After winning the hearts of Australia as an award-winning stand-up comedian and television panelist, Josh Thomas turned his hand to writing, acting, and producing and has garnered global recognition for his groundbreaking television comedies Please Like Me and Everything’s Gonna Be Okay.
Currently, Josh is touring his new stand-up show, LET’S TIDY UP, fresh off a North America and Australia run. Josh recently completed work on Good Person, a comedy-mystery series developed with Hulu & 20th, and he can be seen in season 2 of Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, in which he serves as the creator, showrunner, executive producer and star. The highly anticipated second season premiered on April 9, 2022 in the US on Freeform and Hulu, and on Stan, in Australia. Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, which chronicles Josh as “Nicholas” –a neurotic twenty-something-year-old raising his teenage half-sisters, one of whom is on the Autism spectrum, after their dad’s untimely death –has received widespread critical applause for its groundbreaking portrayal of neurodiverse characters and honest queer storytelling. TV critic Matthew Rozsa for SALON notes that EGBO’s unparalleled approach “dives into the mindset of the autistic character herself” rather than “from the vantage point of an outsider looking in.” In a recent profile with THE NEW YORKER, Josh shared that just last year he was diagnosed with Autism, and how Everything’s Gonna Be Okay helped him to understand and discover his own neurodiversity. The show has already earned various nominations including “Outstanding Comedy Series” at the 2021 GLAAD Media Awards and a nomination at the 2020 Screen Music Awards for “Best Music for a Television Series or Serial.” In addition to his work in front of the camera, Josh served as a frequent director this season.
In 2019, Josh performed his first live stand-up show in six years, Whoopsie Daisy, which sold out in many cities across the U.S and Australia, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Sydney. Josh hilariously describes the many reasons why living might be a problem for him, from his romantic misadventures in Hollywood to his adult diagnosis with ADHD and subsequent need to develop social skills, as well as his mother’s mental health issues and his attempts to deal with them, and critics have noted “Whoopsie Daisy proves just how good Thomas is at taking the audience on a journey with him.”
Josh’s first television series, Please Like Me, is a world-renowned queer anthem and was inspired by Josh’s own life. Josh, created, starred in and co-executive produced the series with the Australian Broadcasting Company. Over four critically acclaimed seasons, Please Like Me was nominated for an International Emmy Award, GLAAD Media Award and GALECA Dorian Award. In 2014 the series was awarded by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts with “Best Television Comedy Series.” In addition, throughout its run Please Like Me was nominated by AACTA for “Best Screenplay,” “Best Sound” and “Best Direction,” and for his performance on-screen Josh received two nominations for “Best Performance in a Television Comedy.” The series is an Australian DGA and WGA winner, a three-time nominee, and one time recipient of “Best Comedy” by the AWGIE Awards as well as a winner and three-time nominee for “Outstanding Comedy Program” by Australia’s Logie Awards. All four seasons received a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and are currently available to stream on Hulu and originally aired on the Pivot cable network.
