If you haven't heard of Jon Lajoie, chances are you've been living the past two years without the internet or eyes. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Lajoie has enjoyed internet fame like no other. He has received numerous Youtube awards including #1 Most Subscribed Comedian (All-Time), and #1 Most Viewed (All-Time), just to name a few for his quirky songs that leave you laughing days later. From love-ballad style songs about stoned shenanigans, to satirically genius songs about women showing their goods, Lajoie has released hit after hit and garnered well over a million hits on almost all of his videos, in some cases even reaching the 30 million view plateau rarely achieved by the best of ring-tone rappers.
Fresh off the release of his debut album "You Want Some of This?" Lajoie was set to embark on a Cross-Canada tour that saw him launch from Fredericton, New Brunswick and continue out west. However, his tour was postponed after he was approached to star on the new FX series The League. And while he's excited to get to the East Coast, who can say no to a TV series headed by the Executive Producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm? No one. That's who.
Rodney: How long have you been involved in comedy?
Jon Lajoie: Not very long, about two and half years. Around July 2007. I didn't really know I wanted to get into comedy. I had taken an Acting and Theatre course earlier and I started trying to write sketch comedy, but it was hard as shit.
Rodney: Being from Montreal, did you feel the Internet was the only way to get noticed and build an English fan-base?
Jon: It wasn't that I was trying to build an English audience, it wasn't thought out. I just decided to buy a camera and I would just tape these sketches and send them out to friends. They liked it and everything, but then I started getting emails from Texas and people were saying you know "Jon, I like your stuff", and I just kept going.
Rodney: Do you think without the Internet and Youtube you could have achieved the same success?
Jon: No not at all, it wouldn't have happened. You know, when I was a kid I never had dreams of LA and being an actor. If it wasn't for the internet I'd probably be in my basement sitting on a stack of scripts trying to apply for little grants to put something on CBC.. That or be into porn or hard drugs. Or both.
Rodney: You've won many Youtube awards including Most viewed Comedian in Canada, as well as Most Subscribed all-time, just to name a few. Where do you get your influence from? Do you write the songs first, or do you come up with characters and write the song based around them?
Jon: I always wrote the song first. I would write the song, get in front of the camera and think, ok now I have to do a dance or something. Like in Everyday Normal Guy, I just wrote a song like a normal person would in the vein of like Wu-Tang Clan or Mob Deep then I got in front of the camera and just made it up. Like in the case of Show Me Your Genitals, I went out and bought that T-shirt, hat and shorts an hour before we shot the video. Then I thought to myself, I need to do some sort of a dance here. So I just fucked around and figured out that dance and it turned out well.
Rodney: Your sketches are both funny and relevant. Do you get positive feedback from them compared to your songs?
Jon: Depends, the internet people really like comedic songs and stuff. People like some of the commercials I've made and the sketches I have up, but some of those sketches are so old it's really just up there for people to watch. I have a bunch of sketch stuff I've got saved for the future when I've got time to pull it out. I love writing sketches, but on the internet I don't really have stuff that's 100% done, like when I started out I was really just fucking around to see what people would say.
Rodney: Your cross-Canada tour, "Jon Lajoie: Live as Fuck" was postponed due to your recent success in finding a role on the upcoming FX series "The League", but does your live act include sketches as well as songs?
Jon: What I do, is I try to mix it up, I have a few videos that I shot specifically for the live show. I play the songs that people know and do some of the sketches. I try to keep at least half of the live show to things that people have never heard, or seen on the Internet. I find that would be a little boring, because it's a lot more funny to see me do it in the context of a video, rather than me standing on a stage a lot of the time. I try to put together some new songs and some stand up. I do some new skits and bits and keep it fresh. There are no new characters, but for the most part, no one has really seen me crack a joke, so there's a lot of me up there too so that's different for people to see.
Rodney: On the topic of "The League", how did that all unfold? Did they come to you? Or did you go down there and demand a TV show?
Jon: This was actually really cool. I actually went down there, I heard a bunch of people down there were fans of mine. There was management and agents and stuff, I also met with Jeff Schaffer, who is the Executive Producer for Curb Your Enthusiasm and he said he was thinking about putting together this new show about fantasy football and a bunch of guys and he came to me and said "I have a character I wrote and he's really based on you, and we'd like to see you on the show". I kind of lucked out.
Rodney: Is it based on you, or a character you made?
