Comedian, actor and writer Punkie Johnson has never been particularly concerned with making herself more palatable for a mass audience, though fully embracing that approach has been a journey in itself. Raised in New Orleans, where her mother and grandmother taught her not to concern herself with what others think, she managed to hold onto that mindset for years, until her four seasons on “Saturday Night Live” brought her own self-doubt into the picture. But with time, clarity and support, Punkie is leveling up into who she is now, and who she still has yet to become. Don’t worry, though, she’ll always be crazy as hell.
As one of the stars of “Barbershop,” premiering in February on Amazon Prime, and with her confidence in check and transformation in full swing, dropping her debut comedy special, “Long Tiddie Short Story,” is the perfect next chapter. Released Oct. 21 on YouTube, “LTSS” brings Johnson back to where she used to bartend, the Comedy Store. Only now, she takes center stage at her most unfiltered, turning her own experiences into a high-energy hour that is relentlessly entertaining and at times hilariously uncomfortable.
So many congrats on your debut special. Taping it had to be the coolest full circle moment for you.
Punkie Johnson: I really appreciate you watching it! It all came full circle to me, the first 20 minutes comes full circle, and the end comes full circle. Picking up on the truth of all that it is, that matters to me because it all comes back to understanding who you are.
In it you mention being in your truest form. What’s the form you were in before that led you where you are now?
Before I was thinking, “I’m crazy, so no way in hell I’m about to get on a show like ‘SNL.’” I wasn’t thinking about it because it wasn’t my goal. Of course I wanted to be on TV, and I wanted to be an actress, but I thought it’d be more like a Starz or HBO kind of thing because of how brash and unhinged I am. So when I got it, it shocked me, but I went all in. When you’re there, though, and you see it and you feel it, and it’s all around you, you’re like, “Oh s—, I think I’m out of my element.” I was falling outside of myself day by day without even realizing it because I was uncomfortable. I’m around people that went to school for this, Second City and Groundlings, these people around me studied and worked hard to specifically be where they are right now. When I saw the seriousness of it, I kind of went into a shell a little bit. It all really came out of my own mind because I didn’t feel like I belonged, so I started thinking, why can’t I have this or why didn’t a sketch get on? I started to change a little to feel accepted so now I’m doing every single thing to be liked, which is not who I am at all. I never cared about people’s opinions, so it’s kind of embarrassing to say, but the truth is that I was digging to be seen, and I didn’t know I was doing that until after.
Filmed at the Comedy Store, “Long Tiddie Short Story” turns personal experiences into fast-paced comedy, as Johnson looks ahead to starring in Amazon’s “Barbershop.”
(Van Corona)
“Long Tiddie Short Story” is absolutely you out of your shell. What came first, the name or the material?
The special wasn’t called “Long Tiddie Short Story” at first, I was calling it something boring and traditional, “Big Dog” or something like that. I was talking about it for days to Dave Chappelle and, well, oddly and weirdly simultaneously also talking about having a breast reduction. I don’t know how those two stories came together like that, but after he heard it, it was almost like he slept on it because the very next day he’s like, “I got something, ‘Long Tiddie Short Story.’” At the time I did have long tiddies, and it is full of short stories. You know, I really didn’t go as deep as I wanted to, I stayed on the surface with many topics because I didn’t want to embarrass anyone.
I’m sure your next special “Short Tiddies Long Story” will dig deeper …
God, please believe. I wanted to go in so bad, but I was just like, “Nah, I’ll put it all in a movie and then people can just take that for what it is.” I worked on this special for so long and just kept adding stuff, and the longer you work on something, the more you’re gonna find so I had to cut a lot. It’s the economy of words, the quicker you get to the joke, the better. I prolong my sets sometimes because I like to think while I’m on stage. Even though I know my set, I’m thinking so I’m delivering it the way I want to deliver it. It’s harder than you think because there’s so much you want to say and you think you’ve got all the time in the world, but you don’t. It goes by fast and you gotta push it out. I’m glad I went to New York too, because there I could get my comedy out slower. I could take my time, and I could appreciate the silence. Keeping the joke when I get to the joke. In L.A. it’s more like, we did not come for you to sit up here and think, you better get this joke out! Now it’s a rhythm, and my rhythm is faster, so I’ll be able to fit more into my second hour special.
I learned a lot from this special and the streets want to know, do you think you’ll ever role-play as a heterosexual couple with your partner again?
Oh yeah! Do you know how fun I am? And I’m weird! And I’m goofy! I got in trouble with my ex-wife for not taking stuff seriously, and I’m getting in trouble in my new relationship for not taking stuff seriously. I like to have fun all the time, I’m a big kid. You gotta watch what you’re playing with my girl though, because one time I dressed up as a plumber and she really started handing me s— to fix! I was like, OK we’re not gonna play this one anymore. We’re also really transparent with each other and I tell her all the time, I’m attracted to the lady cops, I’m attracted to nurses and teachers, and everything I tell her I’m attracted to, we get the uniform. You gotta have fun.
And how’s your heart? Not within the relationship, but with your heart.
So what I don’t say in the special is that there came a point where I wasn’t comfortable in the house, and every morning I would wake up and leave all day. I’m talking 8 in the morning, I’m at the YMCA at spin class. I take a shower, I leave, I go to the gym, I work out with my friends, we eat lunch, and then we hang out. We drink, then I eat dinner, I hang out, I drink, then I go to work, I hang out, I drink — I’m not home all day. And all day, I’m eating out and just ruining my body. I did it for months just to avoid being home. One day I woke up and my legs were the size of a watermelon, so I had to get all that checked. It was bad, but I was like, you know how bad this could be? My friends came and took care of me, one of my friends worked at a juice store so for a few weeks, I only drank juice to just reset my whole body. I stopped drinking and stopped eating meat for a couple months and I naturally brought my body back to where it was supposed to be. It took some time, but I got it back.
“It took so long to cook with me in my career, but now I’m putting all my energy into all of this stuff and I’m going to tell you something, now I finally get it,” Johnson said.
(Van Corona)
Clarity is fun too, though. It opens you to wildly different perspectives on such common things.
Yeah, I was taking a walk today and I thought about how nothing matters because everybody’s gonna have an opinion. I’m so late in the game at being in this business and I think when people don’t get me, I feel the need to explain. I realized that I could spend my energy going back and forth with people all I want, but we all have our own opinions about stuff. It took so long to cook with me in my career, but now I’m putting all my energy into all of this stuff and I’m going to tell you something, now I finally get it. So if anybody takes anything from this interview right now, it’s that nobody’s opinion matters except for your own. And that’s just for yourself and your own mental health.
Yes! Comments are to be ignored, well, except for this one: The “Barbershop” trailer looks great, and the cast is incredible! Did you have to train for that role?
Oh, we trained! We had to go out there about two or three weeks early and had a couple classes on how to do things. Lineups, how to put the cape on and off, pull the chair back, how to take the headrest off, how to use the razors — there were just certain things we had to learn. Cutting the person’s hair opposite the mirror and your placement, we had to learn all of those techniques. It was fun and it also let me know that when I was cutting people’s hair in college, I was really messing them up.
Damn. Would you like to give a public apology before I let you go?
Well, I thought I knew what I was doing, but I guess now is the time. I would like to make a public apology to all y’all line-ups back then. But, hey, I was a hustler, man!
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