Jo Koy On Showcasing Filipino Talent In His New Netflix Special, And Finding Out What His Nickname Really Is

Jo Koy, whose given name is Joseph Glenn Herbert, is asked where he got his stage name in almost every single interview. All he really knew is that his aunt used to call him “Jokoy” all the time. But when he recently asked his elderly aunt about it, she said to him “I’ve never called you Jo Koy.” “Unfucking believable that I just found this out,” he told Decider. That story is the basis for one of the funniest bits in his latest Netflix special, Jo Koy: In His Elements.

Notice we didn’t say it was a stand-up special. Yes, there’s stand-up, from Jo and three other Filipino comedians (Joey Guila, Andrew Lopez and Andrew Orlofo). But the special, recorded before the pandemic in and around Manila, was Jo’s way of bringing Filipino comedians and artists to their parents homeland and showing just how talented people from the Philippines can be. During the special, we see B-boys breakdance in a housing project courtyard, Jo, his aunt and his sister tour a massive farmer’s market, visit a local DJ, and more.

Jo talked with Decider last week about the special. And, if you didn’t know it was near and dear to his heart, the stream-of-consciousness answers he gave with little prompting should prove it to you. But first, we both ruminated on our recent 49th birthdays, which were only a few days apart, and then talked about the recent nationwide demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism.

DECIDER: It’s weird being on the cusp of 50. I don’t get it, I don’t understand it.

JO KOY: I know. I don’t get it either. I’m also thinking of like weird things, too.

Like what?

You know, just like seventy is right around the corner, like it’s not that far away, or like when my son’s 35 I’m going to be 70-something, like it’s just crazy to even think like that right now, like, “What are you talking about 70? Oh, Jesus.”

I’ve got a 5-year-old daughter so you can imagine the math that’s going on in my head.

Oh, my God. Can I do it for you?

No, I’ve done it many times.

Okay. All right, all right. I was going to say, when you’re 69 it’s going to be crazy, she’s 25.

Joel Keller: She’ll be 25, hopefully out of college. And not living with us. Hopefully. You know, we’ll see.

That’s awesome. It’ll be funny is when she’s 25 and her boyfriend comes over, he goes, “You live with your grandparents? That’s awesome.”

It’ll be fun and I’ll be very happy about my life choices at that point. Before we get into the special, I saw some of your tweets and some of your Instagrams, like everybody else you’re paying respect to George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. What have you done, what have you seen, and what’s your impressions of like what’s been going on right now?

If there’s one thing that I can say that I love about this situation is that people are aware, people are coming together. I think this is a generation that is pretty amazing, through social media alone to actively voice your opinion through social media. That’s been the beautiful thing about this situation, that I have a million followers on Instagram and I’m able to express how I feel and get that awareness out and just let it be loud. I can be loud on Instagram, whereas 30 years ago, are you kidding me? I mean, you still have to physically have to go out and get that word out but man, to post a picture and just see the response and the DMs.

If you look at some of my posts you’ll see the likes on something, and then of course, the comments that they leave. But you don’t see my DMs that I’m going through, too, like I’m getting so many DMs for everything that I’m posting and I’m interacting and talking and we’re discussing.

So that to me is beautiful that my son lives in a time where that’s part of his culture and they’re very good at it. These kids communicate this way. I didn’t communicate this way, I’m still the guy that opens up Zoom and I have my face all the way up to the camera the on I’m laptop going, “Is it on? Do you see me? Do you hear me?” And my headphone’s not even plugged in. “I hear you but you don’t hear me?” You know, that’s me, so it’s just a beautiful time right now and I know that’s the worst word to use but it’s also a very good word to use because it is beautiful, like to see people come together like this.

When you mentioned your son, is he aware that like this goes back to you know, Ferguson six years ago and back to Rodney King you know, over 30 years ago and before that?

