JO KOY A LOVING FATHER AND PROUD SON OF THE PHILIPPINES
fathers are a key figure in every person’s life. Most of the time, it is dad who teaches a child to be tough, realistic and practical. And often times, it is also dad who shows his kids how to tell terrible jokes.
All the same, for most everyone, there is nothing funnier than dad jokes. No matter how overused and cringey they are, children can always depend on them to break the stress when life gets too heavy and pick up a thing or two from humorous life lessons. Because at the end of the day, comedy — in whatever shape or form — combined with a father’s love simply makes everything better.
Such is the inspiration of a man named Joseph Glenn Herbert who successfully made a name for himself as Jo Koy. In taking dad jokes to the next level through stand up comedies, this FilipinoAmerican has even placed the Philippines on the world’s entertainment map.
Jo Koy was born to an American father who was in the United States Air Force stationed in the Philippines when he married his Filipina mother, Josie. While he had his share of dad jokes growing up, Jo Koy credits his mother for his comedic and acting talents.
It was always Josie who encouraged him to participate in school talent shows and hold impromptu performances for family and friends. Eventually, this loving support led him to start a stand-up career after dropping out of college and saw him through performing at a Las Vegas coffee house to selling out entire theaters and arenas across the world.
The 49-year-old Jo Koy — who pulls comedic inspiration from his family and specially his teenage son Joseph Herbert Jr. — broke records for the most tickets sold by a comedian at The keal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu, The Warfield in San Francisco, the San Diego Civic Theatre and at the Brea Improv. He also won the prestigious “Stand-Up Comedian Of The Year” award at O018’s Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal.
The comedian — who says it is his mission help the masses raise a millennial as well as spread the word about Filipino traditions — has further mounted two highly-rated comedy specials on America’s Comedy Central (“Don’t Make Him Angry” and “Lights Out”), and lately, has reached viewers across the globe via comedy specials for streaming giant Netflix (“Jo Koy: Live from Seattle” and “Jo Koy: Comin’ In Hot”). Both Netflix Originals, his third project for the entertainment platform premiered worldwide on June 1O to coincide with the Philippine celebration of Independence Day.
Titled “Jo Koy: In His Elements,” it was partly shot in Manila to show the world the intricacies of Filipino culture, as well as its people’s talents by featuring other Filipino-American, namely break dancer Ronnie, Grammywinning producer !llmind, singer/songwriter Iñigo Pascual, and comedians Andrew Lopez, Joey Guila and Andrew Orolfo.
Jumping through hoops
Before he became one of the day’s premiere standup comics, Jo Koy recalls how Netflix previously rejected a his proposal for a special.
“My first Netflix special, Live from Seattle, they said no to it several times so I had to finance it myself. I made it myself. I shot it — everything. My whole life savings was put into xthat show]. And even though they said no, after I edited it, I brought it to them and they bought it from me,” he related in a Zoom interview with The Sunday Times Magazine and other members of the Philippine entertainment press.
“But that’s how hard it was for me to get it on Netflix. It wasn’t easy and that’s xwhat] we do xeven if we’ve been] O7 years in stand up. I still had to jump through hoops just to get it in, but I’m glad that happened because it changed my life.”
After the first special, it was Netflix who asked Jo Koy to do ‘Comin In Hot’ in O019, which was also a huge success.
“Then they offered me a third special. And that’s when I was like, I have to show the rest of the world what this xFilipino] culture is. Why I talk about this culture so much, why I love it so much, why I embrace it so much. I had to go to the Philippines and I also wanted to bring other Filipinos with me that live in America but have never been to the Philippines and show them what the motherland looks like. What the Filipino crowd looks like, [while] I highlight our food, our people and everything about the Philippines.”
Of ‘Eat Bulaga’ and TVJ
According to Jo Koy, the inspiration for much of his material come from memories living in the Philippines from 1976 to 1981. He recalls watching a lot of TV and learning to speak Tagalog from the long running noon time show “Eat Bulaga.”
