Comedian Josh Johnson Talks ‘The Daily Show,’ Specials and More | USAEMALL.com

“Every loop won’t always close, and I think that’s part of the fun of it, of what’s going to happen next,” Johnson said. “And if you’re too formulaic and your process is too stringent, then you lose that. You lose that connection with your audience and you lose that connection with your creativity.”

Fellow comics like Ronny Chieng and Ashley Gavin say Johnson is reinventing the traditional standup form — known for quick cuts, tight sets, repeated jokes — at a time when it seems impossible to hold viewers’ attention. “The internet traditionally is a short-form medium,” said Chieng, a fellow “Daily Show” correspondent. “So, the idea that you could release an hour and people would hang around and watch it every week, for standup comedy, he’s definitely ahead of the game in that sense.”

“It’s more than just raw talent or a skill that he’s practiced,” said Gavin, a host, with Johnson, of the podcast “What’s News With You.” “He is actually creating a genre, which is just as much why it’s successful. It’s really impressive.”

Many comedians have let the unpredictable algorithms of the internet dictate how they work, she added, referring to the social media-driven crowd work trend that many comics hopped on last year. “And now we’re seeing Josh do this really innovative thing and you’re like, ‘Hm, how do I as an artist keep up with this? What do I need to be doing?’”

So, where does Johnson go from here? He doesn’t necessarily see his future in a network sitcom or Hollywood films. (“I’ve had friends become bigger and bigger, get a real raw deal,” he said.) As for those who might consider his current tour a multicity campaign to one day host “The Daily Show,” Johnson said that he would be “very, very excited” to take on that role, but that he was content to keep learning from Stewart and the other correspondents.

Johnson isn’t playing coy; he said he just wants to avoid putting too many walls between himself and his audience. “I do think that as long as I am making a conscious effort to do things the way that they got you to the dance, then how can you fail, how can you not still be bringing quality when you keep putting that much intention into it?”