Yeah, I mean, 100 percent my son is, he’s completely aware and that’s another thing, though, man, like something like a BLM hashtag. You know, my son hits the hashtag and he’s learning, he’s scrolling, like he’s probably learning more on Instagram and anything else than I ever did in schools, you know what I’m saying? The information is out there and it’s in his hand and you know, that’s the cool thing about social media now and that these kids are a part of that culture, so it’s amazing. So yeah, he does. He is getting it and of course, it opens a discussion for him and I to talk and where we’re at.

I really enjoyed the special; the publicist had mentioned how personal it was to you and obviously I got it after I watched it. Where was the genesis of this idea, to go back to the Philippines to bring people with you and show the whole audience that breadth of experience that Filipino artists are capable of?

So I have two answers for it, right? One, I used to live in the Philippines when my mom and dad were together and we would watch Filipino television a lot, like my sister and I would always watch Filipino television and it wasn’t easy because we didn’t speak speak Tagalog, even though they spoke English but it’s very broken, right? But one thing we would always watch were the variety shows and that’s one thing Filipinos love are variety shows, the singing, the dancing, the slapstick comedy, the pie in the face, all that stuff, right? So that was one element that I wanted to bring to the special is a variety format that Filipinos could embrace.

Two, I wanted to bring Filipinos that lived in America that have never seen the Philippines and where their parents came from, and like really bring them, you know what I mean? Like when I brought Ronnie [a B-boy from the Full Force Super Crew] to that area, you really have an appreciation for your parents now, that they came to America so that you can do what you do. You get to be a dancer as a career, but there was a sacrifice made there and you get to see that and embrace it.

And you know, that was my whole point for that particular special, but I also wanted to…when I was a kid growing up in the ‘80s as you know, especially living in like Washington [state], and here I am half white, half Filipino and and I always see like other ethnicities when they would say that they were something. Like my friend William would go, “I’m Korean,” everyone would always say something that was related to being Korean, like “Oh, my God, I love Korean barbecue.” If I had Chinese friends, “Oh, we love Chinese food.” Mexican friends, “Oh, I love tacos, man.”

But every time I was Filipino it was always like, “Oh, what’s that?” And then it would keep going on from that, like “Oh, what do you guys eat? Oh, really? Is it like Chinese food?” You know, I used to do this joke where I say that I used to get the worst compliments when I told people I was Filipino, it was like I’m Filipino and then people were like “Oh my God, I love orange chicken.” It’s because they didn’t know what Filipino was, right? And I would literally get those kind of compliments and that’s where that came from. So my whole point…oh, God I’m sorry, I’m talking a lot, man.

No problem.

I know how it felt when I was a kid and I would just hope if there’s a kid that’s in middle America that’s half-Filipino or even full Filipino and they’d say that they’re Filipino, at least maybe there’s someone out there that goes “Oh, yeah, like that one special I saw on Netflix. I saw it. Man, that was fun.” “Man, I didn’t know they speak English there.” “Oh, I want to try adobo [chicken], that jeepney was cool,” like that’s cool, man, you know what I mean? Just to have that identity and to be able to be proud of it and embrace it. And even if someone doesn’t see it and you can go “Oh, you should check out this Netflix special, Jo Koy, blah blah blah,” and that would be kind of cool, you know what I mean? It’s a win for me, it’s a win for my mom, it’s a win for Filipinos, and it’s just a time for us to celebrate.

I have another answer if you don’t mind.

No, go ahead.

My first Netflix special, Live from Seattle, I was 27 years into my career and I was putting up numbers everywhere. I was selling shows out in many cities and I thought that my hour was ready, and I remember me and my manager calling Netflix and my agent and we’re like “We’d love for Netflix to shoot this special, we’d love for it to be on Netflix. Before we go anywhere else we’d like it to be on Netflix,” and we did it like four or five times and they turned me down every single time, and we couldn’t even get them to come see me.

