Jo KoyPhoto: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic (Getty Images)
Comedian Jo Koy hasn't had a particularly good week this past week – and most notably, he didn't have a good 10 minutes or so last Sunday night, when he was widely rumored to have put in a tremendous performance on stage at the Golden Globes. Koy referenced that previous gig in his final performance Friday night, reports Variety, when he performed a stand-up set for a far more receptive audience in St. Louis at the Globes than “Marshmallows.”
Jo Koy takes on the thankless task of hosting the Golden Globes
“Lots of marshmallows, man,” Koy told his cheering audience, without mentioning the Globes by name. “They’re delicious, but damn, they’re soft. I just come from a different time. I see the changes that are happening. I get it, but damn, can we fucking laugh at ourselves?” Koy called his return to standard stand-up “therapy” and described the audience's reaction as a “big hug.” He appeared to be back in his element, messing with the crowd and using rehearsed material rather than a celebrity-driven monologue, saying he only had 10 days to write (working with what he admits was a team). that he threw it out the window when things started to get out of hand on stage).
Koy's monologue – which included comments about Barry Keoghan's penis in Saltburn and a reference to Barbie as a film about “a plastic doll with big breasts” – has sparked wider discussion about appearing as an awards show presenter. Former Oscars presenter Steve Martin urged people to cut some of the pressure off Koy, citing the sensitive nature of the job, while Kevin Hart – who famously stepped away from hosting the Oscars in 2018 after homophobic comments from him resurfaced online him showed up – this declared awards shows are no longer “comedic environments.” (By now, our social media feeds are flooded with clips of John Mulaney hitting the nail on the head with laser-accurate riffs on pop culture at a recent gubernatorial awards show, but that's just how it is.) It's undeniably an incredibly difficult one Position in – he's making jokes about incredibly famous people to these people while millions of viewers watch – and Koy at least seems happy to be back with more familiar territory and better known fans.