Skip to content
Promotional art for Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents: Tommy Johnagin
Cover image credit:

Source

Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents

Tommy Johnagin

Comedy Central · 2014 · 30 min

Strict, economical joke writing centered on everyday domestic friction.

Tommy Johnagin delivers tight, economical joke writing in his 2014 set for Comedy Central’s The Half Hour. He works as an autobiographical storyteller, but strips away the self-indulgence in favor of strict joke density. The material relies on domestic premises. He walks the audience through the friction of explaining iTunes to his mother, the awkwardness of shopping for lingerie, and the distinct error of getting drunk right before his daughter was born.

Filmed at the Royale in Boston, the performance captures Johnagin at an active point in his career. He was a late-night regular who had placed second on Last Comic Standing and was actively fielding sitcom development deals from multiple networks. The set functions as a concentrated showcase of the straightforward, highly polished stand-up that kept him working consistently through the decade.

The set list

6 bits
  1. Teaching his mother to use technology and dealing with iTunes

    Explaining why calls to his mother are rare due to the difficulties of dealing with a parent trying to adapt to the internet age

  2. Dating an older woman

    Loving the relationship but experiencing fears and catching himself using her older sayings and phrases

  3. Arguing with his girlfriend's friend on Thanksgiving

    Observing that everyone should normally be on the same side when it comes to pedophiles

  4. Getting a Ryan Gosling-hot waiter at a restaurant with his girlfriend

    Experiencing conflicted thoughts over how attractive the server is

  5. Buying his girlfriend lingerie

  6. Accidentally getting drunk prior to the birth of his daughter

How it plays

About
technology and parents, dating an older woman, relationships, parenting

Backstory

Featured in Season 3 of Comedy Central's 'The Half Hour' (later titled 'Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents'). Johnagin turned down an offer to do a full one-hour special in favor of a half-hour to avoid giving away his entire touring act.

Details

Released
Taped
Royale Theatre, Boston
Runtime
30 min
Where
Comedy Central
Topics

If you liked this