Anjelah Johnson-Reyes is on the hazardous heels of recording her seventh comedy special. Her memories of growing up in San Jose are sharp and homespun, but within the guarded thorny walls of stand-up comedy, the tales of Johnson-Reyes’ focus, drive and meteoric acceleration to the top floor of the comedy tower are legendary.
The ex-Raiders cheerleader, creator of the MADtv breakout character Bon Qui Qui, OG YouTube viral sensation, author and recording artist is, in person, as sweet as Pay de Queso—and funny beyond a doubt.
Currently, Johnson-Reyes sells out theaters around the country, with an upcoming show at the San Jose Civic. And her origin story is so informed and colored by her hometown that she can’t help but talk fondly of her time growing up here.
That’s How We Do It!
The 1990s in San Jose were, using a well-worn trope, a different time. It was the rise of the dubious moniker Capital of Silicon Valley. The San Jose Arena became the SAP Center, and the Sharks started shaving the ice and body checking opponents with abandon. As the city grew, it was the beginning of dealing with urban expansion and all that comes with it. But for Johnson-Reyes, it was a dreamy childhood.
“I come from a huge Mexican family, lots of aunts, uncles and cousins,” Johnson begins, sipping coffee in a Starbucks in her new home of Nashville. “My grandma was very active in our childhood, you know, walking us to school, watching us while my mom was at work or cooking for us.”
Johnson-Reyes would see her father on the weekends, but was raised in a single-mom household. “I grew up in a great neighborhood. Lots of kids, and lots of neighborhood friends. My mom was the neighborhood mom. All the kids came to my mom. Even if we weren’t home, they would come to our house and my mom would let them in and feed them. We lived right next door to our elementary school,” Johnson-Reyes begins.
It’s hard to imagine, but in the early ’90s in San Jose, children would walk around neighborhoods without helicopter parents monitoring their every move. “It was a time where it was safer, and we could just walk to the corner store,” Johnson-Reyes recalls. Often walking hand-in-hand with her sister to the liquor store where they would spend their saved-up money on Laffy Taffy, Picante Corn Nuts, Charleston Chews, tall cans of Nestea, Jolly Ranchers and Clearly Canadian Cherry sparkling water.
Her family imbued her with a firm work ethic that would serve her throughout her career. Johnson-Reyes got her work permit at 14 and went to work at Great America. She spent a year at Henry T. Gunderson High School, commuting daily by light rail. “I would go from North San Jose to South San Jose every morning on the light rail. I remember stopping downtown on the light rail and it was always a little rough. It still is, but that’s where the stores were,” Johnson-Reyes admits.
Buying her Dickies downtown at the now closed Workman’s Emporium, the budding teenager had no idea, when she grew up, that she would be headlining and selling out multiple shows at the San Jose Civic less than a mile away.
Totally Fancy
Johnson-Reyes started Pop Warner cheerleading at eight years old, right around the time that her parents divorced. It was not only her first time doing a performance publicly, it was an early prelude to her eventual work with the Oakland Raiders cheerleading squad.
Picked from hundreds of cheerleading hopefuls, Johnson-Reyes tried out not only to perform at her highest level, but also to learn. “They didn’t just teach us to be sexy. They taught us to be professional, and I’m very grateful for all of that. I’ve brought it into my career now. Everything from how to pose for a photo, to how to conduct yourself in the public professionally.
“We were taught when going to a banquet how to properly use the silverware. Now granted, we only got paid $80 a game, so it was more of a hobby. All the cheerleaders had full time jobs,” Johnson-Reyes laughs.
Johnson-Reyes has always had a plan, a vision for her future. She tried out for the Raiders’ cheerleading squad as a platform to test if she should pursue the entertainment industry or not. “I always knew I would only do it for one year, and then move to Hollywood to pursue acting. We went to the Super Bowl that year. It was an amazing year to pick to be a Raiderette! I came home from the Super Bowl and the very next week, I packed up my room into my station wagon and I drove to LA. I was there for 20 years,” Johnson-Reyes says.
