Meet Josh Fournier

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Josh Fournier. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Josh below.

Josh, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

Being a Comedian who is Native and performing in front of people who aren’t native has always been a goal of mine. There’s obviously an avenue for native comedians to pursue comedy on what we call “The Frybread Trail” which is cool but I’ve always looked up to comedians who always were different. That being said allot of line ups I’m apart of consist of me being “the only one in the room who looks like me” and at first it was sort of Daunting but being the only one who looks like me has always been sort of how I grew up. Growing up I hung out around allot of Hispanics so I was always the odd one out. But I think being the only one who looks like me does nothing but benefit me now. Getting in front of a new crowd who, often times, never seen a native before. It provides a unique opportunity to dispute stereotypes and prejudgment. Learning to be effective by being able to make people who don’t look like you, have the same experience you do or come from a place like you do is ultimately how I’ve been able to be successful in this industry.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My name is Josh Fournier, I’m a Comedian from the Navajo Nation. As a huge fan of comedy, one of the most exciting things that has happened to me is working with allot of comics I look up too. Such as Dave Attell. Also being able to travel the country and give a little insight to being a Native in today’s world is fun and the audience seems to enjoy it. That’s the thing about comedy everyone can laugh at things they normally wouldn’t have even know existed all while learning something new about the culture.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The skills and qualities I think were most impactful are the ability to learn from your failures. In comedy there’s allot of failures or “Bombing” as we say. But that’s the only way to get better is to constantly bomb. Also stepping out of your comfort zone. Allot of comics tend to only perform for “their audience” which means performing for people who look like them only. Also focusing on the basics like writing. Everyone process for writing is different but I do like the old pen and paper. It helps with knowledge retention. That also translates into advice id give to someone early in their journey. Write write write. Never stop writing. It’s very important to always be coming up with new ideas and premises. It’s part of the fun.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

Performing for folks who wanna laugh. Seriously I believe I have the best job in the world. Getting folks from all walks of life in one room, having a moment and improving moods and taking people away from the troubles of their everyday life, there’s no better feeling. So knowing I only had a decade of life left, I would want to spend it making people laugh. They say that “if you love something you’d do it for free” which you do allot in comedy. Pay me for sure but even if I wasn’t getting paid, I still love doing this. So spending the last 10 years of my life doing this would be a good life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Joshfournier.com
• Instagram: Savage0ne

Image Credits

📸 Mindy Tucker

IG @withreservation