeling than the way this is going. It’s just what was meant to be.

Gunnison: Have you faced any obstacles in your career by having a disability?

Josh: Oh sure, yeah. Lots of people have gone up and said things when I first started out. In Denver, there was a guy who was really against me. And then, you know, more recently, it’s been the Tonight Show and all the late night shows and then even Comedy Central has said, “We just don’t feel you’re right for our demographic”. I’m like, “Well, if you look at the audience that I draw, there’s no demographic. It’s like old white people and young black people. You know, there’s everybody. And then, like white people who want to laugh?” They just think that, like, “Our society isn’t ready for it,” or whatever. I’m like, that is not the case.

Gunnison: Do you think your comedy has changed a lot of attitudes?

Josh: Yeah, I’d like to, I mean, that’s not my intended goal in this. I’m just here to have fun and do what I love to do. If people take a message from what I do, then that’s awesome. That’s not my intended goal.

Gunnison: Do you have, you know, with the obstacles that you’ve faced in life, do you have any advice that you could give to another person who has disability on how to overcome those obstacles?

Josh: Yeah, if you want to do something, do it! Like, if there’s ever anything that I don’t accomplish, it’s not because of my disability. It’s because I’m lazy. You know… if you want to do something, there’s no reason you shouldn’t do it. That’s the truth right there.

Gunnison: That’s great advice. Now, how’s it felt to become such a famous comedian?

Josh: People ask me that a lot.

Gunnison: Yeah?

Josh: To me, it’s just, like I said, what the natural progression is. It’s like, I’m not going to change the way I am, like, this is just another step in my life. It’s weird, it’s like, I’m not going to change who I am and the vibe that I’m trying to put out. You know, I’m not going to sway from that, no matter what happens.

Gunnison: Well, you seem like a really down-to-earth guy, so I don’t think that the fame has changed you.

Josh: Thanks, man, you know, no reason to. I always say when people get an attitude, like comedians get an attitude or something, like, you’re just a glorified court jester, like calm down. Don’t take yourself so seriously.

Gunnison: Now, since you’ve become such a famous comedian, have you had time to continue to pursue your soccer?

Josh: (Background Audio Clip from Comedy Show Dubbed over Interview) Yeah, I got injured and my coach had the nerve to put me on the disabled list. (Crowd Laughing) Hey coach, isn’t that the whole idea? (More laughing).

Josh: (Back to Interview Audio) Yeah, we were in Brazil for the World Championships. We played six, we lost three. We did not qualify for Beijing in ’08, which is a disappointment, but what can you do?

Gunnison: So they only have a limited number of teams that would actually participate in Beijing.

Josh: Eight teams are…

Gunnison: Eight teams.

Josh: There are eight seeds.

Gunnison: Where did the U.S. Team finish?

Josh: I think we were ten.

Gunnison: Oh, so close?

Josh: Yeah, not close enough.

Gunnison: So, are you disappointed that you won’t be going to Beijing or are you so busy with other things that it’s not a big deal?

Josh: Of course, I’m disappointed that we’re not going to go. What a cool opportunity to have made it to another Paralympic Games, but I have a lot of things on my plate, you know, to keep me busy, you know, so, ultimately a bummer but, you know, just keep moving.

Gunnison: Now, we’ve just saw your girlfriend. How long have you been together with Yuko?

Josh: Yeah, you know, we actually got engaged now.

Gunnison: Oh, congratulations.

Josh: Thank you.

Gunnison: When did you do that?

Josh: Uh, I guess it was… I don’t even know, October.

Gunnison: Oh, so very recent.

Josh: Yeah, and we’re also having a kid, he’s due in March.

Gunnison: Oh, congratulations.

Josh: We’re pretty excited about that.

Gunnison: Are you intimidated to become a dad?

Josh: You know what? Just because it’s uncharted territory, you know, anything you’ve never done before is intimidating, but I’m estatic at the thought of getting to raise a kid the way I want to.

Gunnison: You think if you raise your kid the way you want to, he’s going to turn out normal?

Josh: (Laughing ) Hell no! Who’s normal? I’m going to name him Borat.

Gunnison: Borat, really?

Josh: We’ll see how normal he’ll be.

Gunnison: (Laughing) Well that’s great. And, you know, for a person with a disability, was it hard to find love in your life?

Josh: You know what? Initially it was. When I was younger, all the way through high school, you know. And the thing you don’t realize when you’re young is that there’s more to life after high school. High school is where people group up and they don’t want to differ from any of the other people in their group. They’re not open to exploring different types of people, and then you get to college, and it’s all right! (Laughs)

Gunnison: Do you have any parting words that you would like to leave to, you know, a person who is out there, they have a disability, and they’re kind of struggling with life, struggling with their careers, is there anything you would say to them to help them move along?

Josh: Power to the people, man.

Gunnison: All right, thank you so much, Josh Blue!

Josh: You’re welcome.

Gunnison: That was great!