Comedian Josh James has shared an insight into his career, and how growing up in Essex has inspired dozens of his sketches over the years, as well as a link to Catherine Tate
Josh James has revealed an insight into his career as a comedian and how Catherine Tate has played a part in his journey. The Essex lad has rapidly become one of the biggest names to watch with his quick wit and cheeky charm.
But for Josh, while he’s known for making people laugh, he’s also aware of his platform and often uses it to connect with a male audience, as well as tackling subjects including modern masculinity. But at 35, Josh admits that while he’s paid for his job, he would happily work for free in the industry.
However, growing up in Essex and having family from East London, Josh revealed he took inspiration from the likes of Catherine Tate’s nan character, as well as the likes of Mickey Flanagan and Paul Whitehouse.
“They’re all similar backgrounds to me, similar sort of people, they’re the strongest influences,” he told the Mirror, adding: “In terms of stand-up now, my favourite comedians are Americans, like Dave Chappelle and Tom Segura. I think in terms of my sketches and stand-up, definitely Paul, Catherine and Mickey.”
Speaking of Catherine’s nan character, Josh said: “She’s so accurate of so many of that generation of women from east and southeast London, which my nan was from Limehouse, it was almost like a carbon copy. You’re seeing the nan, and you’ve got her grandson, played by Matthew Horne.
“When I watched it, it was almost like she’d peered into my life.” Josh joked that his nan would often share what was on her mind, similar to the nan character. “It was like she’d peered into my life and had made that about me, it was a carbon copy, that was what my nan was like – I was like Matthew Horne, playing her grandson.”
He added, “The nan character is probably one of the greatest sketch characters of all time. I would struggle to think of any that would beat that. Maybe Ali G, in terms of British comedy, the nan was the one.”
While Josh admits he “loves” his career path, he reveals it can be hard, as people on the outside don’t often see the long hours he has to put in. “It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of hours to get good enough to enjoy it,” he said. Josh added: “I’d do this for free, if I didn’t have a wife and kids, if I didn’t do it as a career, I would still do it – it’s a fun thing to do, you can’t beat it.”
“I get paid for making people laugh and joking, it’s not bad at all,” he said. But Josh explained that some comedians often hide their own emotions when they’re on stage. He said: “My mental health isn’t always the best, but I find satisfaction in making other people happy.”
And while he boasts thousands of followers across social media, Josh admits he doesn’t set out to empower people, but finds it humbling to turn the narrative of masculinity on its head. He explained: “I have people coming up to me after gigs and saying ‘Wow you’ve really helped me through a difficult time’ and all stuff like that, and that’s fantastic, it’s nice to hear, and it is good that that happens.”
Throughout his live shows, Josh wastes no time interacting with the audience and getting them involved throughout his tour. “I enjoy that, I like a bit of back and forth,” he said. But what happens when a spanner is thrown into the works? “I quite like ot improvise when those spontaneous things happen,” he added.
Across his social media pages, Josh can be seen taking part in sketches, but bases his characters on individuals he’s met in life. Including a sketch which saw him take on the role of an estate agent. “We don’t have a shortage of them in Essex,” he laughed, adding: “What I’ll do is I’ll get a little nugget of inspiration like that. And then I’ll just sort of build out the idea.”
Josh’s podcast, That Josh James Show, has just signed a new partnership with ACAST, has won new audiences over on social media, but Josh himself jokes he’s “a bit of a dinosaur” on sites such as TikTok and Instagram. “Younger people, they’re talking about streaming and that and I’m like ‘God, I haven’t got a clue about any of that,’ so I just try and stick to old school sketches.
“And with the podcast, not a lot of thought goes into that, it’s my mate who’s a tiler and me, we talk nonsense for an hour, and people resonate with it. There’s not a lot of people like us you see on telly, if there’s anyone from Essex who does well on telly, they lose their accent and rawness.”
For the podcast, though, he explains that listeners get to know him and his friend in a lot more detail, with aspects of their lives being shared that wouldn’t normally be shared online.” And while Josh has impressed the likes of Mo Gilligan and Babatunde Aléshé, he also won over Anthony Joshua and Conor Benn.
Speaking of Anthony, he explained: “He made a big effort, he got to know my name, he didn’t have to. I was just doing a media thing, he probably meets hundreds of different people, we filmed a sketch, and we had to wait around all day to film a second one, maybe shorter than ten hours – I introduced myself at the start as Josh, and when we said goodbye, he said ‘Oh thanks Josh,’ that’s only a small thing but for him to remember my name and make the effort…
“I’ve worked with some boxers who don’t make the effort, but Anthony Joshua is a class act. That’s the thing with a lot of these boxers, they’re maybe intimidating at first – obviously they do what they do, they’ve not got anything to prove.”
Josh continued: “He’s one of the most famous people in the country, I think he holds himself in a really good way and I think it’s a credit not just to boxing but to this country, I’ve got a son and when I see what he’s like when I’ve met him [Joshua], and the work he does for charity, I’d say to my son ‘That’s someone you can look up to.'”
“There’s this big thing over masculinity at the moment, isn’t there? think Joshua is a prime example of someone who can really be a very masculine man and still be a gentleman and still a great role model,” Josh stated. As the year progresses, the rest of Josh’s tour is completely sold out, having already done dates at venues such as the Hackney Empire.
He’ll also be hitting the stage with his podcast, as well as engaging in discussions about further projects.
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