First of all, forget whatever you think you know about funny. OK, now remember it again.
That was just for practice.
Ok – now forget what you know about funny again, and then remember it again, but this time when you remember it, instead of the word “funny” think “Joey”.
For a while on the signature of my emails I have had a quote that says: “He deserves paradise who makes his companions laugh” – Quran (c. 651 ad)
If that is true, then Joey should already be sainted!
He’s not a professional comedian, he actually works in real estate and on the side fulfills some of his other hobbies and passions (e.g. snowboarding, bug control, teaching people “the nose flute”, hugging anyone who will let him, trying to join sororities, attending the meetings of random spiritual movements, etc…). But something about this guy just inspires hilarious moments and the funniest memories.
If you know Joey at all, and have a favorite “Joey story” – please share it with all of us. For those of you who don’t know him, maybe I will just share a couple (although it really is hard to pick which ones to share).
Wow – where to even start?…
Joey Story 1: Free t-shirt goal
One day I was on a university campus in the student center when I saw Joey. I said, “I thought you were in class, aren’t you going today?”
He replied, “Nope, I just want to walk around instead.”
So naturally I asked if I could join him, and he agreed. For some random reason we decided to make it our goal to get a free t-shirt within an hour.
After our first couple ideas failed, we kept walking around until we saw a crowd gathered to watch an outdoor performance. It seemed like the volunteers had matching t-shirts, so I suggested that if we asked to be volunteers then maybe they would give us a free t-shirt and we could accomplish our goal.
Through a series of events (maybe too long to tell), they wouldn’t let us be volunteers, so Joey had the idea
to tell them we actually wanted to be performers and sing a song that supposedly we had written for that specific event. At first it looked as if there was no way it was going to happen, and so I played along. Only when the head guy of the event found out about our “song” and loved the idea – he indicated that we could sing it right then before they took down the microphones and speakers.
That is when I felt some panic, starting to regret our goal, and I tried to get out of it by saying we would really like sing it but that we somehow forgot to bring a guitar. Well, Joey saw a girl walking past with a guitar and asked her if she could help us. The only thing is she couldn’t play …and neither could we.
“Oh well,” I said, indicating my disappointment while trying to conceal my relief, “I guess we can’t sing it now after all – not without the guitar part.”
Well, by then Joey was at the microphone and asking if anyone in the audience could play the guitar. One guy raised his hand and so Joey invited him up to the stage. The guy asked what he should play, and Joey just told him to just start playing something. When the guy started to strum something, Joey said with surprise,
“That is it! That is our song”
A few seconds later I found myself with him on-stage, tightly griping a microphone, staring at the crowd, my heart beating fast (when he seemed so at ease), and then singing an improvisational song – which ended up even including some hand actions, as I remember!
To be honest, the look on people’s faces at the beginning of our performance seemed to be a cross between confusion and disgust, but by the end – and I don’t really know how – everyone was laughing and clapping. The guy in charge the whole event came up to us and he loved our song too – telling us it was one of the best performances, inviting us to sing it more places, and asking us what our motivation was behind writing it.
And, thanks to Joey, we got our t-shirts.
Joey Story 2: Text messages and an unforgettable laugh
Every once in a while I will get an email or a text message from Joey where he shares some funny or strange quote – sometimes even quoting himself (for example: “When you find something it’s always in the last place you look, unless you continue to look for the thing you’ve already found”- Joey)
I was in Hawaii a couple years ago and I got a text message from Joey that said: “I’ve been awake all night thinking about you.”
This text message was just weird enough that I called him and asked him if he sent it out to everyone that was in his phone book, which he did, and something about the timing of it – immediately we both started laughing. 
Joey has this unforgettable whooping laugh, which often ignites laughter in whoever else is in the room. Hearing other people laugh makes him laugh more and harder, which then makes you laugh more, and it turns into this cyclical laughing effect until everyone is in tears and their sides are hurting from laughing too long and too hard! He inspires the kind of laughter that seems easier for kids, before we get too worried about all of the things that worry us in life.
It is true that maybe at times his humor does get to the point where people
might feel awkward and could misunderstand his heart and his intentions, but a huge majority of the time it endears people to him – recognizing their lives are better with him as a part of it. (He is so humble and unassuming though, that I bet he will be really embarrassed if he finds out that I even wrote this blog entry about him.)
