By Gabriela Flores and Cailah Parker
Reporting Assitance Alexandria Woolfe
With her drive and comedic flair, Khadjiah Johnson is leaving her mark on television and paving her path into the writer’s room. Along the way, Johnson proves she’s a force to be reckoned with, building part of the Emmy-winning team at “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” that was named “Outstanding Variety Talk Series” for the seventh time in a row. But before she found her footing in late night, Johnson was a Brooklyn College student majoring in English, deciding what suited her writing and live performance fortes.
That’s until one day, while on spring break as a sophomore, she unexpectedly came across someone who’d become her biggest influence: comedian Trevor Noah, host of “The Daily Show.”
“That’s when everything clicked,” Johnson told the Vanguard. “Late night to me merged the poetry world that I was so involved in and where I was traveling around the country doing. And it also merged a comedy that I was raised upon that I loved so much. I was like, what if poetry and comedy could live in the same space?”
Today, as a script production assistant for John Oliver, Johnson makes sure the latest drafts are timely delivered to executive producers, directors, and other higher-ups. Communicating with the right people at the right time has been a skill Johnson’s honed over time, starting with an email to a head writer at the “Late Night Show With Stephen Colbert.” Pitching herself and landing an internship with Colbert marked her start in television and allowed her to better understand the ins and outs of the industry. While Johnson analyzed the formats that best aligned with her interests as a researcher with a sense of humor, she found her current base at John Oliver’s show.
“I was an English major, I am very much into research rabbit holes. I like bringing out the comedy in really in-depth things,” explained Johnson, noting that she would catch herself wanting to slip into her comedic tone while writing research papers at BC. “And that’s what ‘Last Week Tonight With John Oliver’ really is. It’s like, oh yeah, how can we write a really, long funny research paper?”
Though she’s found her stepping stone in the television industry, Johnson encountered her share of challenges and unexpected turns. Before planning and executing her goals in late night, Johnson initially planned to be a veterinarian – but that chapter soon closed during her freshman year at Brooklyn College when she failed her chemistry course.
“I ain’t never failed a class a day in my life. And I was like, ‘Oh, no. Let’s switch that up, let’s see what’s happening there,’” Johnson recalled, admitting she didn’t always want to be a writer.
Realizing her strengths and passions for writing, poetry, and live performance, Johnson switched lanes. After she was inspired by Trevor Noah’s show, she solidified and hustled her way to late night, but her parents were unaware of her life plan changes. The Brooklyn native with Caribbean roots knew her parents wouldn’t find a career in television viable, so she decided to move in silence and didn’t reveal she was minoring in television till the end of her senior year.
“I realized they weren’t going to support me in that. I’m going to have to use my support systems for myself,” said Johnson. But as she’s thrived and strived behind the camera, Johnson’s parents are proud of their daughter.
“Now they’re proud of me, and they’re just like, ‘Oh look at my girl. Look at her doing her own thing.’ They weren’t like that in the beginning. If they ever say that, they’re lying – I got receipts,” she said with a chuckle.
Though she’s accomplished most of what she’s set out to do, Johnson isn’t where she wants to be. During her three years as a script production assistant, she’s made pitches, networked with the right people, and worked day in and day out; however, she’s noticed that it takes more than hard work to make it in the late night industry. Finding openings or offers in the writer’s room is limited and tends to include knowing people who respect and know your work, according to Johnson. Nonetheless, with her rich background in live performance and writing, Johnson is working to be a producer or writer in the near future.
“What I’m trying to do is play it by the ear because it’s hard when you have expectations when you know that you are not where you’re supposed to be. But at the same time, trying to upkeep that same vigor,” Johnson said, “because sometimes I get emotionally exhausted.”
Being one of the few black people that work behind the camera in television, Johnson advised upcoming black writers and people of color to trust their instincts and address any sentiments they are feeling in a space. Beyond networking, she advises them to build their support systems and at least have one “media buddy,” who they could confide in when they will inevitably feel alone in their media pursuits. And to remember that their dream can’t be done solo without having someone helping boost their morale.
“Everyone knows the saying, ‘You got to be two to three times better than everyone in the room,’ and no one understands that until they are in that space. Because even when you are two to three times better, you will still be underestimated,” Johnson said chuckling. “[…] So don’t underestimate yourself.”
As she continues navigating through the industry, Johnson remains confident in her skills and steadfast in accomplishing her television goals. Looking back at how far she’s come and the accolades she’s garnered, Johnson credits the fateful day when it all began with Trevor Noah.
“Truth be told if I did not sit down with a bowl of cereal in the middle of spring break, not knowing what I was going to do – if I did not turn on that television – I would not be here. I would not be in late night,” Johnson said.