PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT OF AMAZING JOHNATHAN INTERVIEW
BY STEVE FRIESS, AUGUST 2007

CREDIT: THE STRIP PODCAST, THESTRIPPODCAST.COM.

E-MAIL AT THESTRIPPODCAST (at) AOL.COM.

[Hear the entire interview on The Strip Podcast here]

Amazing Johnathan: Everybody's really uptight and it's really hurting comedy.

Steve Friess: You think?

AJ: Yeah. All this political correct you can't do this, you can't do that. Here's the perfect example: Look at Michael Richards using the word "n----" on stage, calling guys n---- like that? If there was a black guy on stage and it was reversed, if he was calling somebody a honkie or a white, nothing. There would've been no repercussions.

Steve Friess: Does it matter that he was saying it sort of viciously and angry? He wasn't trying to be funny with it, was he?

AJ: Well, he wasn't funny with it. He was angry. But, but what if the situation was reversed is my point. What if a black comic was angry going off on a white couple. Nothing. There would've been no repercussions. That's my point. Everybody's going too far with it, you know what I mean?

SF: What do you think should've happened with Michael Richards?

AJ: What I think should've happened is, well, the manager should've thrown the black people out. That's what I think should've happened. If they were heckling him during the show, they were wrong. And anything you do, if you're heckling a comic and interrupting a show, you're a n---- at that point, you know what I mean, in my eyes. You're not an audience member, you're not a friend, you are the worst possible scenario. You're disrupting my job, so you're a n----. I wouldn't yell that word out and tell them that, I would have handled it a little bit more differently. If I did use that word, it would've been funny. I mean, I've called women in the audience c---s and I've gotten away with it because they were c---s but I did it right. There is a way to do it right.

SF: Do you have cases where you throw people out?

AJ: Yeah, I thrown people out all the time. Because here's the way I figure it. One time, I'll use a heckler line. I'll be funny with them once. I'll be funny with them twice, the third time, I'm warning them. Look, people did not pay $70 to come here and listen to you talk through my whole show. I say, the next word out of your mouth you're gonna be standing in the parking lot saying, "Wasn't that the best show?' Invariably, they do say something again and I have them thrown out.

SF: But you've never called someone in the audience a n----, have you?

AJ: No, I would never use that word on stage ever. The only time I use that word is when it's needed in a joke that I've heard. (laughs) And at that point it's a joke, so. My friends, they're not offended by that word, they're not offended by any word. People I hang around with - and you'd be surprised the people I hang around with - they're not offended by that word. They're educated and they know it's just a word and it's a funny word, y'know.

SF: I wanted to talk to you a little bit about...

AJ: You know who hates it the most?

SF: Who?

AJ: N----s. (Laughs) Kidding!

On Penn & Teller: "They're not nearly as funny as I am. They don't get a quarter of the laughs I get. But they're very good."

On Hans Klok: "You've got Lance Burton, you've got David Copperfield, you don't need another big illusionist here. It's all been done before. He didn't come to town with a new hook. And a celebrity assistant is not a big enough hook."

On Steve Wyrick: "Steve Wyrick's trying to get in the back door of that. All the money in the world's not going to buy him that. There's no more room for it. Why's he been around? Because audiences are coming to see him and they love him? Or he's got a lot of money to keep his showroom open? His family comes from oil and he's the drain, the black sheep of the family draining all the money out. … Is he selling tickets? No."

On the Criss Angel-Cirque du Soleil alliance: "You're not going ot see a bad Cirque show. You know it's going to be good. With Criss and Cirque combined. There's going to be room for that. There wouldn't be room for Criss by himself, but with Cirque behind it, I think he's going to kill. It's a combination of two killer effects."

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