Joey Story 3: His niece Liberty (“Libby”)
I also think Joey’s funny-bug is a bit contagious, just being around him somehow brings it out of others. For instance, his 6 year old niece Liberty heard her mom on the phone with Joey and told her to tell Joey that she wished him luck on this upcoming Tuesday. Both her mom and Joey were confused, so her mom asked what was happening on Tuesday. This cute little girl said that she was wishing him luck because she knew Tuesday was either going to be a good day for him or a bad one, and she was betting it was going to be a bad one. She then said, “just kidding” and burst into laughter.
Any kid who meets him loves him almost instantly.
Without a doubt, Joey is the kind of person that just makes life better. This world is so much of a happier, more colorful place because of him!
Questions
There are so many more stories I could share, but if you are lucky enough to know Joey – what are some of your favorite stories about him?
If you don’t know Joey, who is the funniest person that you know; and how do they make you laugh?
You guys are pro’s at improv songs! I’ll never forget the “Apartment 316” rendition that you, Joey, and Jeremy whipped out. Probably the best compliment I’ve ever received came from Joey: “I wish your hair was longer so I could wrap it around my body”. Creepy eh?..haha I’m glad that we comfiscated the dog collar- if there’s anyone who I would want to smash a pie in my face it would be Joey. The End.
Joey just may be the most real person I know. I love that he has questions (innumerable questions!)–and asks them. I love that he thinks ridiculously off the wall things–and actually says them out loud =oP He has an incredible gift for really seeing other people, and having an intense curiosity about their interests and beliefs–and really, honestly, truly appreciates them for it. I love that he very openly tries to see things as they see it–and honestly comes to an experienced conclusion as to whether he sees things their way or not…(one particular such story comes to mind =o)) He is the most judge-free person I’ve ever met. It’s liberating to feel accepted for who I am when I’m with him and I know I could think anything I’ve got in my brain out loud and he would not only not judge me for it but would talk about it with me and probably actually make me feel like I’m a genius for thinking it. That is not representative of my actual brain power (or specific to me) so much as his wonderful, innate ability to make others feel good about themselves.
My life is better since having joE in it. And in some odd way it’s almost like I can’t remember not having him in it. One day spent with joE will have you laughing your guts out and going home with sore cheeks. And you’ll no doubt feel like I do: that he’s an incredible person, the dearest of friends, and you’ve known him forever.
Joey Joey joey, where to start?? When Katrina hit he and Clint came to help aid the people who were displaced, we went to the astrodome all night and I can tell you that it didnt feel like a bad thing being up all night. Our job was to give food to people who were just coming in, but by the time we were there there werent very many people still coming in, but he made it a goal to hand out as much food as he could.Maybe you had to be there, but trust me it was hilarious!!
Two words: Maybelline Buttacup.
Back in…I’m going to say August of 2003, this little punk came knocking on our door trying to sell starving student cards. We certainly didn’t buy one, but we were all amused with this kid’s antics and immediately began harassing him. He ate it up. He even “kicked the hook” – read the book “Rules of Engagement” by Stephanie Fowers if you want more explanation.
I have been infamous for some tricky antics of my own and immediately realized this Joey fellow needed a good menacing prank. I waited a few months, just until I was sure he wouldn’t remember who the heck I was. Then the shenanigans began – an anonymous woman “in love” with Joey and going by the name Maybelling Buttacup began gracing his inbox for the next few years – exact examples of messages can be found below.
Then, in January of ’08 I see the name “Joey Lundgreen” on my pal Clint Rogers’ Facebook homepage. WHAT?!?! How can this be? So, I message Joey simply, “Do you remember Maybelline Buttacup?”
That night, I get a knock at my door and see two young men standing there looking bemused. I was confused until my eyes adjusted to the light, and although I hadn’t seen him since ’03, I knew it was Joey Lundgreen standing there. The man had reverse stalked his “stalker!” What a story to tell…and 5 years in the making!
“Dearest Joey,
How’s my little Texan? Everything is better in Texas I tell you that! How is your job going? Are you the salesman you thought you were?
My heart skips a beat every time I sit here and think of you reading away on the other side of the screen. It just can’t be good for the ol’ pace maker.
You are the aloe on my third degree sunburn.
You are the matie in my marshmallow (I’d like to be your matie). AND you are my lucky charm (on a less generic note.)
