Limitless Laughter

Photos by Joel Meaders

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]E[/dropcap]arly on, standout comedian Josh Blue constantly reassured himself that he could accomplish anything that any other person could. In his own words, he “puts the ‘cerebral’ in cerebral palsy,” living with the condition his entire life—but not allowing himself to be limited or defined by it. Blue’s mantra has ultimately steered him to stardom, winning Last Comic Standing on the reality show’s fourth season on NBC, being the first comedian to perform stand-up on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and being named Best Winning Reality Show Guest on Live with Regis and Kelly.

As an accomplished comic, Blue has taken ownership of his success. He made appearances on Carlos Mencia’s Mind of Mencia on Comedy Central. He also performed on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson several years ago and delivered a searing pivotal performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last year. Blue also recently filmed his most recent one hour-long comedy special.

Beyond comedy, Blue founded the band Josh Blue & The Hooligan Stew Revue, a collaborative project with Zebra Junction, and he is also an international athlete and dabbles in acting. Blue competed in Athens, Greece during the 2004 Paralympic Games as a member of the U.S. Paralympic Soccer Team. That endeavor would become the butt of many jokes, providing some of his own stand-up material. Finally, Blue is teamed up with licensed edible company Mountain High Suckers, based in Colorado, to release Josh Blue’s Dream, his own line of lollipops infused with THC and CBD. Unlike rolling a joint, anybody—steady-handed or not—can medicate with complete ease and discretion using Blue’s lollipops. CULTURE snagged Blue to discuss his line of cannabis-infused lollipops, his battles with cerebral palsy and his elusive experiences with edibles.

At what point did you realize you were born to do stand-up? Was there a specific moment?

I studied stand-up in college, and I found the comedy scene pretty shortly after graduating, within a year of moving out of college. I think that I pretty much was hooked by that time.

You’ve won comedy contests several times, including first place at the 2004 Royal Flush Comedy Competition and winning season four of Last Comic Standing. What do you think separates the winners from the rest in the comedy world?

I mean, there are tons of factors that go into it. In my case—it’s my award-winning smile! No, it actually comes down to the comfortability on-stage and [who has] a natural feel for it. Last Comic Standing wasn’t just about doing stand-up, because they follow you around for your daily life for a while. So, they saw me being funny in other ways and saw that I’m a fun dude to hang out with and party with, and they got to see my personality. I feel like that is [what] it is—a shining personality will prevail.

Do you recall any times when you worried if you “went too far” with a joke and offended audience members?

Really? I’m a fucking professional, bro. [laughing] I know where the line is, and I’m pretty sure that I’m pretty good at walking along it. And you know, my idea is to bring you right up to that line and make you uncomfortable. But I’ll have a big payoff with the laughs at the end, and you know, have something bigger than that.

You have cerebral palsy and often use self-deprecating humor in your stand-up. Do you find that laughing about it from time to time is therapeutic?

Sure, man. I mean, I’ve definitely been laughing at myself my whole life. It’s easier to be sad about it, but it’s better to have a laugh and enjoy yourself. But it’s definitely therapeutic.

“I used to be hung up on how people perceived me and how people judge me due to my disability. And then I smoked some weed and thought, ‘Well, fuck it. Who cares what they think?’” 

In your experience, can medical cannabis help improve the quality of life for people living with cerebral palsy? If so, how? 

Well, I’ve always been a huge advocate for the benefits of cannabis for anyone, really. But for me, what it really did was that earlier in my life I used to be hung up on how people perceived me and how people judged me due to my disability. And then I smoked some weed and thought, “Well, fuck it. Who cares what they think? Have fun for yourself.” It kind of just changed my whole mindset on it.

As far as the physical aspects, I guess that when I first started smoking, I didn’t think about it making my body feel better, but something’s definitely happening in there. You know what I mean? In college, you’re like not really thinking hard about the medical benefits. You’re just getting high, because it’s fun to do. But as I got older, I realized that maybe this is a way of functioning better and that it’s a viable medication that people can take. With all these other over-the-counter bullshit drugs that make you sicker, why isn’t this legal with no side effects? And that’s part of the answer—because they want you to have side effects so you can buy more medication.

Do you find specific cannabinoids like CBD or THC to be more effective?

What’s interesting for me, and I’ve said this before, is that it’s not that weed necessarily made me feel better. It just made me forget anything that’s wrong. Does that make sense? “Oh, well I don’t need to worry about what they think about cerebral palsy.” Look! I’m going to do it and do it better than you ever could! It’s amazing what they do—pull the CBD and THC from weed. Obviously, both have benefit, but in different ways. I like sativas. I’m more of a get-high-and-clean-the-house kind of guy. I smoke weed before my shows, so I definitely don’t want an indica that will bring my mood down.

 “I like sativas. I’m more of a get-high-and-clean-the-house kind of guy. I smoke weed before my shows, so I definitely don’t want an indica that will bring my mood down.”

Tell us about Mountain High Suckers.