Jon: It's actually based on me, the dude's like a stoner weirdo who plays guitar and performs at old folks homes and bars. So I get to do a lot of stuff that I do already, but on a show with a bunch of funny dudes, so it should be really good. We already shot the pilot, we're going to start shooting the show in a couple weeks. I get to do a lot of stuff that I'm known for which is great.
Rodney: Is this the first TV show you were on?
Jon: No, I was on a TV show back in Montreal but nothing that anyone outside of Quebec could have seen because it was a French language TV show, kind of like a soap opera.
Rodney: I presume they paid you with liquor and weed?
Jon: Yeah, basically, it was pretty low budget, they actually paid me in prostitutes, very low end prostitutes, I think we got like four prostitutes a month or something like that.
Rodney: Can you explain your role in "The League" Are you writing? Or are you strictly acting?
Jon: It's great because it's semi-improvised. We don't get a script, it's kind of like "Curb Your Enthusiasm" in that sense. We get an idea of what's going on in the scene and I get to bring my own ideas to the table. Whether they take them or not, I'm not in charge of that. So far, when we shot the pilot they were really open to that, I wrote a song for it that will be in it. They kept a lot of the stuff that I did in it, so I don't get a writer's credit, but I get to put what I think is funny in the mix and take it from there.
Rodney: Will the pilot be available online? Or will it be airing on FX?
Jon: It's actually going to be on FX this fall, it will be starting late October or early November.
Rodney: You just released your first album "You Want Some of This?" Did that help at all in getting you this role?
Jon: No, I really just wanted to have something my fans to have with my songs on it. I never planned on releasing an album when I started all of this but then after 15 songs and 15 videos I figured I'd go remix it and re-master it in the studio so that when people ask me "Hey! Where can I get all your songs?" I can point them in this direction to get it. Before the album, my songs were all over the place on mp3 download sites, which was fine, but people couldn't get everything at once.
Rodney: It makes a good gift for your grandmother too.
Jon: Yeah, I think she'd really appreciate the 2 Girls One Cup song.
Rodney: How has the feedback been for the album?
Jon: It's been good, I released it myself on my record label called Normal Guy Productions which is basically my bedroom. We put it out on iTunes, we didn't have any money to advertise or promote, but it's selling well, and consistently. It's not beating Justin Timberlake, but it's doing really decent for putting it out ourselves.
Rodney: I saw you just released the new "Radio Friendly Song" on Youtube. Will you be releasing new material while you're working on The League?
Jon: Oh yeah. I'm never going to stop putting new stuff on the internet, because regardless of what I'm doing, the internet is the place where I can be uncensored and unfiltered. It's really me coming up with everything, I'm in control and I edit them and shoot them and record the songs. I'll never let go of the internet.
Rodney: You've been featured on FunnyOrDie.com - Do you foresee any future projects with any of them?
Jon: I've sat down with a few of those guys and we like each other's work. There's nothing specific in the works. I've worked with them, and they tell me they like working with me. We don't have anything planned right now, but we'll see.
Rodney: You may have been asked this before, but have you ever watched the sun go down, perhaps even while the World was spinning 'round?
Jon: I've actually never been asked that.. Yeah I get pretty deep and I think about the universe and how I'm connected to it.. Then I eat a lot of chips and fall asleep naked.
Rodney: Which leads me to the question on everybody's mind. How high were you when you when you wrote "High As Fuck"?
Jon: It's going to be disappointing! I actually wasn't high. I was just recalling all of the times that I was high. Because I'm not a social smoker. I'm the kind of guy that, when I'm walking my dog, it's all good, but just the idea of going into a store to get something and face another human being always freaks me out. When I'm high I can't write anything, I just sit and watch The Incredible Hulk and eat peanut butter on toast with a bit of honey on it. I'm not productive when I'm stoned.
Rodney: So that's your go-to munch?
Jon: Man! When you get high, put some peanut butter on toast and put some honey on it and when you're eating it you'll think "I can't believe they don't serve this in restaurants! It's so good!"
Rodney: Your tour kicks off on the East Coast in December, how pumped are you?
Jon: I can't wait. I can't wait to get back in Canada. I love my Canadian fans. Every time I get back into Canada, the support I get is wicked. I haven't been on the East Coast yet. I've been trying to get out there for the longest time, so it will be sweet to get out there and party with some Maritimers. You guys party hard out there. If for whatever reason I have to postpone my tour again, just know shits going really well for me.
You can pick up Jon Lajoie's debut album "You Want Some of This?" on iTunes and check him out at www.jonlajoie.com or www.youtube.com/jonlajoie and enjoy hours of uninterrupted hilarity. Make sure you tune in to check out The League on FX this fall!
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