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Johnson recently released her fourth hourlong special,Mahalo & Goodnight, recorded in Hawaii andnow available on Hulu.
What was it like for you growing up in the Bay Area?
Sometimes you hear about people who cant wait to leave their hometown.
I did not have that feeling at all.
I love San Jose, I love the Bay Area, and I love coming home to visit.
Its very diverse with a lot of different ethnicities, different types of food and people.
I left San Jose and moved to LA to attempt to be an actress.
So many people go to LA with a dream, but its always a risk.
What prompted you to say, Im going to become an actor?
I was at this place in my life where I didnt know what I wanted to do.
School was really hard for me.
It was kind of depressing because I was like, What do I do with my life?
What do I want?
It was very far-fetched.
It was similar to me saying, I want to be a princess.
I had a friend who moved to LA a couple years before I did.
She was an actress and a dancer in music videos and commercials.
She told me, If you move to LA Ill help you get started.
Ill show you the ropes.
That was the first time this little far-fetched fantasy was becoming an attainable dream to me.
I had another friend who was a cheerleader for the Oakland Raiders.
She was like, You should come try out.
I took that as my sign.
I said, Im going to try out for the Oakland Raiders.
I came home from the Super Bowl, packed up my room, and drove to LA.
My friend kept her word and helped me get started.
What did you learn from being an extra on the set ofFriends?
It was like I took a free class from Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, and Courteney Cox.
I got to watch these women work and watch how they process and communicate.
I got a free class from them for two years because I was on season 9 and 10.
What was the next opportunity that popped up for you afterFriends?
I was a stand-in on another TV show and they ended up giving me my first speaking role.
it was calledLove, Inc.on UPN.
At the same time I started taking this joke writing and standup comedy class.
Thats where my life changed.
What was it about that class and learning about comedy that propelled you in that direction?
I didnt want to be a standup comedian.
I was at this church and on Tuesday nights they had classes for the arts and entertainment industry.
They would do dance classes, acting classes, stuff like that.
There was a woman teaching a standup comedy class.
She said, Do you want to take my joke writing class?
I said, Is it free?
She said, Yeah, and I was like, I guess so.
One of the first jokes I wrote was this nail salon bit that ended up blowing up on YouTube.
Thats kind of what propelled me into standup.
Its funny because it usually takes comics years to get a bit that they become known for.
You landed on something so early, something that I feel like you still cant get away from.
That was one of the first jokes I ever wrote.
Im so lucky that I had that.
I cant get away from it now, which Im okay with.
Ive made my peace with it.
I understand that fans pay their hard-earned money to come see me perform.
I could see you not wanting to be known as the nail salon comic.
Thats something I had to discover in the process and figure out.
At what point didMADtvcome in?
Pretty quickly, like the next year.
2007 is when the nail salon video came out and later that year I bookedMADtv.
FromMADtvyou developed another character that people got to know you from.
You very cleverly spun that into music videos, an album, merchandising.
That was actually my husband.
I was done with Bon Qui Qui.
I was off the show, so I was like, I dont need to do her anymore.
But then my husband who is in music had the idea, Lets make her a rapper.
We did that and it blew up.
Im curious as to whether him being a musician influenced that move.
Its such a double standard.
But really, hes just very creative.
He was like, People want to hear from her.
Your most recent specialMahalo & Good Nightwas filmed in Hawaii.
I know why I would film my special in Hawaii, but why did you choose that location?
Ive chosen all of my locations for specials based on my fan base.
I first chose Houston because Houston was the first city to get on board with me.
My first sold out shows were in Houston.
After that I did San Jose, which is my hometown.
Then I did Anaheim, which is another really strong fan base of mine.
A few years before the taping I put a show on sale in Hawaii.
My hope was that the show would sell out and I would add a second show.
I was like, No ones going to come to my show now.
Bruno Mars is across the street at the same time?
I dont even want to go to my show.
I want to go to Bruno Mars show.
The show ended up selling out.
We added a second one and it sold out.
I stayed out of the market for about three years and came back to do my special.
I noticed you have tour dates coming up that include shows and Guam and Saipan.
It could be because Im very culturally diverse in my standup and storytelling.
The first time I went to Guam and Saipan was in 2008 or 2009.
I think its also because Im very family-oriented as well.
Like in Hawaii, everyone is family, uncle or auntie.
Even a stranger in the grocery store is auntie so-and-so.
I feel like in those areas where the culture is big on family, I do well.
Check out Johnsons new specialover at Hulu.
