Kenny Johnson

Kenny contracted measles at the age of two that resulted in the gradual loss of sight. It was just about the time his father was ready to teach him to drive that he realized that his sight had diminished to just light and dark images--and he wonders why he never got his license.

Kenny grew up and was educated in Chicago. After high school, he went to work in the family business until his father died but realized that he could no longer carry on all of the responsibilities on his own. He was retrained as a dark room technician and stayed at this position until 1988 when he moved to Los Angeles. It wasn’t until the LA Riots of 1991 that Kenny took an active direction toward developing a comedy career. As he says, “If they can make a joke out of the judicial system, I certainly can find many other things to joke about.”

And indeed he has. In the first few short years on the comedy circuit he rose from a local club comedian to the winner of the 1998 Media Access Award for “Best Comedian”. The award is presented annually to a rising new comedian with a disability by the Media Access Committee on behalf of the Norman Lear Foundation.

Kenny’s material is very funny as he looks at the realities of his disability and helps the audience to visualize how he imagines things. He frequently shares life stories of his blindness and cultural background with his comedy routine. His program has taken him to college campuses across the county both as a stand-up comedian and classroom lecturer. We recently received a request for Kenny from a University of Texas campus with the note that said, “He is first person we have invited two years in a row.” We are excited about working with him.