By Gavin Boyle
Clean comedian Anjelah Johnson-Reyes recalled how growing up going to a Vietnamese nail salon inspired her to create her famous bit that captured the experience of getting your nails done.
“We grew up in San Jose. There’s a big Vietnamese population in San Jose, and one of my best friends growing up, Daniel Le, we called him DanLe, he’s Vietnamese. He taught me a lot, yeah, him and his mom taught me a lot. And they would teach me new phrases [in Vietnamese] to say to my nail tech when I would go get my nails done,” Johnson-Reyes recalled. “So they would teach me to say certain things. They would teach me how to count. And my goal was always to impress my nail tech with how much Vietnamese I knew.”
Johnson-Reyes’ famous routine follows the typical experience of going to a nail salon where the nail techs can be difficult to understand and they try to upsell every aspect of the experience. Meanwhile, a thick accent sometimes makes it hard to understand exactly what they are saying.
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The famous bit put Johnson-Reyes on the map and allowed her to start booking roles in shows and movies while also performing standup to larger and larger crowds. She credits her success to God, along with her sister who did not give up on her even when she was ready to throw in the towel.
“The only reason I stayed in LA is because my sister would send me money to pay my rent, she would send me gift certificates to the grocery store,” Johnson-Reyes previously explained. “She was like, ‘Don’t give up. You’re right where you’re supposed to be. Don’t give up.’ And then that, as well as like, I felt in my Spirit that God was telling me ‘I’m not done with you yet. I know everything looks like you’re done, but I’m not done.’”
“And so, I stayed and I waited, and next, you know, the nail salon video pops off. Couple months later, I end up booking mad TV. Couple months later, I start touring nationally. My life had completely changed,” she added.
Johnson-Reyes has remained true to her faith, and wildly popular clean comedian Nate Bargatze credits her for helping him stay on the right path.
“God [is] watching me all the time — the fact that He put me with you,” Bargatze told Johnson-Reyes’s during an episode of her “Funjelah” podcast. “Because, imagine if — I could have went out with so many other comics that do not have God in their life and are just dudes that are going to be dumb and whatever.”
“That could have been — we were together so long, that could have spiraled me into a whole other realm, but He put me with you, someone that was like-minded with me,” he added. “You’ve openly always talked about your faith, and so that was just nice for me to see.”
Praise the Lord for Johnson-Reyes’ faith and how she has been a light in the comedy scene for nearly 20 years – all starting with her nail salon bit.
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