U.S. comedian Josh Johnson’s CBC surprise goes viral | Hanomansing Live

So, it's a Friday night show, the Vogue Theatre in downtown Vancouver. Comedian Josh Johnson is talking about a story that he saw on our website about a cat in a convenience store. Ever since I landed in Vancouver, I've been watching a lot of your CBC News. I want so badly to meet the editor. And then, what are the odds? One of our digital news editors, John Espiri, was at the show. The editor's here! Josh invited John on stage, instant chemistry. We have a thing called journalistic standards and practices. There's really no need to brag. Oh, sorry. Well, no, it's an actual handbook called like we have a little handbook. Once again, no need to brag. John chatted about how we we flesh out stories at the CBC. Sometimes we go out, we do what's called streeters. We talk to people on the street about what they think about this this cat situation. And life is going well enough for the people here that they stop and talk to you about... Okay, and here is CBC's newest improv star, John Espiri. You're actually on shift right now editing stories, right? Yeah, that's right. So my colleagues have been supporting me with all the attention that I've gotten today, and I'm hoping that the stories I edit, there aren't too many typos today. I try not to be too distracted and focus on them. And no cat stories tonight? Unfortunately, no. But tomorrow's another day. All right, take us back to that Friday. You actually also had been on shift, and then you went over to the Vogue Theatre, and all of a sudden, Josh starts talking about CBC, and a story he read, and he wishes that he could talk to an editor, and then what happened? And then my wife, I guess, was, well, first of all, my eyes kind of bugged out of my head, because I thought for a minute that people were staring at me, and then I'm like, of course, nobody knows who I am. And then my wife kind of shouted out in her enthusiasm that the editor is here. There's an editor here. And what did you think at that moment? A quiet terror. It was just general feeling of panic. And when he kind of acknowledged us and was bantering with us, I just thought, well, what is going to happen? And then he invited me on stage. And I just remember quietly walking toward the stage thinking, what have I gotten myself into? Yeah, so listen, you had no idea. I mean, you kind of didn't even know really what was happening, much less what was going to happen. But when you look at this tape, you are like, It's like you were born to be on this stage. You looked more comfortable there than you look right now. That's certainly true, yes. How were you feeling up there? I just sort of... I'm just going to go with the flow and treat this like I'm talking to someone at a dinner party about what my job is like. And one of the things about the theater was about 1,000 people, which if I'd known that, I would have been nervous. But there are lights, and you can't really see the crowd. And so I kind of just focused on talking to Josh. And at the moment, I didn't know anyone was recording it. I thought, because generally, you know, a lot of comedians don't like it when... When the audience records it, so there's kind of no recording, so I figured, well, this is just a nice little moment that I had where people, you know... We had a laugh. People applauded the CBC's journalistic standards and practices. Well, listen, let me talk about that for a moment. Never before in the history of the Vogue, I feel like I can say with confidence, has anybody made reference to our journalistic standards and practices. And this was a pretty CBC-friendly crowd, so a huge cheer. That must have felt good. It was. It was a very pleasant surprise. And I have to say, you know, I'm one of those people who, you know, as you know, there's a lot of people here who work behind the scenes, and I like working behind the scenes. Quite frankly, I'd rather be behind the scenes. So, but you often don't get that kind of affirmation when you're behind the scenes. And to get that just in that moment was really great. And I thought that was sort of the end of that. This would be a fun story I will tell my kids. And then the video was released today. It's kind of. Yeah, he's got three million, like 2.9 million followers on Instagram. So he posts the video this morning. What happened to your phone? Well, we got up this morning around 7 a.m., and my wife looked at her phone, and she said, oh, my God, and I said, I was worried something serious had happened, and then she showed me the video, and then I just, and then all of a sudden, I looked at my phone, and all these messages were coming from people on the East Coast and people around, and it's been kind of overwhelming. It's It's been really, really pleasant and overwhelming. You know, it's... The idea, you know, it's always a cliche. Sometimes the media would say, oh, so, you know, this video has gone viral. And I certainly would never want to use that to describe anything I've done, but it has reached out this audience. And it's really been kind of a very pleasant surprise. Yeah, listen, of all the things that go viral, this is one of the nice ones. And of all the people to have it happen to, you're one of the nice ones. So that's good. Listen, one other quick thing. We're going to be interviewing Josh next hour. Anything you want me to pass on to him? Just thanks for having me on. And if he has any more cat-related questions or anything to do with any kind of house pets, he can contact me anytime. John Esfiri, fantastic job. Thank you very much. Thank you. And here he is from New York City, comedian and Daily Show star Josh Johnson. Josh, your Instagram post made a lot of people in our newsroom very excited today. So thanks very much for joining us to talk about it. Yeah, I'm glad. Thanks for having me. So you're on stage on that Friday night in Vancouver, just riffing about a kind of an earnest CBC story, honestly, about a resident cat being banned from a convenience store. Why did that catch your eye? Uh, cause it's just, it's too heartwarming. It was like, like when I landed, I was reading it and I was just like, wait, I almost thought it was like a parody. Cause I was like, what world is this the top priority? But then, uh, people were, you know, I was talking to people about it as well. And they were like, oh yeah, we love Mickey. And we just want, we just want I want him to be able to chill in the bodega and everything. And I was like. This is, this is wild, especially you got to remember where I'm coming from. Life. So you're on stage and then as you're riffing, you