Anjelah Johnson:  God Is Smiling Down

Many “seek fame or they seek money or always material things.”  Anjelah, however, believes that if they “could seek God first. . ."

By Paul Turse “Samurai Raider” 1/07/08

Many fortunate and successful people ascribe their success to a beneficent, divine force—an external power that many call God.  That showering with divine radiance is often explained by way of personification in the expression, "God is smiling down."

For Anjelah Johnson, rising standup comic and new MADtv cast member, this belief has been with her throughout her life.  From the time she was just a tot doing impromptu shows for her family to now, Anjelah has believed that a power has guided her steps from her home to the standup comedy stage and to TV, where on Nov 10, 2007, she made her debut on MADtv.

Does this talented young comic believe that God is smiling down on her?  “Oh yeah, definitely, he's totally smiling down,” San Jose homegirl Anjelah, responded to the question at a December 20, 2007, interview in the lobby of the San Jose Improv in San Jose, CA.  “He's been smiling down on me.  And I've just been following, looking straight at that smile, focusing on it and just following in his footsteps,” the personable five-foot-three, twenty-five-year-old explained.

Although she has had formal training as a speech and communications major, Anjelah’s theatrical roots can be traced back to childhood, where her natural inclination for spontaneity first emerged.  “It was like we were at my cousin's house.  We had a large living room, and we would just come out from the back room into the living room.  And just do things. . . The living room was my first stage,” she declared.  And, of course, her first audience was made up of her relatives.

Maybe this is why she relates to her audiences as though they were family and always seems so relaxed  Also, if a performers can feel as though they are she is standing in front of family, this is a good way to control stage fright and to remain relaxed.  Indeed, Anjelah always seems to act as though she is at home on stage.

It was in her home that Anjelah discovered not only her dramatic base but also her spiritual foundation, which guides her life both on and off the stage.  

“I think everybody does comedy for a different reason.  A lot of comics have broken backgrounds that they come from. But I personally come from a place of joy, and that’s where my source comes from.  That’s where my laughs and my jokes come from.”

Perhaps, this is the reason that Anjelah is able to avoid vulgar and sexually-oriented material.  "I don't talk like that in my everyday life,” Anjelah explained, “so there is no need for me to bring it on stage.  I just bring me to the stage, but exaggerate it a little so the person in the back row can see it. But I don’t use foul language in my daily life, so there is no reason to use it on stage." 

While Anjelah displays a comical side, she also demonstrates a spiritual side.  One inspirational thought from the Bible that guides her life is Phil 4:13:  “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  In fact, she signs her pictures by accenting her signature with the Biblical verse, as if to remind her fans of where her success comes from and to inspire them to follow the Christian way. 

Anjelah has very strong opinions regarding goal attainments, noting that her philosophy is epitomized in the following verse:   "Seek thee first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you."  Anjelah explained that is essential for people in the entertainment field to understand this concept, for many “seek fame or they seek money or always material things.”  Anjelah, however, believes that if they “could seek God first, He'll supply the rest and He'll bring the rest.”

Seeking God, of course, means to strive to better oneself not only as a performer but also as a person.  As performers improve themselves physically and spiritually, they should also be polishing their craft by getting at the essence of their comedy.  Artists whose sketches come from real life experiences work constantly to develop their powers of observation.  And Anjelah is no exception.  “I'm very observational,” she noted, confirming that aspect of her comedy.  “Everything I may talk about is something that’s happened in my life that I’ve observed, that I’ve noticed the way certain people do certain things.  The way I do certain things.  So everything that I say is [based on that].  My whole bit, my whole routine is very observational.” 

Many comedians feel that they have to go out of their way to satisfy audiences.  However, Anjelah does not make that desire a primary goal.  “I don't really care if it satisfies people.  It just satisfies me,” she said with a laugh—that is, what I say makes me laugh.  That's what makes me laugh, and that’s what I talk about.”

While this attitude might sound a little self-serving, it is important that any artist strives to satisfy an inner need first before worrying about others.  One might recall Polonious’ advice to his son in Hamlet:  “This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day, thou can’st not then be false to any man.”  Now, it would follow that before comedians can make others laugh, they must be able to feel deep inside the true emotion. Anjelah believes that if the material makes the comics themselves laugh, there is a better chance that the routines will make their audiences laugh. 

