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" When people didn't really know who I was, and I would get on stage, they would be distracted by what I looked like, so I would have to dumb myself down, in a way, for people to feel safe to laugh. "

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" You don't want to let people down, and that's so hard because you're never going to please everybody. There's always going to be someone that's a naysayer. "

Anjelah Johnson

Someone

You

Down

" One of my best friends growing up was Vietnamese, and he and his mom would teach me how to say certain things so I could impress my nail girls. Then the nail girls would teach me how to count to 100 and basic things like 'Thank you' and 'You're welcome.' It's funny, because any accent that I do now always turns into Vietnamese. "

" There's been roles that I have turned down. There's no rule book or handbook... It's just... whatever I'm comfortable with. "

" I've been doing the Vietnamese nail lady impressions since my mom first took me to get my nails done when I was 12. "

" I went to L.A. to become an actress, and I started from the ground up. I worked as an extra, and then I started taking this joke-writing class because it was free. I didn't want to be a comedian, but I was like, 'Free education? Yeah, I'll take a class.' "

" It's always nerve-wracking when people say they look up to you or that you're a good role model. It's such a double-edged sword, because you realize you've been put on this pedestal, and you have to make sure that you don't do anything to get torn down. "

" I think people know what they're getting with my name, because they've seen my specials on Netflix. "

" I live my life not to please my pastor or my church or fellow Christians. I live my life according to my own convictions and morals and core values and principles, and a lot of times, that's not going to add up to other Christians. "

" People want to call me racist for doing the Bon Qui Qui character, and I'm like, 'Look, Bon Qui Qui is a representation of a hood chick. That's it.' There are lots of hood chicks out there: some are black, some are Mexican, some are Salvadorian, and some are white. "

" One of the first jokes I wrote was this nail salon bit that ended up blowing up on YouTube. That's kind of what propelled me into standup. "

Anjelah Johnson

First

Jokes

" I do a joke in my stand-up where I say I'm a Christian, but I'm not a Christian comedian. I think that's definitely how I see my acting. I'm an actor who happens to be a Christian. "

" Don't try to be anyone else. Don't try to emulate what someone is doing. Play to your strengths. "

" People usually want to show me their impression of me, which is always awkward. "

Anjelah Johnson

Always

Awkward

" My goal's always to connect and relate to my audience. I want them to leave my show feeling like they got to know me better - not only that, but like we could be friends. I want people to leave going, 'Oh my gosh, I could totally hang out with her!' "

" I'm a very observational storyteller, and I'm always relational - a lot of stories stem from relationships, whether it's me with my husband, me with my mom or my siblings. "

" There's a joke that I do where I make fun of myself for being bow-legged, and I compare myself to a camel and how a camel walks and sits, and that has become a joke that people - when I deliver that joke, people are in tears. "

" My stand-up is clean; it's not too edgy. I've played it safe since the beginning. "

" I never thought I was going to be a comedian. "

" I'm from San Jose, CA, which is very diverse, and I grew up around a lot of different types of people. "

" I've realized that I can never not do the nail salon joke, and I will have to talk about Bon Qui Qui for eternity. "

" I like to tell stories and relate to people and get everybody having a good time. I don't ever want to be in a situation people feel the need to tell me their opinion. So I stay away from any kind of material that would cause somebody in the audience to shout me their opinion. "

" A majority of Bon Qui Qui is my little brother, who is ghetto fabulous. He has no filter whatsoever. He just says what's on his mind. "

" Don't try to be anybody else, because that's what I do. I do me. I'm not trying to impress anybody. I'm not trying to please my pastor at church. I'm not trying to even please my mom, to be honest. "

Anjelah Johnson

Trying

Church

" I love sharing my life with people. "