Jo Koy

“I always think about when I was a kid, and I didn't have anything, and now I get to see my son live a good life.”

“My dad's my biggest fan. When I went to college, my dad came into my life in full-on dad mode. I was doing comedy, and he was so excited for my comedy, whereas my mom wasn't. So we bonded through comedy.”

“I can't stop working!”

“I learned from my dad's mistakes. I think that's why I'm so into my son. I bring him lunch every day: McDonald's, Taco Bell, whatever junk food a kid likes, I will bring it for him. I've canceled gigs so I could be at moments for him. That wasn't a big thing for my dad.”

“Right around 11 or 12, when I saw Eddie Murphy's standup special 'Delirious,' and I taped it on a VHS tape - I think I watched it every single day. I lived and breathed Eddie Murphy for that whole year.”

“There's a lot of open mics, a lot of comedy clubs. Whatever money I could make was OK with me. As long as I could pay the rent, eat food, and tell jokes, doing it was good enough for me.”

“There's nothing more fun than seeing the things that you dreamed about when you were a kid come true. I'm headlining an iconic theater in New York City during the New York Comedy Festival. When you're starting off as a comedian, you don't think that's ever going to happen.”

“What makes me laugh is hearing the stuff about my son or the stuff about my mom. I was a big fan of Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy; they talked a lot about their moms and their kids. Those are the things that inspired me to do stand-up.”

“I was a kid, and I would watch standup comics do the 'Tonight Show,' and if Johnny Carson liked you, he'd wave you over to the desk; that pretty much meant you were about to be the most successful comedian in the country for the next few years.”

“Something about Floridians, man - they are good to me. I'm glad my comedy translates to them.”

“I love being a friend to my son. We go to the mall together. We shop. He picks out my clothes. We hang out. We go to different cities together. We like the same music. I think that's why he appreciates his mom and me so much - we treat him like a friend.”

“New York is always claiming East, and Los Angeles is always claiming West. It's in everything: acting, hip-hop, sports. But I love it. That rivalry makes you work harder.”

“I started in 1989. I was the booker, the promoter, the headliner. I wore all the hats.”

“I'm a Mariners fan! I'm from Seattle, so I'm all about the Mariners and the Seahawks.”

“Whatever I talk about onstage is just my story. My fan base is broad... We all have the same mom; it's just that ours has an accent.”

“Comedy is just an unspoken language. Everybody understands it. Funny is funny. When it's not funny, they'll let you know.”

“I always wanted to let people know I was Filipino, but I didn't want to go up on stage and make it so you wouldn't understand my jokes because you're white or black. I always wanted to let people know I was Filipino through my mom. That was always my goal. That way, everyone got it. You don't have to be Filipino to understand my mom.”

“The West Coast blew me up years ago. Ten years ago, I was already selling out five or six shows in a row in the West. Then all of a sudden, the Midwest, Chicago, Illinois, just embraced me so well.”

“For every stand-up comedian, Just for Laughs is our Super Bowl. Every comic in the world goes to Just for Laughs in Montreal. And they presented me with the Stand-Up Comedian of the Year award for 2018. This is my Oscar; this is my Emmy. That's my baby now.”

“I used to put flyers on cars in parking lots, anything to get people to come to my shows. I was always having to think outside the box, and even to this day, I still try and come up with creative ways to market my shows.”