LOS ANGELES — Onstage for the first time since hosting the Golden Globes, Jo Koy vented about his attempt to skewer Hollywood stars currently on the awards circuit.
“Lotta marshmallows, man – they’re delicious, but goddamn, they’re soft,” he told the audience of St. Louis’ Stifel Theatre on Friday night, according to Variety. “I just come from a different time. I see the changes that are happening. I get it, but goddamn, can we f—ing laugh at ourselves?”
Comedian Jo Koy poses for a portrait in Los Angeles on March 2, 2021, to promote his book “Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo.” Chris Pizzello/Associated Press file
When his comments were met with applause and audible agreement, he added, “I got a feeling none of you motherf—ers watched it, and I’m kind of happy. Oh, my God. It feels good to live in this country. We get to say what we want to say. Don’t be apologetic about it at all. Be able to … speak your mind.”
Koy arrived at the venue late, as his incoming flight from Los Angeles had to make an emergency landing in Kansas City, Missouri, due to a Midwestern snowstorm. Throughout his set, he never addressed the awards show by name, but seemingly continued to address the hosting fail obliquely.
“Here in St. Louis, [you’ve got] people that listen to you, understand you, and understand we’re not all out to attack each other – it’s stupid in L.A.,” he said at one point. And after a well-received joke, he shared, “I haven’t laughed in four days. I’m so happy. You guys make me so happy. … This is therapy.”
Later on in his St. Louis set, he stressed the value of a massive misfire. “You’re allowed to fail,” Koy said. “Fail as much as you can. Just make sure you get the f— back up.” To applause, he added, “F— up. Risk. Take a risk. Without any risk, you’re never gonna know if anything’s possible.”
Koy was the subject of widespread backlash after last Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony – a telecast that opened with flat, crude jokes followed by blame for his writers. L.A. Times TV critic Robert Lloyd observed in his review that Koy, though highly successful in stand-up, “seemed out of proportion, out of his depth and a fish out of water. His opening monologue seemed to consist mostly of high-volume pronouncements of famous people’s names, not followed necessarily by a joke.”
Amid the fallout from the televised gig, Koy told The Times that he and the writers only had a handful of days to prepare the material, which was being rewritten up until showtime.
“I think I did well given the circumstances,” he said. “I didn’t get to run it onstage anywhere. I didn’t get to go anywhere where I could just sneak these things in and that’s what this is all about, it’s working things out. So given the circumstances, that’s what I had to go through and that’s fine.”
Koy‘s world tour, which is scheduled through May, includes back-to-back shows at the Kia Forum next month. Those upcoming dates will make him the stand-up who has most often headlined the Inglewood venue.
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