Pretty cool, huh? It’s really been awesome working with these guys. It started when I met the owners John [Garrison] and Chad [Tribble]. Back in the day I was going to a dispensary by my house and their product was in there. I met them there and they knew who I was, and we quickly became friends. I’ve done some stuff with them over the years. Some ads and I’m an advocate of their product. Then it just evolved into the Josh Blue line. Obviously, that was a badass idea.

We heard that Blue Dream is your favorite strain. Is that true?

It’s perfect because Blue Dream and Josh Blue share the name. Like it was meant to be!

Where can consumers find your products?

As of now, my products are only available in Colorado. Over 40 different companies now carry it and online. It’s pretty amazing. Right now, we are in talks with getting into California and a few other states. If it gets into California—it will make a wish come true, you know? It will be pretty fucking awesome, right?

 “With all these other over-the-counter bullshit drugs that make you sicker, why isn’t this legal with no side effects? And that’s part of the answer—because they want you to have side effects, so you can buy more medication.”

Do you have any edible experiences, good or bad, to share?

I do have a couple bad edible experiences. One is about my buddy from the mountains in the Colorado Rockies. You know how they have some backwoods people up in there. He gave me an edible that was maybe twice the size of a Tootsie Roll. A big fat Tootsie Roll. I guess I didn’t listen to the instructions, and I ate half of it. Thank God I only ate half! And then I proceeded to get higher than I’ve ever been. I called my girlfriend and was like, “Dude, you’ve got to come over right now. I can’t swallow water.” I poured water towards my mouth and it just fell all over my face. I had to run around the block 30 times. Apparently, that little Tootsie Roll was 300mg. I’ve eaten a lot of edibles before, but I’m used to taking around 20mg doses, you know? So I was high for hours, man. There was definitely no sitting down after that. Like I said, I’m a pretty energetic stoner. Let’s just say I had a lot of steps on my step counter that day.

Tell us about your involvement in the 2004 U.S. Paralympics soccer team.

I was on the national team for eight years. I traveled all over the world representing the U.S. In 2004 I was in Athens, Greece for the Paralympics. And it’s kind of a funny thing to bring up, just because as an Olympic athlete, we were under the same drug restrictions as the able-bodied Olympics. So, we would have random drug tests. People would just show up at your door at six in the morning. And I’d stumble out, all hungover. “Now we’re going to watch you pee in this cup,” they’d say. Oh shit. Thank God there were two separate tests: in-competition and out-of-competition.

For the out-of-competition test you could smoke and have cannabinoids in your system. I was smoking the whole time, obviously. I had a big tournament coming up, so I had to flush out my system for like a month-and-a-half just to make sure I didn’t get my teammates disqualified or anything. That’s a lot of weight to put on a pothead’s shoulders. The funniest story is I was smoking a fucking jay in my living room when they showed up! I mean they came in the room and they were gassed out for sure. I think after that, I got tested more than any teammate ever. They came to my house monthly once they found out how much weed I had in my system. I got tested for a performance-enhancing drug, but I should have gotten a medal for being able to play in that condition!

You were born in West Africa. Does that help you see the world differently than other Americans?

I can fucking guarantee that, man. I’ve been to 41 countries now. I also lived in Senegal when I was 15 for a year. I gotta say, that experience really influenced who I am in my life. Being disabled, I had a lot of questions and some sadness. “Why me” sort of bullshit. But then I went there to Africa when I was 15, and it gave me a reality check. A kick in the teeth. I may have cerebral palsy, but I do have shoes and food. So, I don’t really have anything to bitch about.

You were the first comedian to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Do you consider her to be a pioneer for the LGBTQ and comedy communities?

Definitely both of those things. I was a huge fan of Ellen and the fact that she picked me to be the first one? I mean, what an honor. I like to think of this as the way she stepped up for LGBTQ people and brought them to the limelight, I get to do it for disabled people like me and bring awareness. We’re just people, too. She was a huge influence to me. I all of a sudden went from a touring comic to a famous touring comic. I did Ellen and Live with Regis and Kelly back-to-back. I did Regis and Kelly the very next day. The fact that they picked me as the best guest they had is a pretty cool honor. It was affirmation from winning a reality show.

What are your next immediate plans?

I do over 200 shows per year, so I don’t really have a tour. I just never stop. All my shows are on my website. I also have my [fifth hour-long] special coming out this year. I filmed it in January, and we’re finally done editing it. I’m really happy about it. Five one-hour specials are nothing to balk at. I’m only 40 and have five albums.

Anything you’d like to add?

I’m a huge advocate of cannabis. It definitely helped change my life for the better. I’m very happy and impressed that our country is moving forward with legalization across the board.

I was just in Arkansas last week doing shows. They have medical there now, apparently. Whhhaaaaatt? Everyone’s going to have it soon if Arkansas has it. They told me in Arkansas that due to a legal loophole, everywhere that you can smoke cigarettes, you can smoke weed. So, I heard that some people are smoking joints inside the bars. That’s one dope loophole.

www.joshblue.com