Joshua Neal | Episode 3

CREDITS: Joshua Neal wears a BTFL jacket and jeans, HYUSTO shoes, and AKILA eyewear | Styled by Raf Talaat | photo by John Marquez, shot at Death & Co (Los Angeles)


It's easy to glance at Joshua Neal's TikTok or Instagram page and think you know who you're dealing with. He's a funnyman, right? Scrolling through his posts–mostly sketch comedies inspired by pop culture happenings–have earned him millions of views and an uncountable amount of crying laughing emojis in his comment section. For two years he's been a fixture on my timeline, making me double over by flipping relatable occurrences into lo-fi SNL pieces; He's got a take on the Trader Joe's experience (the cashiers are crazy chipper), the Drake-Kendrick Lamar battle (what if they went to therapy?), and, of course, there's his Le Yuge series where an exaggerated version of himself talks about his forays with gorgeous women while exhibiting the casual cool of someone who experiences such things daily.

But a closer read of his recent output reveals a creative on the brink of a new era. Sure, the iPhone-captured jokes are still flowing. But now so are color-corrected, cinematic shorts. Some boast plots about a romance kindled and squandered (the Break Up for One series), others action-thrillers (The Ninth Symphony). All with the potential to be box-office or streaming smashes should the right investor or Hollywood executive stumble upon them on the 'Gram. All that is to say it's only a matter of time before Neal makes the next big leap. So before this guy is inaccurately coined "an overnight success," it is with great pride that I share a convo with him that chronicles his journey to this moment.

The Bay area native and I linked at Death & Co in Los Angeles over drinks and ran through it all, from his life-threatening battle with depression a few years back to forecasting what his sparkling future entails. Then we hit the gym for a workout at Attitude Fitness. Even after playing football for one of the most renowned college programs in the nation–the Oklahoma Sooners, Joshua's maintained a love for gains via muscle pain. There, I (barely) did his workout and was reminded how the discipline it takes to chisel a six-pack is the same needed to level-up elsewhere.

The more you listen to this guy, the more it becomes clear: Joshua Neal's got the drive to become everything he hopes and the talent to go beyond. Enjoy the show.

“Don’t think about yourself super far away or different from celebrities or people you look up to. It’s just about confidence. It’s just about looking at yourself differently. I might not be there yet. But the key word is ‘yet.’”

SHOW NOTES: Takeaways from Episode 3 of THROUGH IT with Joshua Neal

“Without works, it’s dead.”
- Joshua @ 25:55 mark

Before he runs down what his future ideally looks like–leading Jordan Peele films, a star actress wife, Uber Black SUVs…–I ask him if he believes in manifestation and the general thought that immersing yourself in your version of paradise brings it to fruition faster than not. Here Joshua condenses a highlight Bible bar from James 2. Essentially, it means that moving toward a goal is as important as belief it will be attained. “You gotta have some action in there,” Joshua says to me before tapping his skull with his index finger. “But it starts here with the visual. You have to see yourself there. And I’ve seen myself there.”

CREDITS: Joshua is styled by Raf Talaat and wears a PAURA suit | Brad wears an AllSaints sweater and Denim Tears x Levi’s jeans | photo by John Marquez, shot at Death & Co (Los Angeles)


“If I’m not okay, I say I’m not.”
- Joshua @ 39:20 mark

“I got to the breaking point of self-harm,” Neal reveals to me deeper into our conversation. “I ended up in the hospital.” After a year-long battle with depression that was brought on my not feeling “seen,” he attempted suicide. In those harrowing moments between life and death, Joshua chose life and drove himself to a hospital, crashing in the parking lot before being helped inside. He credits weekly therapy sessions for gaining a greater knowledge of self. Now? “If I’m not okay, I say I’m not. I don’t pretend to be okay. I know what makes me happy.”

“When the Pandemic Hit, It was Time.”
- Joshua @ 20:32 mark

Prior to the pandemic in 2020, Neal was pursuing an acting career in a traditional manner; He had a day job and frequently auditioned for TV and commercial roles. Sure, he was on social media. But he didn’t use it to exhibit his performance skills. “I didn’t want to be a social media content creator,” he tells me during our time together. “I wanted to be looked at as an actor.” But once Covid-19 put the world on quarantine, he knew what needed to be done. “I was like, ‘Let me just test the waters and see what it does.’” So he started putting skits together and posting them on TikTok, where at the time he roughly had 2000 followers. Overnight (like, literally), thanks in part to platform stars showing love and sharing, his pieces earned millions of plays and multiplied his following by tens of thousands. Since then social media has been his primary outlet for his creativity. He currently has 1M followers on TikTok and nearly 400K on Instagram.

CREDITS: Joshua & Brad wear full NIKE looks | photos above are stills from interview footage, Directed by Aaron Murray Vazquez and DP’ed by Joao Gonzalez | shot at Attitude Fitness


Sometimes, the People Around You are Absolutely Right

When you watch this episode, peep the key people he mentions who nudged him foward. The football teammates who said "You should act!" The Equinox manager who let him take extended lunch breaks to audition for roles. The popular social media creative Kyle who noticed one of his early TikTok vids, helped it go viral, and told Neal to "Keep at it."

During our chat, Neal talked about his journey from his grade school days as a middling student to becoming a one-man variety show. He's a multi-hyphenate talent–an actor, comedian, writer, editor, and sometimes musician constantly pushing the social media content creator box wider and higher with each new drop. Sometimes the difference between “class clown” and “acclaimed creative” is encouragement and support.



Written by Brad Weté
Image Director & Photographer: John Marquez


Previous
Previous

Destiny Rogers | Episode 4

Next
Next

Ro James | Episode 2