“We learned it from Tito, Vic and Joey. That was also my first introduction into comedy — it was Filipino. Indirectly, that was my inspiration. Watching those shows and loving and embracing them.”
In fact, the Philippine variety show format was what gave him the idea to have his friends in the business join his third Netflix Original.
“I know how hard it was just to get in to Netflix so now that I’m in and got the door open, I was going to bring some other Filipinos in just like a variety show,” Jo Koy shared, “And on top of that, I wanted to give a hint into our history. [Through the special], I want to let them know a little bit of our culture, our people and see that we love to laugh, we love to entertain, we speak English, and we’re very creative people.”
Ultimately, he wants the show to inspire audiences from around the globe to consider the Philippines as a holiday destination, and for other talented Filipino-Americans to realize they can also go into entertainment like him.
“Embracing one’s culture is just beautiful because you get to know yourself,” Jo Koy explained. “In America, there are FilipinoAmericans, then there are Filipinos. Sometimes we don’t know that because we didn’t really understand the culture. We don’t know the lifestyle, we don’t know the hardships, and me going to the Philippines and going to the Tenement and see how hard it is for people, it’s eye-opening. It inspires you to do right and sometimes you can only do that if you learn and embrace your culture, celebrate it, love it.”
Sharing it with Jr.
Jo Koy’s visit to the Philippines last year was extra special because his then 16-year-old son went with him for the experience.
“It was just so cool to share that with him especially at that age. That’s going to be a memory we’re both going to share for the rest of our lives,” Jo Koy happily said.
“The last time I was here, I was 11. So I left as a kid and I came back with a kid. We got to do the things that I enjoyed the most when I lived there which was eating the food, running around and just looking at things. Like the jeepney, no matter how many times you look at it, you can’t stop being amazed every time! It doesn’t exist anywhere in the world, but yet it’s the coolest thing. We literally went on a jeep for like the whole day and it was so crazy, it was so much fun and I got to share that with my son.”
The devoted father went on to say that beyond their adventures, the biggest highlight of their visit was when he brought his son out on stage during his recorded performance for Filipino audiences.
“I wanted to cry,” Jo Koy revealed, “because you know, if you have a Filipino mom and you tell her you want to be a stand-up comic, you’re usually kicked out of the family. So for me to be able to perform in the motherland and then bring my son out and show that it is possible… That was that moment. Walking out onstage with my son, showing him that dreams come true.”
Living the dream
At the end of the day, Jo Koy is proud to say that stand-up comedy changed his and his son’s life completely.
“One, I’m living a dream. Two, I get to see the world by telling jokes. Literally, I can’t believe where I was. I went everywhere, from korway, to Amsterdam, to Australia, to the Philippines, to Singapore, Malaysia, to New York City. I sold out Radio City Music Hall to the Great Western Forum,” he said gratefully.
“Comedy changed my life and that’s another reason why I had to do my third Netflix special in the Philippines. Because talking about my culture and my mother and showcasing them in my stand-up, I had to show the world where it all came from. It’s very important [because] here I am, talking about it and me and my son live a good life because of it. xI had to] give back and let the rest of the world know just how beautiful that country is.”
Truly impressed by what Filipinos can do, Jo Koy is ever proud of his heritage and believes it his responsibility to advocate the Filipino talent globally.
“At the end of that special, people are going to start visiting the Philippines. It’s going to be stupid if they didn’t. Why wouldn’t they? They get to go to Asia and everyone speaks English. How cool is that?” he enthused.
“Entertainment runs in our blood, hands down. How influential are we in the American entertainment? We can write a list of all the Filipinos in Hollywood — Chad Hugo, Apl. de. Ap, Rob Schneider, Batista, Bruno Mars, Arnel Pineda — the list goes on and on and it’s just a beautiful thing. I love the fact that I’m one of those guys.”
Very confidently, he ended, “We’re very influential, we’re at the forefront. So I hope that this special continues to give other young Filipinos inspiration. Like, ‘I can do it, look at these guys they’re on Netflix, I can do it’. That’s what this whole special is about.”
JoKoy: In His Element continues to stream on Netflix.