So me and my manager were just like, “We’ve got to shoot it ourselves,” and that’s what I did, man. I had to physically take out all my savings and I shot Live from Seattle, even though they said no. I’m just going to shoot it and then we’ll hand it to them. If they still say no then we’ll shop it around somewhere else. But I had to show Netflix that that special needed to be on Netflix, and thank God I gambled on myself because they bought it from me, even though they said no. We even told them we were shooting it and they still said “Hey, just to be clear, we’re saying no.” So there’s a lot of pressure, so when you watch Live from Seattle you know, you see me laughing and smiling but in the back of my head I’m going, “Fuck, I’m broke, man!” I was so stressed out on stage. My son was upstairs sleeping, I’m like, “Where the fuck is he going to sleep now? I’m so broke after tonight.”

It was that much of a struggle to get on Netflix, and I’m not shitting on Netflix; they changed my life. I had to work a little harder, yes. There was an obstacle that I had to jump over, that’s fine, but at least they finally bought it and they finally put it on and they showed the world who I was and if I didn’t gamble on myself this special would have never happened? I wouldn’t be able to do this.

That was why I told them I’d love to bring three other Filipino comics just to give them a little showcase, man. Five minutes, man, whatever it is, but I know how hard it was just for me to get in so this was my way of just like opening up the door slightly.

Was that the first time you had performed in the Philippines or had you performed there before?

No, that was like my third time. The first time was like 14 years ago when I opened for Russell Peters and that was my very first time going back, from like when I was there as a kid, so when I got off the plane I was like “Holy shit,” all these memories came back. And then the second time was me, and then the third time was this.

Did you find more pressure performing in front of that audience or did it feel more like home?

Wow, that’s a good question. I never had that one, man. No, I felt like I had to… Yeah, I guess there is pressure, you know what I mean? Because I got to show them that “Hey, I deserve it. I could make you guys laugh even here,” So yeah, there was pressure, with those cameras on and stepping up and making sure I’m still embracing and highlighting and entertaining at the same time. So yeah, that was a lot of pressure. I never really thought of that question.

That opening monologue took me like the longest time to write. It took me forever. Whereas if I were in the States I would have just ran up, but there I was really like detail and specifics and you know, I really wanted to make sure that I said the right things and I didn’t say it wrong. So yeah, there was pressure.

How many weeks before the live performance were you in the country doing the location stuff?

That was gun and run, man, like three days before I went on the live stage that’s what that was. I literally got off the plane, went to sleep, woke up and I was shooting.

What was the most logistically difficult of those shoots?

The market. The marketplace, that was hard. It’s hard because you know, you’re accustomed to a certain lifestyle when you live here and then reality sits in when you go to the market and that’s something I wanted to show. Then we went in there and I brought that other comic through the market and even he was like “Wow, man, that’s a cat right there. That’s a cat walking around the chicken, like holy shit,” but you know what? Hey, this is the other part of the world that we need to embrace and to understand and appreciate. So yeah, man, that was difficult. That was really, really difficult.

But it was also logistically difficult?

Oh, yeah, so hard. So hard, yeah. We had to be safe, you know what I mean?  I’m just going to tell you right now, it wasn’t in the safest part of the area, that’s not where tourists go. It’s very specific, you know, you had to be safe and not only that it was very loud, the smell was intense but yo, I’m glad we got to show it.

How did your producers or you or whoever persuade that restaurant to let your aunt and our sister cook in their kitchen?

It wasn’t hard, man. You know, I hate to brag, but it’s me. They love me out there, man. The Philippines loves me, so you know, they were all beautiful there, man. Everyone just wanted to work with me, and of course I had my aunt with me, my sister was there, so it was pretty cool. It was pretty cool to produce that segment.

Did that segment and the B-boy segment, done in the courtyard of a housing project, give you an appreciation for the kind of documentaries W. Kamau Bell does, what Anthony Bourdain did, what some of the other people did when they try to capture the spirit of a country visually?

