Can Comedy Be Organic? Green? Johannah Knott and the All Organic Comedy Tour Say YES (Interview)

Johannah Knott is a wellspring of unexpected juxtapositions. A New Englander at heart who's been living in South Florida for almost 25 years. A law enforcement officer turned stand-up comic. A comedian with a soft spot for all things eco and green. And she attributes much of it to growing up in an all-Irish household with only one bathroom.

After graduating from the American Comedy Institute in NYC, Johannah started her own production company and quickly became known as a comic risk taker. No topic or issue is off limits for her...including her wheelchair-bound husband.

Of special interest to the Planet Green crowd is Johannah's involvement in the All Organic Comedy Tour. "I came up with the idea of the tour while shopping in a farmers co-op in Belfast, ME," explains Knott. "After an hour of walking around the store and laughing so hard to myself at various items. I mentally wrote the whole show in my head."

The tour includes Knott and her fellow comedians and friends: Carole Montgomery, Al Jackson, Nick Cobb and Forrest Shaw. "This tour certainly wouldn't be what it is today without their experience, talent and guidance they give me," she says.

To find out more, I had some questions for Johannah Knott...and she had answers.

My Conversation With Johannah Knott

Planet Green: What was the catalyst for the "eco-friendly" idea? Did the proverbial light bulb go off or was it a slow transition?

Johannah Knott: I think it all began with the "Keep America Beautiful" campaign. You know the one with crying Indian who stands on the side of highway and that one tear falls from his face. Only moments before trash was thrown at his feet by a car passing by. I'm an Irish Catholic so, I'm really susceptible to guilt. When they ran this campaign to clean up America's highways back in the 1970's I wanted to hop the guard rail on Interstate 95 and start picking up cigarette butts and Fanta cans. My mother stopped me. Little did she know I'd have that opportunity in the mid 90's wearing an orange jumpsuit. Okay, that's an exaggeration, though that campaign was highly effective. I remembered it all my life and I open with "the crying Native American." Actually, he's not a native American. Did you know he's really Italian! Now that's funny. No wonder he made me feel guilty; he's probably Catholic too.

PG: Well, if you're gonna experience guilt, why not give it an eco-edge?

JK: Yeah, I realized that eco-comedy was necessary. I was having difficulty coping with my recycling frustrations. I couldn't fit all my wine bottles in my own recycle bin so I had to start sneaking them into my neighbors. This tickled me...she doesn't drink. Some things began to strike me as really humorous. My sister works at one of the most sustainable colleges in the country, Dickinson College in PA. She called me one day complaining that she'd given all her cash to her kids for lunch money. She was standing penniless in the college snack bar where the cafeteria spoons were made out of compostable corn and wheat. She was on Weight Watchers at the time and asked if I'd go on line to see how many carb points where in a spork! I was beginning to feel like if I wasn't "psycho green," I was single handedly polluting the Eastern Seaboard. I started to poke fun at myself and my weak green gene. It made others laugh and feel better about their small efforts. I realized we needed to do our best but also to decompress. It took a long time to screw this up. It will take time to fix it. If we laugh together, we'll work better together.

PG: What type of reaction has this concept garnered?

JK: People have really responded to this. Everyone has experienced the pain of not fitting all their recyclables in their bins. Forrest Shaw (tour member/comedian) makes fun of organic and non-organic food and their prices. Comparing shopping at Whole Foods to going to a museum. People get it. We talk about popular and little known products that help our environment. Have you heard of the Diva Cup?! Hilarious and completely inappropriate to discuss right now...you have to catch the show!

PG: It seems to me that laughter transcends class, gender, ethnicity, and so on and the same can be said for our universal need for clean water and air, safe food, and a non-toxic eco-system. That said, what are your hopes as a stand-up comic with a green heart?

JK: My hope is that my children see me trying...leading by example. I fail just like every one else. My contribution may be that I encouraged my community to persevere...in spite of their reluctance, in spite of their resentment, in spite of the cost increase, the gross inconvenience...you can't put a price on doing the right thing. You can however, laugh along the way. Really, "Free Range Chicken"...they want that much for homeless poultry?

PG: How can Planet Green readers connect with you and the tour?

JK: This fall we start another school year of touring colleges and universities. However, we do take two or three times out of the year and our individual schedules to do a full theatre show where we all can perform together. When ever we perform together we always give a portion of the proceeds back to a local green organization. Our website http://www.allorganiccomedytour.com is the best place to find that information. (Of course, I'm on all the usual networking sites. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1209148222)