I am the active ingredient in your dandruff shampoo. After some time with me you’ll always end up feeling fresh and flake free.
If our love was like the internet, we wouldn’t be dial up–we’d be a high speed connection!
You are the static guard on my pantyhose
The double stuff in my Oreo
You are the mysterious fishy odor in my tuna. Like tuna without that smell, life just wouldn’t be the same without you.
I can’t wait until you respond. I feel like I am dumping my feelings like a laxative overdose and you’re just sitting there with all your feelings waiting for a good drink of prunce juice.
Butterfly kisses,
May B.”
“hey honey how come you no write me no more i miss you and your gentle touch that leaves feeling like a menthaliptic throat lozenge has just come into my life. My throat gets dry without you. Please respond. Love joey”
Haha – wow, some of these stories! Thanks for sharing your memories. It is his birthday in just about a week (Sept 20th), so I can’t wait to celebrate his life by reminding him of some of these random moments.
This is great! I heard the free t-shirt story before and it is still funny to read it again.
I first met Joey last February at the Salt Lake City airport. I was visiting Clint and was waiting for him to come to the baggage claim area. And then, this guy came up to me and asked me if I were Sookyung and introduced me as a driver. I was puzzled and wondered where Clint was. He was holding a paper that says “Welcome to Utah Sookyung Suh.” Yup! that’s how I met Joey. 🙂
He also taught me how to spray bug spray with my knee when I snowboard, which was a great way to teach how to snowboard. He and Clint made me laugh so much during my stay at Utah.
Clint, I think you are as funny as Joey or you guys are a great pair. I just couldn’t stop laughing when I was with you guys. Thanks for bringing “Joy (and Joey)” in my life. 🙂
Oh! By the way, thanks for including pictures of me in this entry. haha.
I am lucky enough to be Joeys sister! He truly is one of the funniest people I know. There is NEVER a dull moment when he is around. There are so many funny stories and I remember them starting when he was very young. Love ya little brother Happy Birthday.
Wow this is so random. My husband is in your class and showed me your blog tonight. I have know Joey since I was about 1 year old. He and my brother are best friends. I grew up with him at my house all the time. I have about 1 million really good stories about Joey. I’m having a hard time deciding on my favorite. So I’ll just tell a couple. When we were in High school I woke up one morning and couldn’t get out of my bed. It was pitch black and for some reason there was stuff surrounding me. A little dazed and confused I found a hole. As I got out of bed I continued to fumble over stuff. I finally made it to my light switch. When i turned on the light I looked at my room and anything and everything that could have possibly fit on my bed, without crushing me, was on my bed. And anything that didn’t fit was turned upside down. There was toilet paper strewn all about. I mean it was destroyed. There was nothing I could do I had to get ready for seminary. So I went to the bathroom to get ready and the mess just continued. The perpetrator had taken my makeup and written on my mirror Love S.D. (which at the time were the initials of my best friend). Then I focused on my face in the mirror and the same brown eye pencil that was used to write on the mirror had also been used on my face and I mean I was completely covered in brown markings. I couldn’t help but laugh. I wasn’t until after school that day that Joey confessed that he and my brother had done this to me.
Joey grew up mostly as an only child, and I remember him telling me once when i was mad at my brother how wonderful it would be to have siblings around. I gave him a nasty look and said something like all you do is fight with them. Then he said “Yeah but that’s all part of the fun.” For as long as I have know Joey he has made me laugh and smile. I love him like a brother (even though I haven’t talked to him in a while)(call me if you read this).
OK a couple more things that are just so Joey. In high school he drove a minivan that could not break 30 miles an hour, and he loved it (at least he acted like he did). If he’s never done this for you ask him to do his string puppet impression, and blow in your nose. I have lots and lots of good stories I would love to share but I think that’s good for now. As I said I have known Joey my entire life and I don’t think it’s possible to not love him.
Oh man, Kim – I’m glad you found this blog – that story made me laugh so much. I didn’t know Joey as a teenager, but I can just imagine. And I like what he said about having siblings too. Thanks.
Happy B-day Joey!
