Jo Koy, The Last-minute Golden Globes Host Who Got The Job Two Weeks Ago

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Awards season is in full swing as the 81st Golden Globes – Oscar's more palatable sister – take place this weekend. On Sunday, Hollywood's finest will gather at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles to toast the biggest entries on the big and small screens. It'll be a veritable who's who of A-listers, with Robert DeNiro, Margot Robbie and Jeffrey Wright among the nominees for one of the many shiny, ethereal trophies. However, a face that will be less familiar to you is that of Jo Koy, the comedian who was invited to host at the last minute.

The Globes presenter probably hasn't been relevant for a long time. Recent ceremonies have been forgotten, not least because there were no stars or cameras at the 2022 awards ceremony due to the controversy surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – the organization behind the Globes – over allegations of corruption and a lack of diversity. Koy faces a daunting task in his first major appearance as a presenter.

The 52-year-old Filipino-American comedian – born Joseph Glenn Herbert Sr. – was asked to host just two weeks ago. “When they asked me, it was an immediate yes. I couldn't believe that was happening – and then I woke up and thought, 'Wait a minute, I have two weeks to write jokes!'” he told Variety. “In fact, I think I had less than two weeks because I didn't get my writers until five days later.” To put it in perspective, previous hosts — like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and especially Ricky Gervais — had months Time to prepare. “It was a crash course in hosting,” Koy said.

However, he is not a newcomer to the area. Over the years, Koy's brand of comedy – which is conversation-based, story-driven and takes cues from Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg – has won hordes of fans, with two million following him on Instagram. He made a name for himself in the 1990s Las Vegas stand-up scene and has since aired several well-received comedy specials on Comedy Central and Netflix, most recently 2020's Jo Koy: In His Elements, which aired the spotlighted local talent in Manila, Philippines. He recently signed a deal with the streaming giant for two more specials. On the big screen, Koy led the 2022 comedy Easter Sunday and appeared in this year's revival of Haunted Mansion, which also starred LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish and Danny DeVito.

Late night fans will also see Koy as a guest on shows like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Last Call with Carson Daly. However, Koy appeared most frequently as a regular on Chelsea Handler's talk show Chelsea Lately before it was canceled in 2014. He and Handler later dated for a year in 2021 before announcing their “beautiful” split in 2022.

As Kevin Hart once put it, Koy is “a guy who deserves his damn accolades.” He was selling shoes at Nordstrom Rack, a discount department store, when he got his first big break in 2005: a stand-up appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Koy was a hit. To this day, he is still one of the few comedians to receive a standing ovation on the show. Speaking to Hart in 2021 on the Gold Minds with Kevin Hart podcast, Koy recalled going to work the next day and finding customers applauding his hilarious set – “and then they asked, 'Can I do this in a size 8.' have?'” '” The Tonight Show resulted in a lucrative commercial deal with wireless carrier Amp'd Mobile, and things took off from there.

“That was the last time I had a part-time job,” said Koy, who worked stand-up for 17 years before feeling financially secure enough to quit his day job. “I always wanted to make sure I had some kind of money, some kind of income.”

Koy only had two weeks' notice before the ceremony

(AP)

Koy was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1971 and moved to Las Vegas after high school with his parents and three siblings to care for his ailing grandmother. While enrolled at university in Vegas, Koy eventually dropped out to pursue stand-up comedy – a decision made due to the initial desperation of his mother, Josie Harrison, who has since become a popular leading lady in Koy's comedy sets. A YouTube video of Harrison reacting to her son's jokes about her has been viewed more than 2.5 million times.

Koy's father, who served in the US Air Force, met his mother while he was stationed in the Philippines. Throughout his career, Koy has spoken about the difficulties his family faced growing up in America. During a promotional event for his 2022 film Easter Sunday, Koy recounted a time in his childhood when his family filled out “a thousand” lottery tickets at the Sears department store in hopes of winning a television because they couldn't afford it. to buy one yourself. “We won. We won the damn TV! And then we went up the escalator, it's like 1985, and my mom loves little kids,” he said. “My mom sees this little kid and goes, 'Hello, how your name?' The boy turns around and retracts his gaze and [giggles]. I [didn’t] I understand this kind of normalization. Why would that be funny?”

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Koy with ex-girlfriend Chelsea Handler

(Getty)

While there's no doubt that the Globes are another great opportunity for Koy, he also sees it as an important responsibility. “That’s it,” Koy told Variety. “You hear that a lot at the moment, but for someone who looks like me it means a lot. There is a child out there who is Asian, or who is half white/half Asian, regardless of ethnicity. Seeing this will indirectly inspire them. This is one of those “finally” moments. I don’t want to bring it up when I’m on stage, but I think just being on stage is enough.”

When asked if he wants to go the popular Gervais route and trick his audience, Koy pointed to the recent strikes that shut down Hollywood for months. “I'm going to make fun, but I want to do it in a way where we're still celebrating. The industry was hit hard. Hollywood was shocked. Everyone was shocked. It wasn't just the writers. It wasn’t just the actors… So let’s celebrate,” he said. “Let’s enjoy this. We have a great performance. That's the approach I want to take here. This is a great moment for all of us.” Whether it will be entertaining for us at home remains to be seen.