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Before comic Josh Blue became famous and recognizable, one of his favorite things to do before a performance was to panhandle outside the venue.
Blue has cerebral palsy, and much of his act consists, perhaps unavoidably, of experiments in social psychology.
To get the sort of laughs that every comic wants, Blue divests audiences of their discomfort and then mocks them for their resulting comfort. It’s quite a feat.
After a spate of panhandling, during which time well-meaning concertgoers would give him spare change, Blue would step out onstage.
“There’d be this audible groan when I would walk out into the audience,” Blue says. “ ‘Hey, I gave that guy $2.’ ”
Blue’s performance at the Wagon Wheel Theatre in Warsaw on Saturday will not follow a spate of panhandling.
Since winning “Last Comic Standing” in the summer of 2006, Blue has been too famous to get away with it. That being said, Blue isn’t alwaysrecognized.
After a concert at the Moore Theatre in Seattle the other night, Blue and his buddies hied themselves to a bar across the street.
“The doorman wouldn’t let me in because he thought I was too drunk already,” Blue says.
Blue has spent so much of his life frustrating people’s expectations and turning their tactlessness into treasure that he says he isn’t capable of feeling offended anymore.
“I tell myself that it’s a natural response,” he says. “If you don’t know I have cerebral palsy, then you’ll just think I look pretty (expletive) trashed.”
Blue is a little ambivalent about fame though.
He is married with a 6-month-old son, and he says fame interferes with fatherhood.
“You know, being famous is not always awesome,” he says. “Getting recognized when you are out with your wife and family and you just want to be a family man … it’s just part of the deal, I guess. I can’t get too mad about it.”
Blue says people tend to assume that “Last Comic Standing” set him up for life.
“Everybody thinks that when you win a show like that you are automatically a millionaire,” he says. “I’ll be out and someone will say to me, ‘What are you doing at a grocery store?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I still have to (expletive) eat.’ ”
His occupation interferes with fatherhood a bit as well.
A new dad who has to be on the road at least half the year can’t really be worked into the feeding schedule.
“The missus is ready for me to start taking night shifts,” Blue says.
Life is good though, Blue says; don’t misunderstand.
He lives with his wife and son in a “castle” outside Denver.
“It’s a house, but it’s made of slag stone,” he says. “It looks like a big castle. It has gargoyles in front. I saw it and fell in love with it.”
Blue divided the main house into apartments for four of his friends.
His family lives in a carriage house in the back.
“All my tenants are like friends and stuff,” he says, “which is cool, being gone as much as I am. People I trust and love are there for my wife.”
Blue says his son is already teething, sitting by himself, crawling and pulling himself up to a standing position.
“He’s a pretty strong little dude,” he says.
He has to be, Blue says.
“His dad is not the most gentle of people,” he says, referring to the spasms and involuntary movements associated with his condition. “But kids are raised in all kinds of conditions. At least I’m loving. I lived in Africa for many years and saw women strap babies to their backs before going out to work in the field. I can provide that at least.”
Blue has a burgeoning movie career as well as a blossoming stand-up career: He has a showy cameo in a forthcoming thriller called “Cash,” starring Sean Bean.
It goes without saying that Blue is an inspiration for others who have cerebral palsy. It should not be assumed that he set out to be an inspiration, however.
“I embrace it, but it was not my intended goal,” he says. “I’m still not sure what that was.”
spen@jg.net
