Interview: With Stand Up Comedian Juju Fevry at the Best Comedy Tickets

Interview with Juju Fevry:

1. What inspired you to pursue a career in comedy, and who were your biggest influences growing up?

Juju: “I got inspired to pursue comedy from my roommate in college, oddly enough. Going through the ups and downs of everyday life, I was experiencing a real down, and to make me feel better, my roommate through on some stand-up comedy, and it started to make me feel better. There was an immediate connection to comics like Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, and Hannibal Buress, which became some of my biggest influences growing up. He always told me that I was really funny, and I was like, Well, let me see what’s up with stand-up.”

2. Do you have a favorite joke or bit from your career that you still enjoy performing?

Juju: “I have a joke early in my career about how I could never keep a girlfriend because of the neighborhood that I grew up in. Like we would walk by an outdoor park gym and there would be this brolic dude working out, and she would look at me and be like, “This won’t work out.”
It wasn’t a strong joke, but I think it was the first time that I started to tap into some of my insecurities.”

3. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a comedian, and how did you overcome it?
Juju: “I think it was getting on stage early on and accepting the fact that the set might go well or I might just bomb. I just decided to embrace bomb and have fun in it to overcome the fear. I think I forget that having fun is really the main tool as a stand-up to becoming better. But I think this idea applies to anything.”

4. Are there any behind-the-scenes stories from Rescue Me that still make you laugh?
Juju: “I don’t think there’s anything specifically from Rescue Me that makes me laugh—but I always thought the main dude’s hair was always perfectly quaffed. Like dawg, how are you a fireman—but your hair maintains moisture? ”

5. As a co-host of the U.S. Top Gear, do you have a favorite car or test drive experience that stands out?
Juju: “Easy. Mercedes 350E: test driving on Germany’s Autobaun. Next.”

6. If you could design your dream car, what would it look like, and what features would it have?

Juju: “Mercedes 350E—Black matted—with a Febreze atomic spray air freshener. To keep things spicy but freshhhh.”

7. How do you handle hecklers during a live performance, and do you have a memorable heckler story?

Juju: “Hahah, I just keep joking along with them to a certain point. I think it’s important to handle situations like that with humor as a comedian to remind the audience that we do this professionally and it won’t be a win-win situation, you know?

I remember one situation where a drunk audience member threatened to stab me because I was joking away about him and his girl! They were interrupting the whole show. But I thought it was funny because I was like, Please do it—so I can add that to my comedy resume!”