You know, it’s just beautiful to just show how entertainment can you know, everyone embraces entertainment. We may not speak the same language and we may not be living in the same situations, but one thing we relate to together is the love for music and dance and that showed in that segment. The cool thing about Ronnie, the B-boy, he and I are friends for almost 20 years. We basically came up together out of Vegas. I used to do B-boy shows in Vegas where I’d put up 5 thousand dollars and B-boys would battle for it, so I know all those guys. That’s why I know the Jabbawockeez, that’s why I know Ronnie, I know all these B-boys love me.

These kids that you didn’t think would know who he was were the biggest fans, through YouTube or through social media, so it was just complete mind fuck. Holy shit, that’s where we’re at now because when I was a kid, are you kidding me? If it wasn’t on NBC it didn’t exist. But like look at this, man, through social media this guy, Ronnie, is like a God to these kids, like living in the poor situations but they couldn’t wait to walk up to him. All he did was sent out a Tweet and next thing you know they all came up to audition, like it was nuts, man. If I could just show that and if someone could get that, if someone in Kansas City watches this special and goes “Man, they sing and dance and speak English and understand American humor, and look at that food, it looks delicious, let’s go visit that next year,” then I won, you know what I mean? Then I won.

What was the most satisfying part of this the making of this special to you?

Oh, man, that’s fun. Thank you for asking this question because now I’m going to like, one would be Joey Guila. I don’t tell this story to too many people, but Joey has been battling so many things, and this is very personal but he’s had cancer, he’s battling something right now and you know, if you go to his Facebook page you’ll see that a few years ago it was looking really, really, really bad for him. I remember when I first met Joey it was like 14 years ago or something like that and he walked up to me at a comedy club and he goes, “You know, I always wanted to be a comedian but I didn’t think I could do it, but when I was doing my chemo I put BET’s ComicView on and you came on, and you talked about being Asian and that’s when I knew I could do standup.”

That pulled the heartstrings. So I always had a thing for Joey, like it was always there because I knew he was always battling something, right? And when he was going through something about, I think it was like a year and a half ago or a year ago, whatever it was, and I just hit him up and I just go “Hey, dude, I’m going to help you, you know what I mean? I’m going to help you and you’re going to get through this and I need you healthy because I want to take you to the Philippines and I need you to be on Netflix with me.”

So that was kind of like his motivation to get well because he was not doing well, man, and just seeing him light up and smile, you know…  In-between takes we had to be careful with him because he was still going through some stuff. So yeah, I don’t want to tell you personally what he has, you know, that’s something for him to tell you, but yeah, physically he was going through something so to see that big, giant smile on his face and all that, that was pulling strings with me, man. So we hugged big time. In fact I just called him yesterday and we were laughing, so yeah, that was one. That was the one that made me like I was so happy that he went up on stage because what he’s gone through, it’s just crazy.

Just before we leave, the story about your nickname, and how you thought your aunt called you “Jokoy” all your life…

Can you believe that, man?

You said you get that question every interview you’ve ever had so I think it’s cool that you finally figured it out what she was really saying.

It’s so crazy because I would make up shit because everybody was like “Hey, Jo Koy.: I mean, some people would actually Google my name, Jo Koy, and be like “Oh, in Tagalog it means ‘funny guy,'” and I’m like, “No, it doesn’t; I don’t know where you got that from but it’s just a nickname from my aunt.” And then finally I asked my aunt, “Where did you get ‘Jokoy’?” And she’s like, “I don’t call you that.” Like for real, this just happened. She’s like, “I call you Jo ko.” I’m like, “28 fucking years and you’re now telling me this? This whole time I’ve been saying Jo Koy, Jo Koy. Not once did you walk up to me and go no, it’s Jo ko.” The word “ko” means “my” and Jo, so my nickname was “My Jo,” that’s what my nickname is in Tagalog, My Jo, Jo Ko. Unfucking believable that I just found this out.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company.com, RollingStone.com, Billboard and elsewhere.

Stream Jo Koy: In His Elements On Netflix