kind of go, I would love to talk to that CBC editor. And then it turns out his wife shouts out, the editor is here. And then we can see you in that video kind of processing, not even sure what you're hearing, but what were you thinking at that point? So at first, because at first I was like, when someone started yelling, I didn't know what they were yelling. So I was hoping that it wasn't like an emergency or something. And then as more people started to repeat what the initial person yelled of he's here, I was like genuinely for a split second in my head. I was like the cat or like and then and then they were like, no, the editor. And so I was like, if you would, because I never want to embarrass anyone or anything. Like that, if we're all just trying to have a good time. And so I was like, only if you're willing to join me up here, because I had already written all these things that I that I thought about the the whole situation, the whole way of covering something like so local and so quaint. And in that moment, I was like, OK, I could just do the stuff that I wrote or I could. Ask the person right now, you know? Yeah. I was at your show at the Vogue the next night, the early show, because I go to bed early. So I was at the five o'clock show. And, and. Thanks for coming. Yeah, well, people should know. I mean, you're obviously funny. You're charismatic. There is a kindness in your show and among the audience. Like I've been to a lot of comedy shows. Sometimes they can be mean, not your show. It's like really warm. But the other thing is you- You veer into these unexpected directions at any time. And so I am curious, like, what were you thinking as you start asking my colleague, John, not just about the cat story, but about some other stories like that island that appeared and disappeared? What are you thinking while you're on stage and that's going on? Uh, I mean, initially I'm thinking like, what a gift, what a gift to be able to chat with someone and, and like ask in real time and that they're at the show. And then like the whole thing just felt, uh, like serendipity. And then I was, I, I had written and been reading those stories that I brought up to John. And so I was like, Oh, I might as well just ask about all of them. Not Not just the, not just the cat. And And one of them he actually had worked on and it had like passed through him. And so even that was like another gift. And so I think that when you're very open to the possibility of like spontaneous moments being gifts, it happens more often and we get more of the things that we look for. And that's something that I look for in everyday life and in common. Yeah, I mean, that was the beauty of watching it on tape that that you could just see this is this is a moment that didn't happen the night before, didn't happen the night after, only happened in that moment. And that that is magical. I want to play another clip from the show where you had some editorial advice for John. And this is just my two cents. I am not telling you how to do your job. I understand. But if I was working at the CBC and it had been cats all week. Cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, right? If it had been all cats all week and then an island appeared and disappeared, I'm just throwing out what I would do. I would be like, what? Like, I would... I would have a little bit more, it was delivered on a cat bodega level, but I'm like, this is very different news. Man, you're turning comedy out, like spinning it out of nowhere, right? Like that was just another fantastic moment. Listen, I got two more questions for you. One is, watching your show, I do get the sense of a guy, an American guy, interpreting Canada. What stands out to you about this country? I mean, obviously, there are different processes like you just covered of how, you know, we go about trying to. Right or wrong and and impeach someone and how it doesn't always work out. I think not only the systems, but I think a lot of people's approach. I think that some some of it is, to me, the nature of the people in Canada, that there are some things that are just like a human right that you cannot imagine a person going without. And I think there's a general understanding of a bit more neighbor being more neighborly to each other. And I don't say that as if any any country or any people are perfect, but I just I've watched a lot of that take place where there's just an almost surprise at some of the things that we deal with in the US because of the general understanding that a lot of Canadians have for each other and and for what a citizen is entitled to. So those are some of the main differences. And I think a lot of the other differences, like the the stereotypes about being nice and all that other stuff and being super polite, they stem from that, though. Do you mean like like when you when when you truly believe that within your system there are things that people are entitled to as basic human rights, those things spread into a sort of understanding of other dignities and other and yeah, and other forms of respect and everything. So not to say that, yeah, people can't get down because, yeah, y'all y'all y'all definitely fight. I've watched some wild videos where Canadians swing. I love that answer. Yeah, I love that answer because it goes beyond the cliches. You're not naive, but you're also not wrong. I think a lot of what you said there is true. Listen, we've got a minute. You're on The Daily Show, so I think it's fair to ask you this question. Americans overwhelmingly supported the Democrats in the midterms, but as you know, Trump is still your president. So how are you feeling about the state of politics in your country right now? I feel hopeful. I feel like a lot of people went to the polls and a lot of people voted with a lot of hope, but maybe not as much faith. And I think that people were pleasantly surprised at the outcome and saw how many people felt the way that they feel. And I think that it's it's very OK. It's more than OK. It's necessary to be hopeful. And so I am I'm hopeful as we all get ready and gear up for the next step that's to come, which is to have better government and have more functioning government and hold corruption accountable. Well, when I saw your show on that Saturday night, I did laugh, but I got to tell you, the best thing about it was when my wife and I left, we felt good about ourselves. We felt better than we did when we arrived. So thank you for that. Oh, thank you. Josh Johnson is with The Daily Show, and he's a big fan of Cat Stories on the CBC. Thank you so much. Thank you. I'll be seeing you.