Wow!!! I still can’t stop laughing after reading all those post! What an incredible person! He truly is the most real, down to earth, unique person I know. I first met Joey when I decided to sell pest control in Atlanta Georgia summer of 05′. The combination of Joey and Jeremy had me laughing day in and day out. It was probably the funnest summer I have ever had and the irony is it was so painful to try and sell pest control. I am trying to think of stories and I can only remember laughing. Everything we did from practicing our sales pitch, to sharing the ridiculous scenarios made the summer so much fun! He are a few examples of how Joey became the greatest bug sales man of all time. First off, there was a huge population of Hispanics in Atlanta and we were tired of passing every house because we couldn’t speak Spanish. We started asking our close friends to help us with our pitch. It was hilarious, he was surely a better speaker than myself but we literally came up with words to communicate the sales pitch for example the word in between. We added a little accent to that word and it became “in betweeney” IT WORKED! We could finally sale in spanish! Great Memories! There was never a dull moment as we practiced our accents and listened to “How to speak spanish” CD’s as we drove all over that place. “That’s why I am here” Ha! I also remember Joey always jumping over fences in order to knock on the door of some million dollar home. Fences had no meaning to Joey and in fact became more of an invitation to go onto the house. It was because of his Moxie little spirit that he met NFL stars and other famous people and once they looked pass the “whole jumping the fence thing” they became great friends and appreciated his tenacity. I remember going to church at random, non denominational churches because he asked someone while selling if he could come to church with them and bring some friends. My favorite was going to some church service with an older couple and they really thought we would be great for their kind of church. They said it was a more modern service with young people. Well, we arrived and you better believe it was modern! They renovated an old Grocery store and brought in some cool, hip, rock n’ roll bands and we worshiped with some hands in the air and an occasional head bang. It was truly an awesome experience and had Joey never been so curious and willing, we would have never experienced such a great… experience:) The memories go on and on. Just laughing, and laughing, and laughing.
He has a way to ask the most ridiculous and mind blowing questions in the most serious way. You just don’t know how to react or answer other than laughing!
We love you Joey! Happy Birthday
Cam
Man, it’s kind of late, but still Joey’s B day. I’ve known Joey for over 7 years and still to this day, anything funny that I do, I must give him credit. I am his apprentice and learn at his feet. I love Joey and think he is one of the greatest and most unique people to come to earth. I have never had more long, hard laughs with anyone else, where neither of us knew why we are laughing, than with Joey.
J-Joyful
O-Order, Joey loves food and trying new foods out and ordering it too.
E-Extraterrestrial, Joey likes the movie Signs and he does this dance move called “Choppin the Suey”, then he gives it back to the people. It’s out of this world.
Y-Ya, he went to the Y, but then he quit, I mean changed plans.
I have some great stories, but I’ll just leave it at Happy Birthday to you, Joey, and I look forward to many more fun times.
Your Friend,
Jeremy
Wow, I have 76 things that I could say but I’m going to stick to a few to keep it simple. I have known Joey for more than a few years and he is the funniest person I have ever known. I feel similar to his weird friend, Jeremy, in that I am Joey’s apprentice. I always ask myself “Would Joey think this is funny?” I then proceed to do whatever and even when no one laughs, I know Joey would laugh hysterically.
I don’t have the attention span to list all the funny stories that I have for Joey but I’m going to list a few highlights and Joey can tell you about them later.
-The Jafudathat
-Joey doing pushups for Coach Peace
-Choppin up the Suey is a classic
-Joey getting free food everywhere
-Joey’s leaking van in the car wash
-Wrestling Stephen Kelly in the hall
-“Gas Bubbles”
-Getting kicked off west campus for blowing up glove
-Ice skating on rubber flooring
-Penny pitching in the Galleria
-Suspected of driving drunk for “still driving in the same lane”.
-Joey’s long braided hear
-Joey’s beautiful ?á??a
-Ya lu blu etit…..
-Two hot dates for Homecoming
-Fun with the Russian mafia
Just to list a few.
This is not a late 27th Bday wish but a very early 28th Bday wish.
I love you like a brother Joey.
Ricky
Those stories made me laugh so hard! It is awesome what you guys do. I loved your performance at the Inclusion Summit 2009! It was great. You two are the masters of comedy.
I met JoE at Inclusion Summit this year and I could tell he had a Unique sense of humor on the first day. He has the funniest questions and he comes up with the wackiest ideas. I’m glad to have met him and I hope to see you two again soon.
If I could be like anyone it would be JoE. He is care free and doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him and he is very outgoing. He can walk up to anyone and make them laugh.