Justin Covington Believes NYC Needs More DDR

Thanks to the coronavirus, comedians are now trapped at home like the rest of us, so we decided that while we’re all self-isolating, we’d do something a little different from our usual “Follow Friday� column. Instead of interviewing up-and-coming comedians we love on Twitter, we’re going live on Instagram every week to check in on some of our favorite people in comedy and get a firsthand look at how they’re handling the pandemic. So welcome to our new version of the column, now titled “Follow (From a Safe Distance) Friday.�

This week, I battled the evils of Spectrum’s monopoly on Brooklyn internet service for a virtual chat with Justin Covington (Netflix, Limestone Comedy Festival, going hard for the sake of his thirst traps at his local gym) about how he’s keeping it together in quar. He gushed about the sanity-saving capacities of Jacob Riis Beach, delineated the main differences he has noticed between doing stand-up in the Midwest and doing it in New York City, and gave us his thoughts on being the only Black or queer (or both!) comic on an otherwise white, straight, cis lineup. He also, much to my personal merriment, bonded with me over a mutual love for playing Dance Dance Revolution with weirdo goth kids at mall arcades: “It’s shameful because in New York there’s only like two places with DDR. There’s one place in Chinatown and one, I think, at a Dave and Buster’s. And that’s it. In southeast Michigan, there are tons. It’s very weird, I don’t get it. New York needs more DDR.�

You can find Justin on Twitter and Instagram at @JCov1.