Anjelah Johnson

One of my best friends growing up was Vietnamese, and he and his mom would teach me how to say certain things so I could impress my nail girls. Then the nail girls would teach me how to count to 100 and basic things like 'Thank you' and 'You're welcome.' It's funny, because any accent that I do now always turns into Vietnamese.

My goal's always to connect and relate to my audience. I want them to leave my show feeling like they got to know me better - not only that, but like we could be friends. I want people to leave going, 'Oh my gosh, I could totally hang out with her!'

Don't try to be anyone else. Don't try to emulate what someone is doing. Play to your strengths.

I'm from San Jose, CA, which is very diverse, and I grew up around a lot of different types of people.

People pay their hard-earned money to come and watch me perform live. That's a blessing.

I'm used to performing. I'm comfortable in front of people. I'm never the one who's fighting for attention, but I've always been comfortable.

I had this little piece of me that always wanted to be an actress, but I would never say it out loud because it was kind of embarrassing because where in San Jose do you become an actress? You don't, really. It was very far-fetched. It was similar to me saying, 'I want to be a princess.'

I think people know what they're getting with my name, because they've seen my specials on Netflix.

There's a joke that I do where I make fun of myself for being bow-legged, and I compare myself to a camel and how a camel walks and sits, and that has become a joke that people - when I deliver that joke, people are in tears.

I never thought I was going to be a comedian.

There's been roles that I have turned down. There's no rule book or handbook... It's just... whatever I'm comfortable with.

I do a joke in my stand-up where I say I'm a Christian, but I'm not a Christian comedian. I think that's definitely how I see my acting. I'm an actor who happens to be a Christian.