{"id":906933,"date":"2026-09-23T19:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T19:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/906933\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T19:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T19:06:10","slug":"josh-groban-on-what-his-funny-side-has-done-for-his-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/906933\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Groban on What His Funny Side Has Done for His Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMore than most singers, and certainly more than most singers in his contemporary classical world, Josh Groban<\/a> has found a way to integrate comedy into his career. Earlier this year on the 98th Oscars, he joined host Conan O\u2019Brien in some good-natured silliness<\/a> in a sketch dubbed \u201cI Won,\u201d during the opening monologue. He has sung tweets on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and played himself on such shows as It\u2019s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Parks and Recreation, Glee and American Dad!<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking in the October\/November issue of Reader\u2019s Digest, out Friday, Groban told interviewer Leigh Belz Ray (who is also the 104-year-old magazine\u2019s editor in chief) that he was cautioned that the comedy bits might confuse some fans of his music. But he contends that his comedy appearances have served a purpose.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI was advised for sure to not blow the brand,\u201d he revealed in the interview<\/a>. \u201cBut it allowed me to show that there was a human being behind this persona. A lot of the press I got was so serious and so much like, \u2018We\u2019re putting this opera child on a pedestal.\u2019 Comedy was my way to get back on my feet, back on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat turned out to be especially true for self-deprecating comedy. \u201cIt was a way for me to machete through my own demons, put a pie in my own face,\u201d he told Belz Ray. \u201cAnd also to be around some of the funniest, smartest people that I\u2019ve ever met. The rhythm of a great song is the same as finding the rhythm that makes somebody laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat does Groban see as the best decision he ever made? \u201cSaying yes to making a Broadway debut was a big one,\u201d he says. Groban appeared on Broadway for the first time in 2016 in the musical Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. His leading role as depressed outcast Pierre earned him his first of two Tony Award nominations for best actor in a musical.<\/p>\n

\n\tGroban amplified on why that decision was so pivotal. \u201cRevisiting a dream that I\u2019d had since I was a kid, knowing full well that it could go sideways and the critics and audiences could say \u2018Go back to your home.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGroban, 45, amended his answer with a second \u201cbest decision\u201d: \u201cAnd proposing.\u201d Groban announced his engagement to actress Natalie McQueen in April.<\/p>\n

\n\tGroban is the first celebrity to appear on the cover of Reader\u2019s Digest<\/a> in more than a decade, since Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts appeared on the cover in June 2013. The brand shifted from its familiar table of contents-style covers to full-bleed photography in 1998. In 1999, they featured the likes of Robin Williams <\/a>(February), Jewel<\/a> (September) and Meryl Streep <\/a>(November) as cover stars, intermixed with issues fronted by civilians. Around 2001, Reader\u2019s Digest shifted to having the celebrity moment in the upper right-hand corner as a smaller head shot. Some musicians who had that headshot include Dolly Parton<\/a>, Carrie Underwood<\/a>, Paul McCartney<\/a> and Kelly Clarkson<\/a>.\u00a0In 2008, the brand moved away from that approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBelz Ray explained why the magazine pursued a cover with Groban: \u201cIn a moment when people are hungry for genuine connection with real people, Reader\u2019s Digest is focused on bringing our readers honest conversations (be it with artists, writers, thought leaders or everyday heroes in our own communities). Josh Groban is someone who has been a part of culture for decades and is a point of connection across different generations of our audience \u2013 we couldn\u2019t have found a better person to exemplify the evolution of our brand!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe venerable Reader\u2019s Digest was founded in 1922. (Billboard, for the record, dates to 1894.)<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch an exclusive video from the interview with Groban at Reader\u2019s Digest\u2019s page<\/a> at youtube.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than most singers, and certainly more than most singers in his contemporary classical world, Josh Groban has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":906934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,23827,341,15111],"class_list":["post-906933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-genre-pop","tag-music","tag-music-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}