#56 - Josh Johnston: Wiping My Feet at the Door

“You’re only the new kid in town once. I disagree with that. You’re
the new kid in town every six months because everyone has a short
memory.” - Josh Johnston.  Happy 2022, everyone! Born into a
theatre family, Josh Johnston has a perspective on the industry
fresh enough to start the new year right. One of the best things
Josh promotes is his use of boundaries, something we all can
implement more, especially since we’ve been so available thanks to
the use of social media and Zoom.  “Sometimes I think we all
need that space to decompress or find out Zen,” says Johnston. “I
don’t do yoga and I don’t meditate. So, mine is just getting away
from the phone and popping back into people’s lives when I’m
around. And it’s a big ask for a friend to just be cool with that.
I like wiping my feet at the door. I don’t like constantly being
‘on’ and having to go to sleep and wake up with my thoughts on what
I need to do to survive and be creative everyday.” Josh is a self
proclaimed superfan of Dear Multi-Hyphenate and can quote many of
the guests in previous episodes. He has a factual brain full of
memories, facts, and statistics. I’ve tried to get him on the
podcast before, but he’s declined until now, thanks to him entering
a part of his career where he is actively producing, writing, and
performing – especially now that his Radio Play Revival featuring
Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Chastain, Boyd Gaines, and more has been
released.  On this episode, we follow the themes of doing what
you know, understanding who you are, establishing boundaries to
protect yourself and your art, making an art out of a trade,
studying and applying craft, moving from coast to coast, and Josh’s
wild relationships with for now jobs – like working the National
Hot Dog Eating Championship. And students of the theatre listening
to this episode? There are a lot of good nuggets to take
away!  “I cannot sing Golden Age musical theatre eight times a
week,” says Johnston. “I would be putting hundreds of people at
risk. I’m wasting their time and their money and resources. There
are better people for that job than me… and I know that. There are
other things I can do.”  Josh Johnston’s Radio Play Revival
features great American actors performing great American works of
literature. Performed by both established and new-and-emerging
performers, musicians, and writers, Radio Play Revival pays homage
to the golden age of radio, in the now-second golden age of audio.
Josh Johnston is an actor and a writer, and now producer and
director. Onstage, Josh toured with The Acting Company in their
40th season (Hamlet; Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
(directed by John Rando)), and has worked regionally;
selected regional works include: The Merchant of Venice &
Henry VIII at Valley Shakespeare Festival in Connecticut, The
Cradle Will Rock in NYC (The Acting Company benefit at The Jacobs
Theatre), and 5 shows at The Ravinia Festival in Illinois,
including Passion, A Little Night Music (professional stage debut
back in 2001!), and Annie Get Your Gun, all 5 Ravinia shows
directed by Lonny Price. Josh is also a musician, playing bass at
various Duplex Cabaret Theatre shows downtown, and subbing in for
Billy Magnussen on guitar and vocals in Billy’s former band,
Reserved For Rondee, at Rockwood Music Hall in NYC. During the
pandemic, Josh moved to LA where he began pursuing work in TV and
film; he most recently played a supporting role in the film TO
LESLIE (post-production), directed by Michael Morris, and in the
past, has worked on Season 1 of the show Benders, on IFC. Josh
writes screenplays and TV scripts when he is not acting, because he
cannot dance or coach singers or wait tables. He’s bad at all 3 of
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