In LA, away from her home, Johnson-Reyes was first cast as an extra on Friends. Going to cattle calls and undergoing the rigors of auditions and rejections, the aspiring actress began to understand the ins and outs of life in Hollywood. Which meant networking and finding a person who knew a person, who found a person who had an agent who might be looking for somebody new. And then, constant formidable hustle to achieve the goal by any means necessary.
“If I knew somebody was going to an audition that called for Latinas, aged 20-25, I would crash it. I’d show up, put my name on a list and get called in. They would want to know who my agent was. I didn’t have an agent, so I would write down my friend’s agent’s name.
“That’s how I booked my first national commercial. They were looking for Latinas. And my friend, who had got the audition from her agent, well, we look very similar. And so I crashed the audition and I ended up booking it,” Johnson-Reyes chuckles.
The Homecoming Church
It’s a mistake to think that there aren’t churchgoing actors in Hollywood, Johnson-Reyes was one. And it was through the church that her life took a radical turn towards her inevitable career. “I was going to a church in Hollywood that offered classes,” Johnson-Reyes starts. “I was in their acting class on Tuesday nights. We would play improv games in acting class that were really funny. Next I took a joke writing class. I had no desire to be a comedian. It was just another free class.”
One of her earliest monologues riffed on a nail salon. That character impression, Bon Qui Qui, would become her rocketship out of the trenches of open mics. But not yet.
Technically Not Stalking
Johnson-Reyes pivoted from acting auditions and entered into the seedy world of open mic comedy. The world of stand-up comedy is, and always has been, a man’s world. It’s not fair, it’s not right, but that’s the undisputed truth. Add to that, a lot of creeps hang around sign up sheets. The odds were stacked against her success. Luckily, for Johnson-Reyes, and for us, help was on the way.
You Got A Friend
In the early ‘90s, comedian DJ Cooch, had already established himself in Los Angeles, working Latino nights, building a crew and being a guardian of the scene. Cross-over comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias hadn’t even started yet, and “Latino nights” were sometimes the only shows on which Mexican-Americans could get booked. In the already insulated world of stand-up comedy, people of color still had to fight to get on a mic.
“Anjelah came into the circuit years ago, man,” DJ Cooch says in-between touring the world and getting to perform on a cruise line. “I used to run, or be part of this crew, that did Latino night over at The Improv in LA. Friday night Latino show. Angie just started showing up and I saw that she had a lot of potential. First of all, she’s a very pretty girl. So it was kind of that big brother syndrome immediately,” DJ Cooch laughs.
Don’t get it twisted. Among all the misanthropes, misogynists and morons that flock to to open mics every night of the week, as has been the case for decades, there are humans who are more than gatekeepers. Some comics just shine with humanity and want to raise up other comics that they find funny, or at least see potential in. Not for gain. Not for future repayment, just because it’s the right thing to do.
“I saw talent. I saw that she had something that was just very, very, cool. You could see her character already. Basically when you start, you’re barely developing your character. I’m not saying she was fully formed when she started, because it took her years to find her real place, just like every comic,” DJ Cooch says, dropping knowledge.
“Acting was her thing. She said that she wanted to be an actress. And I remember having a conversation with her. I’m like, that’s cool. But if you’re going to be a comic, you got to be a comic. It’s two worlds, but comedians are actors. When we’re up on that stage, we’re portraying this character that we want to be in real life. That’s a fact. Because we’re not ourselves when we’re on that stage.”
2004
Still coming up the ranks himself, DJ Cooch was working his own way to headliner status. And in 2004, it wasn’t about social media numbers—Johnson-Reyes today has 3.3M TikTok followers, and 1.6M on Instagram—it was about real life networking which meant being out seven nights a week. And, getting to know all the promoters that run shows and putting yourself on the road. It was the only way.
“I had my little crew, my little team of people that I take out on the road,” DJ Cooch recalls. “And Angie was like a little sis. I’m always gonna help her out in some way. I’m not gonna let nobody take advantage. Cause trust me when I tell you, she had a lot of comics just like, ‘Girl, I’ll take you on the road.’ I was more than a bodyguard. A body guard will just whoop your ass. But a big brother will kill you,” DJ Cooch laughs.
