Meet Joshua Hyman | Actor/Comedian/Writer/Dad

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joshua Hyman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joshua, why did you pursue a creative career?
Pursuing an artistic or creative career wasn’t always exactly something that was front of mind for me. Not at first. I know it’s unconventional to say, but I just wanted to entertain people. Being a guy who loved sports and loved to be competitive, I was always the smallest guy on the court, field and in the swimming pool. Not to say that you don’t work hard and try to overcome your shortcomings (pun intended) but it made it hard to be successful against bigger, taller, stronger guys. But cracking jokes, and playing characters and genuinely making people laugh came easy. It was like how Hall of Fame baseball players talk about seeing a pitch a mile before they hit it. I could see moments come, and I knew how to twist them for a laugh. Then I got older and started realizing that I could also tap into pain and sadness to create moments of drama. Sometimes maybe causing too much drama lol. But the point is, once I realized that I could command a room’s attention, whether it was in conversation or from a stage, I knew I had to pursue it as a career. The nuance and art of the writing and movement and vocal performance enthralled me. And the freedom to do and say whatever I wanted creatively was empowering. It still frightens me to “go there“ but when I muster the courage, I feel like the all-star I could never be on a sports field. I finally feel like the biggest guy on the court.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
When it comes to my art, which is even hard to acknowledge because people don’t often think of actors/comics as artists, it’s really more about my ability to tap into my emotions to entertain which I think I do as well if not better than anyone else. The business of being a performer is the hardest part of this genre of art, but actually being on stage creating real moments, making people laugh, catching them off guard, getting them to leave the theater thinking or just reciting your own words back to you — that’s the fun. That’s the skill set I try to develop. I love the moments that allow you to extract an emotional response from an audience, especially a live audience, and the accomplishments I’m most proud of exist because of those moments. I’m also proud of myself for tackling a topic or an idea when it comes to me when I know it’s going to work, but I also hate myself when I get scared to try something. When I lose that bravado, I always look back on it as a missed opportunity. So, I try to remind myself to trust my gut and go with what I think will work. If it doesn’t, well, at least I tried it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m a New York City guy. Well I was raised just upstate in Rockland County and I went to SUNY Buffalo, so maybe I’m more of a New York State guy. But I’ve lived in NYC since ‘99 and to me this town is 1 million stories that happen every day. So when people come to visit, I like to just show them around. A walk uptown from Battery Park to the Flatiron Building, stopping along the way through Wall Street, City Hall, China Town and Little Italy. Tasting some of those foods, telling little bits of history. I’d have made a great tour guide! Truth is that’s only a sliver of NYC life and what makes a visit to NYC the best is exploring on your own. Finding a shop or an eatery that you loved and being able to go home and tell people about it. That’s NYC to me. A basic working knowledge of things, and then finding your own tales to tell.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Without a doubt, I would have to credit my wife as the person who has given me the support, love, mentoring, editing, laughs and encouragement necessary to find success as an entertainer. Of course, my mother always provided love, faith and support as I navigated through my journey and my father never let me quit even when times got (really) hard, but my wife Shayne was the person that kept lighting my fire. She pushed me, and renewed my faith in myself time and time again. They say marry your best friend? If I succeed at nothing else in life, at least I crushed that.

Website: www.mrjoshhyman.com

Instagram: @mrjoshhyman

Twitter: @mrjoshhyman

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrjoshhyman/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MrJoshHyman