ent, and full of fun and challenges.” If there’s one thing Josh has learned during his unconventional career, it’s to roll with the chaos and think on your feet… often while running like crazy. On Josh’s first night at SNL, for instance, he was madly dashing down the corridors to put the finishing touches on comedian Horatio Sanz’s make-up before the show went live in seconds. As he sped past the host studio, a figure stepped out in front of him and they collided. “He was a little guy—about 5’7”—and me, I’m a big guy. I literally rammed him into the wall.” A quick look down and Josh realized he’d just flattened actor Tom Cruise, who was visiting the set that evening. “I was ‘Oh, my God! Oh, my God! I’m so fired! I’m so fired!” Josh chuckles and shakes his head at the memory. “If something klutzy or funny is going to happen, it happens to me.” Luckily, Cruise couldn’t have been more gracious. “He was the nicest guy; he was just ‘no worries, man; you’re working.’” Anecdotes like these—and many more that “decorum forbids me from telling,” according to Josh—are parts of the attraction of his unconventional career choice. “Everyone who is in this business is here because they want to be,” Josh says. “We work hard and we’re very competitive with one another, but we’re also a closeknit and fun group that knows how to joke around and have a blast. The way I see it, if you truly hate what you do and you’re miserable, it’s your fault. Happiness is your responsibility. “Life is something you can enjoy and not just something you have to get through,” emphasizes Josh, who enjoys speaking at career days in local schools. “When I was growing up I had no one to talk to about this. If there’s one kid that can get some helpful information from me, it’s worth it. I want to show them there’s something else out there other than the careers they normally hear about. And it’s as fun as hell. “I’m a kid at heart,” Josh says. “I don’t want to grow up. I just want to keep doing what I do.”
Nayda Rondon is editor of BC THE MAG and executive editor of Talk of the Town. Reach her at naydabc@earthlink.net.
BC The Magazine // September/October 2013
29