On Tuesday, a video shared on social media showcased a CBC News copy editor unexpectedly teaming up with a comedian.
Josh Johnson, an American standup comedian and occasional host of The Daily Show, made jokes about CBC’s reporting on a bodega cat being evicted for health reasons during his performance at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver last month.
“I really want to meet the editor,” Johnson joked.
An audience member called out: “He’s here!”
A surprised Johnson responded: “The cat’s here?”
Not quite.
“The editor’s here!” the crowd yelled.
Enter Jon Azpiri.
Dressed in a dark grey hoodie that amusingly matched Johnson’s light grey hoodie, Azpiri joined Johnson on stage for a 10-minute exchange filled with humor about cats, vanishing islands, and journalism.
Johnson began to inquire about the bodega cat incident, but Azpiri cut in.
“We cover a lot of stories about cats, so I need to know which specific cat you’re talking about.”
As a reporter and copy editor, Azpiri responded to Johnson’s questions regarding how newsrooms decide their coverage.
“As a public broadcaster, we adhere to something called Journalistic Standards and Practices,” Azpiri explained.
“No need to brag about it,” Johnson shot back.
As of 2 p.m. PCT, the video featuring Johnson had garnered over 2.4 million views on Instagram and was seen more than 860,000 times on TikTok.
Johnson concluded their interaction, and the two exchanged handshakes.
As Azpiri departed, he reminded Johnson that an election was scheduled for the next day in the province.
“That’s a true editor right there,” Johnson remarked. “Even while leaving, he’s like, ‘We have an election tomorrow.’”
Johnson mentioned on CBC’s Hanomansing Live that he had prepared an entire routine around the cat story, noting how the coverage felt “so local and so quaint.”
However, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to engage with an editor live.
“At first, I thought — what a gift. To be able to converse with someone and ask questions in real-time,” Johnson reflected.
“It all felt like pure luck,” he added.
“When you remain open to the idea that spontaneous moments can be gifts, they tend to happen more frequently,” he stated. “And we discover more of what we seek … in our daily lives and in comedy.”
‘My eyes kind of bugged out’
Azpiri expressed surprise that Johnson’s video was posted and went viral, admitting he was unaware the show was being recorded.
He shared with CBC’s BC Today that he had just finished his copy editing shift before attending the performance.
As he walked to the venue with his wife, he hoped they wouldn’t be seated too close to the stage.
“Comedians sometimes interact with audience members,” Azpiri remarked. “And I said, ‘I don’t want to be one of those people.'”
His wife confirmed they had seats in the lower section.
When the show commenced, and Johnson expressed a desire to speak with a CBC editor, Azpiri responded.
“My eyes kind of bugged out,” Azpiri recalled.
“My wife couldn’t resist and shouted, ‘Oh, he’s here.’”
Azpiri mentioned that the whole experience unfolded so fast that he didn’t have time to feel nervous.
“As I approached the stage, I did start to think, ‘What have I gotten myself into?'”
He estimated there were about 1,000 attendees in the theatre, not realizing that cameras were capturing the moment.
“That was quite surprising to me … I thought it would be a delightful story to share with my kids. Then this morning, this happened.”
Although he has become a hit in the social media comments, Azpiri has no intentions of trying to outdo Johnson on the comedy scene.
“[I’m] definitely in a supporting role to Josh.”