After performing around the globe, American comedian Josh Wolf is about to try his hand on Australian soil for the first time.
Wolf’s energetic nature and charismatic personality has led him to an impressive career, including writing and performing on Chelsea Lately, regularly appearing on Last Comic Standing, My Name Is Earl and Shark Week, and performing multitudes of stand-up, including being the notable warm up act for Chelsea Handler on the Comedians of Chelsea Lately stand-up tour.
After winning all those chuckles around the world, Wolf thought it was about time he gave the sunburnt country its rightful turn. He’ll be hitting up Melbourne’s Comic’s Lounge, Sydney’s Comedy Store and Brisbane’s Sit Down Comedy Club this May.
When asked how he’d describe his brand of comedy, he brightly noted it’s simply, “fun, relatable, inclusive comedy with an edge. Like, it’s not vanilla – there’s definitely some four letter words in there – but it’s fun, inclusive, ridiculous fun.”
As he modestly explains, “I approach my show like this: I talk to the crowd like I’m talking to a group of my friends. Like, it’s a conversation.”
What you can expect from his shows are stories from his life, in particular about raising his boys and as living life as a dad that smokes a lot of weed, admitting: “They [his kids] are my comedy”.
It’s fair to say that since becoming a father, Wolf’s comedy has become more personal and, in turn, relatable. As he describes, “When I really figured out that talking about your personal life and sharing stories about yourself and letting people into your world was the thing that people responded to the most, I really started to use my kids, my family and my life and when I did that, it just really opened up everything.
“It made everything just a lot more fun on stage. Because I was also connecting to the stories that I was telling.”
Wolf posts a lot of this relatable content online and has grown a notable following doing so. If you’re not familiar, you’ll get a pretty clear idea of the material from the video titles, My Son Ate My Weed, Just The Tip and The Sex Talk.
Although his most popular clip, Best Practical Joke Ever, has currently racked up 6.7 million views he’s incredibly humbled by the response to his online content. “The support that I get on my social media from Australia is overwhelming.” But he’s quick to comment that stand-up is where it all comes alive for him.
“I love the connection that I make with people in the crowd … I love that energy wave you get when the joke hits. I love it. You know, I enjoy smoking weed, so I enjoy being high, but the weed high does not match the high you get when a joke lands.”
So, now it’s time for Australia to get a taste of those tales too. And if you’re excited, you’re not alone. “I’m more excited for these shows than I can remember ever being. I’m so excited, you know, I’m an overwhelmingly positive, optimistic person and the idea that people halfway around the world are interested at all in what I have to say is so cool to me and super humbling,” he admits, “I’m putting on my big boy pants and I’m getting ready.”
Josh Wolf comes to the Comic’s Lounge on Wednesday May 22. Grab your tickets via Live Nation.
