Brooklyn-based comedian and writer Joyelle Nicole Johnson will take the stage at 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. both Feb. 25 and 26 at the Comedy Attic.
Johnson has performed stand-up on both “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” Most recently, the comic wrote for the final season of the sitcom “Broad City” and has starred as the warmup comedian for Hasan Minhaj’s Netflix show “Patriot Act with Hasan Minaj.”
Jared Thompson, co-owner of The Comedy Attic said Johnson opened for comedian Hannibal Buress in Bloomington roughly 10 years ago. With politics and the pandemic, Thompson said a lot of stand-up comics tend to wrap us all up in the drama surrounding these topics. He said that Johnson takes a different approach.
“She’s a huge force on stage,” Thompson said. “You forget there are comics who just talk about their lives, the nuts and bolts of what made stand-up comedy an art form in the first place. It’s refreshing to find someone who is harkening back to the beginnings of stand-up.”
While this isn’t Johnson’s first time in Bloomington, it’s her first time here as a headliner. According to Thompson, Johnson’s nationwide acclaim has been long overdue because of the way in which the comedy world is white, cisgender male-dominated.
“It took longer than it should have for Joyelle to be known in the way she’s known now. If the comedy world was run the way it should be, this would have happened five years ago,” Thompson said.
Her first stand-up comedy special, “LOVE JOY,” is available to stream on Peacock. Executively produced by Jimmy Fallon, the special was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy Special in 2021.
Student tickets are $13 and general admission tickets are $16. Tickets can be purchased on the Comedy Attic website.