Johnson-Reyes came prepared to these lo-fi comedy shows with little more than her church class bit about nail salons. “I remember the night that she filmed it. I saw it. I was there,” DJ Cooch recalls.
In 2007, YouTube was still finding its feet in the social media upheavals. It was the SNL digital short Lazy Sunday that had really propelled YouTube’s visibility a few years earlier. And Johnson-Reyes church story, which became known as the Nail Salon video found immediate traction. “Angie called me a couple days after it went up, telling me it was getting tremendous views. And before we knew it, it was over a million. I still say she is one of the first comedians to ever go viral on YouTube,” DJ Cooch says.
Then the opportunities began to roll in. The only challenge in all of this, with Johnson-Reyes getting offers to headline around the country, was that she still only had a limited amount of comedy material under her belt. “I didn’t have the material to sustain an hour-long show,” Johnson-Reyes admits. “So what happened is I would have 8 openers go up and do 10 minutes or 5 minutes. Just taking up the time and I would close the show with like 25 minutes because that’s all the material that I had.”
“DJ Cooch became one of my really close friends during that time and he acted as my booking agent when I didn’t have anyone. Anytime somebody tried to reach out and try to book me for something, I would give Cooch’s e-mail and he would negotiate it for me. Just so I looked professional, you know? He brought me on the road with him. My first road gig was in Arizona. We all drove to Arizona because he was headlining a casino out there and he brought me to open. I’m very grateful for that,” says Johnson-Reyes with heartfelt energy.
Mahalo & Goodnight
“2007 was the year that changed my life,” Johnson-Reyes says, the enthusiasm still evident. “The video came out in January and by February it had 4 million views. By March, I had met with all the networks, with production companies and with different agents. I met with all kinds of people. I ended up getting an agent and manager. By May, I had auditioned for MADtv and booked MADtv, and then by the end of the year I had written more material and was now touring as a stand-up comedian who was now on MADtv. That was all in one year,” Johnson-Reyes beams.
Within the comedy community there was significant blowback. Comics who had been grinding for years couldn’t get over that a tiny Latina girl came up so fast. And because of a YouTube video! But Johnson-Reyes was, and has always been tough. She’s been geared for success ever since walking to the store as a child in San Jose.
Plus, she always kept her eye on the prize and didn’t get dragged down with the partying and booze that became many comics’ pitfalls. “I would do my show and I would go back to the hotel room, and I would watch my crime shows on TV. And, I would eat my chicken tenders from the club. Sometimes I would explore the city during the daytime, but for the most part, comedy life is pretty lonely, because I wasn’t a partier. I was just showing up, doing my work and going back to my hotel,” Johnson-Reyes says flatly.
Say I Will!
It’s been a long road to get to and stay on the top. And Johnson-Reyes still has goals that she’s achieving. “I’m getting ready to self produce and direct my seventh one-hour special,” Johnson-Reyes gleefully states.
This next digital cataloguing of Johnson-Reyes life is going to be filmed at the El Rey in Los Angeles on February 28. But this will be the first time that Johnson-Reyes will be directing it as well. “I’ve got some great advice from my friends who directed their own specials. I talked to Amy Schumer (Johnson-Reyes appeared on Schumer’s show Life& Beth) and she gave me advice on directing. I’m grateful for the opportunity that this is what I get to do now, after all these years of touring and writing, and doing my own stand up comedy, that I get to produce and direct my own stuff, and put it out myself and own it all. And it’s very cool,” Johnson-Reyes concludes.
And through it all, Johnson-Reyes never gave up her passion for acting with appearances on influential television shows like Superstore, Curb your Enthusiasm, Ugly Betty and The Shield.
In her heart, Johnson-Reyes has deep love for San Jose. She held her baby shower at East San Jose’s elegant Acopio restaurant when she became a mom in 2023.
“I grew up wanting to be a gangster, wanting to be a little chola. I always wished I lived on the east side, but I didn’t. I lived on the north side, right by the light rail station.”
Nail Salon currently has more than 47 million views. Johnson-Reyes’ homecoming may be time to celebrate just how incredible her journey has been.
ANJELAH JOHNSON-REYES
San Jose Civic
January 18, 2026—5pm & 8pm
$66
sanjosetheaters.org
