Reznet

The Navajo comedy duo of James Junes and Ernie Tsosie IIIReznet Photo by Andi Murphy

Navajo Warriors of Comedy

By Andi Murphy

SAN FELIPE PUEBLO, N.M.—James and Ernie, the breakout Navajo comedy duo that has taken Indian Country by storm, performed at the San Felipe Hollywood Casino Jan. 26 and filled the casino's Celebrity Showroom with nearly 400 people ready and excited to laugh.

The show started with side-splitting jokes about naive tourists, government tribal clothing, drunken escapades, Native discipline and reservation life. The performance brought the crowd to tears of laughter.

James: IHS has got to give you the worst glasses on the face of this earth.
Ernie: IHS.
James: I Hate Sick people ... If you look around this room, it looks like the waiting room of IHS right now.
Ernie: There's just people that gave up and went home.

For some audience members it wasn't the first time seeing the duo. In fact some of the audience said they were big fans.

"I think it was more fun live than watching it on DVD," said Brittany White, Navajo. "A lot of what they talked about was true."

Funny business aside, James Junes and Ernie Tsosie III are actually all about communicating their message: to live a healthy lifestyle, live alcohol- and drug-free, and say no to domestic violence.

The truth in their comedy, many have found, stretches across tribes and nations. Junes and Tsosie are recovering alcoholics who have defeated drugs and use those experiences to warn Natives and non-Natives alike through their use of Native humor.

"We got hired because of that. For wellness conferences and drug-free events, they wanted us mainly for our message as well as our comedy," Tsosie said. "Being someone that is a warrior against alcohol and drugs, it feels really good to be recognized for being a positive role model."

James: We went up there to South Dakota
Ernie: The land of the Sioux
James: The Lakota
Ernie: If you think you're Indian, man, they are really Indian
James: They got that nose, man. They got the braids, too, man
Ernie: They look So Indian. We look like the cast of Friends
James: They speak that language so eloquently
Ernie: Makes us want to tear our shirts off. Yes, Indian!
James: You tear your shirt off, your roll comes out
Ernie: Looks like someone just gutted you, man ... They're cool, I mean you see Indians up there driving by. It just comes out naturally, 'Indian!'

As individuals, Junes and Tsosie got a rocky start in comedy. When they were still performing solo, they met backstage at the 2001 first Native American stand-up comedian contest in Farmington, N.M. "I was a little intimidated," Junes said of Tsosie's performance.

Junes was the winner of that contest. No one really knew his name, he said, and bookings came slowly. "Success is just a bunch of failures all put into one," said Junes about his struggle in the spotlight.

Friends encouraged him with their belief that he could offer something to people, Junes said. So he kept at it and got recognition. It was just "paying your dues," he said.

Eventually, at "the Stars in the Desert" show in Tuba City, Ariz., Junes ran into Tsosie again, but this time they were asked to do an act together. "It came off as a hit," Junes said in an autobiography from the duo's Web site, jamesandernie.com. They decided to become a team and have traveled together ever since.

Eventually, Junes quit his job at the Farmington schools maintenance department and went out on the comedy road full-time. "I had to take a leap of faith when I said, ‘Alright, no more full-time job, here I go.' It was either I'm going to sink or swim," Junes said.

That "leap of faith" was one hard decision made right.

"At age 37, I love what I do," Junes said. "If you were to ask me what I was to become in high school, being a stand-up comedian was the farthest thing from my mind."

Since 1996, Tsosie was pursuing a career in acting before doing comedy onstage. "Theater, that's kind of where my roots are," Tsosie said.

He took acting classes at Pima Community College in Tucson, Ariz., and since then, Tsosie has been in a few independent films such as "Rez-Robics," "A Thief of Time" (a PBS movie special, based on a Tony Hillerman novel) and "Turquoise Rose." He still continues to act and won the 2007 Best Supporting Actor Award at the 32nd Annual American Indian Motion Picture Awards in San Francisco for his role in "Mile Post 398," according to his Web site autobiography.

James: Everybody always has a Navajo on their reservation.
Ernie: I know we're like Wal-Mart, we're everywhere, man ... Everywhere they have a Navajo. We go to all these tribes. We're like pets, man. 'Hey, go get our Navajo, bring him out here, yeah, these guys are Navajo too.'
James: 'You guys might know him. His last name is Yazzie.'
Ernie: ‘Yes we know him. There's only one Yazzie. It's got to be him' ... I'm waiting for a Navajo to come out on a leash.
James: You know how those Navajos are. 'What is it! What did you want!' ... They hired us out there and they're like 'ah, my brothers, come out here to Cherokee Nation,' South Carolina.
Ernie: I know man. We said, ‘No way are Navajos out here. No way, we're on the East Coast, too far for Navajos to get out here.' What happens? We step off the plane and, 'Yah ah tee' (Navajo for 'hello').

Tsosie looks back to their humble beginnings and remembers their first James and Ernie show in Window Rock, Ariz., and the 20 or so people who showed up to see them. He remembers a time when they had "two shows every six months," Tsosie said.

The duo is now a certified performing arts business in New Mexico, and their reputation has grown all over Indian Country for eight years. They are the first Navajo comedy duo and have performed all over the United States.

"There's no writers behind us ... that's just the art," Junes said. "I love it, I wouldn't trade it for anything."

James and Ernie have a DVD titled, "James and Ernie-fied." They are going to release a new DVD, "Fun in the Sun," on April 24-26 at the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow in Albuquerque, N.M. Their next show will be Feb. 8 at the Phil L. Thomas Performing Arts Center in Shiprock, N.M. On Feb. 9 the duo will be at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo. For more information about James and Ernie or to catch their next performance, visit jamesandernie.com.

Andi Murphy, Navajo, is a student at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. A graduate of the Freedom Forum's 2007 American Indian Journalism Institute, Murphy interned as a reporter at The Daily Times in Farmington, N.M., last summer.