This approach also helps to make their comedy, especially ethnic-oriented, more relatable to others because the entertainer is sharing in the experience, not merely just telling a story.    

"Oh yeah, definitely, it’s relatable.  Because I can relate to you and your culture, and as soon as I even call you[audience member] out, you are laughing because it's so true and you relate to it.  So it brings familiarity with what I'm talking about.”  When Anjelah picks out a member of the group to have some fun with, it is not like harassment, but more like being roasted by a good friend, and not being deprecated by an enemy.   "If you haven’t heard your ethnicity, just wait five minutes, and I'll talk about you," she exclaimed with a devilish smile.  

An important aspect of some comedy is that it is supposed to have an instructional and constructive mission.  In some of Anjelah’s sequences, she impersonates how pickup approaches seem to go with the ethnic territory, but she is not always so compassionate toward these characters, especially when she deals  with those  pickup artists who try to woo a young  lady by virtue of their athletically mobile lips and animalistic sucking sounds.

When audiences laugh at these individuals, there might be a guy in the audience who thinks that this approach is

“right-on cool,”  but when he sees an image of himself  illuminated and reflected in the footlights, he might realize what an obnoxious slob he really is and, hopefully, modify his behavior and learn to have more  respect for women in the future.    

Despite her humorous chastising of boorish men, Anjelah does not believe that her style of ethnic comedy is divisive.   Rather, when people see the commonality of problems, from race to race, gender to gender, they see a universal view of life.  Regardless of an audience’s ethnic background, the combination of true emotion and feelings displayed by the universal characters she creates empathy with between them and the audience.

Comedy should definitely bring people of all races together, Anjelah believes, as a universal sense of humanity is revealed in her comic sketches. While the foibles of one particular group are depicted, another group looks deep inside and sees a reflection of their own social or racial stratum, and the universality of humanity is brought to light.  Regardless of the audience members’ ethnic backgrounds, they can relate.  Certainly, if only Greeks could respond to My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the film would not have been the hit that it was.

Comedy, however, was not Anjelah’s primary reason for leaving the Silicon Valley area and heading for Hollywood.  “I just fell into it [comedy],” she explained.  While she has a natural penchant for comedy, she has already been in some serious drama.  “I was on the Shield, and I can’t wait to do more of it.   That’s what I set out to do originally when I moved to LA was to act.” 

It seems that more comic actors have made the transition to drama more readily than the other way around.  "Oh, definitely, you look now at a lot of comics  that are doing a lot more serious stuff, like Adam Sandler, and Jamie Foxx winning an Oscar—hello-o!  A lot to comics are definitely doing [a lot of serious material], she noted.

Based on this fact, the future looks optimistic for Anjelah.  However, there is a more tangible reason that the transition to serious acting might be easy for Anjelah, and this is that her brand of comedy is actually acting and creating characterization, not merely being oneself and spouting an often-unrelated series of jokes. 

When she moves from character to character, there does not seem to be much of a break, and she sustains one characterization as she segues into the next.  And one theory about comedy is that to make it work, the comedian often has to be sincerely serious in order to make the contrasting comic emotions seem spontaneous, whereas a dramatic actor does not need to be funny first in order to be serious.  While it is a bit premature to analyze Anjelah’s dramatic ability, there is ample material available to assess the nature of her comedy, which seeks to create a bond within the audience. 

One of her characterizations is the Mexican mom who has a knack for spanking kids, everybody's kids when they misbehave, characteristic of Mexican moms, Anjelah notes.  In the scene, the mom chastises a miscreant kid by giving him a good wallop on the behind.  Before the kid can run and tell his own mother, the mom yells out, "Hey lady, I hit your kid.  I did you a favor!”  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCjeDwLvOtU)

There is no intent here to degrade the mom for her actions, for it  would seem that many in the audience would applaud the mom's actions, especially the older generation, who remember back when they were children and when any adult would discipline  them and they would fearfully behave.  Furthermore, they would not dare run home and tell their  parents, for they would get it worse at home.  While the spanking of some strange child is an exaggeration for dramatic effect, the skit recalls the days when children were trained to be respectful of all adult, a dying tradition that that Mexican mom upholds in her own courageous way.  We do not laugh with ridicule at the mom, we laugh because some little punk got his comeuppance and that this kid might watch out later and be more behaved in the future.   (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCjeDwLvOtU)

