Transmissions :: James Austin Johnson

About this episode

Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions with Jason P. Woodbury. This week on the show, comedian James Austin Johnson joins us to dive into the music nerd obsessions of his new comedy special, He'll Yeah. You've likely seen JAJ on the TV. He's known for portraying Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and occasionally, Bob Dylan, on SNL. But He’ll Yeah’s vignettes and on-stage footage find Johnson creating a more "indie rock" styled special—something deeply specific to his own life and interests. In other words, if you're coming for Donald Trump impressions, you're out of luck. But if you're one of the, to quote the special, "seven other people who know who David Fricke is," it's tailor-made for you. That signature blend of the genuine and the goofy is also on display in Johnson's music work. If you search him on your streaming service of choice, you’ll find some great Bob Dylan covers. Obviously, Johnson is a great impressionist, but he’s not so much aping Bob's signature vocal styles with these songs as much as he is genuinely inhabiting them. It all lands somewhere between earnest sincerity and all-out goofs—as does this conversation. We want to thank our Talkhouse compatriots T