In another sketch, Anjelah, who was brought up in a Mexican home, recounts the time she informed her mom and dad that she had gotten a part in a TV show as an extra.  In this episode, the viewer sees that universal division in families:  the idealistic mother and the realistic father.  The mom is ecstatic that her daughter will be an "es-stra," although she might not be fully aware of what an extra is.  And does not seem to care.  She is proud of her  daughter.  The father, on the other hand, cross-examines to find out just what an “es-stra” does.  When Anjelah walks, by way of example, across the room and says nothing, the father erupts, questioning the rationale for spending thousands of dollars on a college education just so his daughter can be an extra.  He then ironically concludes with the voice of reason.  "You tell them to give you some “es-stra” money, so they can pay for college, “es-stra.”   There is no disrespect or ill will intended against her father.  It is just a slice-of-life that many have gone through in their own family—the reaction they received when they wanted to chase a dream.  Mommy, the bright beacon of idealism, and daddy, the harsh foghorn of reason.

Then there is Tammy the Nail Salon Girl, perhaps the most famous (or notorious) of Anjelah’s creations.  “Tammy” is the American name of the apparently Vietnamese manicurist featured in the sketch.  While some might look at the scenario “Visit to an International Nail Salon” as a putdown, a derogatory view of Asians or nail salons, especially the many run by Vietnamese, some audiences have a different yet insightful perspective.  In Anjelah’s sketch, Tammy, a savvy salesperson is able to use a little flattery and her powers of persuasion to get her client to purchase a few more products, which the customer might not actually want or need, along with the basic manicure.  Tammy is just an example of an enterprising young woman making the best of the American way of life.  The Tammys of the world must be doing something right, must know their craft, or else they would not be so successful, and patrons would not be coming back again and again.  Indeed, there is nothing deceitful about Anjelah’s Tammy.  In fact, the extra services will certainly enhance the looks of the patron. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsWrY77o77o)

Compare Tammy to, say, an unscrupulous car salesperson.  Many can recall being persuaded to purchase a rust warranty for their new car, only to learn, after reading the new car manual, that the manufacturer already provides a six-year guarantee.  Most won't go back to that dealer but they will go back to Tammy. 

Some bloggers and their readers have indicated disapproval of the fact that during the sequence when Tammy talks to her co-workers, apparently criticizing the fact that the patron has complained about the manicure, Anjelah does not always use real Vietnamese, but often relies on gibberish. It is, however, the often a singsong twang, an accentuation, that endears the audience to both Anjelah and Tammy.  The main point, though, is that real Vietnamese would do nothing to enhance the scene.  The audience more than likely does not know the difference. If there happen to be speakers of Vietnamese in the audience, real language will spoil the mystery.  In fact, that's the point of the scene: the patron does not know what the workers are saying.  She can only guess.  Even if some audience members have never been to a nail salon, they might recall, if they were second-generation, how their parents purposely never taught them the native tongue, so the parents could talk and the kids would not know what they were saying.  Of course, like the customer in the salon, the kids often thought the worse.

However zany Anjelah’s Tammy might be, the fact is that audiences love the creation.  In fact, Tammy could be a regular stock character for MADtv.  Fans would surely enjoy seeing her in different scenarios.  Can you picture Tammy going to buy a used car from a salesperson who believes he is going to take advantage of her, but has the tables turned on him.  In fact, he does not make the sale, but ends up buying certificates for a manicure and a special gel.

Bottom line is that when a comic routine is designed to put people down and showing disrespect, with the intention of spreading ill will, then such a presentation is not comedy. However, when the comedian creates monologues that leave most audience members with a favorable rather than a negative attitude toward the characters created, despite the idiosyncrasies depicted, it then qualifies as comedy, and this is the undeniable talent that Anjelah possess.

How far Anjelah will go in her career—as a comedian or a dramatic actor, is uncertain, but one thing is sure, she will go as far as God will lead her, not seeking fame or fortune, but fulfilling her mission in life:  to make people experience all the emotions, funny or sad, that make up the human experience.

Moreover, based on her remarkable success so far, it is not hard to believe that somewhere beyond the stars that God is smiling down on Anjelah.  In fact, God might even be looking down and laughing.