AS a student Tanael ‘TJ’ Joachim appeared destined for a desk in a sleek boardroom at the top of a glinting skyscraper.
The former class president had different ideas though. After graduating from college where he studied business management and political science, he decided to pursue a career in stand-up.
And a shrewd decision it has proved to be with the 37-year-old now a regular performer at some of New York’s hottest clubs including the world-famous Comedy Cellar, Gotham Comedy Club and Eastville Comedy Club.
Next month, as part of the North West Migrants Forum’s Black History Month programme, TJ will begin the European tour of his new show ‘An Alien Everywhere’ with a gig in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall. And he’s excited about it.
“It will be my first time in Northern Ireland and I’m really looking forward to it because I’ve heard so much about Belfast. I’m a big fan of Game of Thrones and I know a lot of it is filmed there. So I can’t wait to visit, I’ve heard a lot of positives about the city.”
Tanael Joachim describes his family’s journey to the US as “your classic immigration story”, one where his parents left their native Haiti in search of a better life.
It was while trying to get to grips with his new world that TJ first caught the comedy bug.
“I wanted to immerse myself in American culture as much as I could. In Haiti we don’t speak English, we speak French and Haitian Creole. So I read and watched everything I could get my hands on and it turned out that stand-up comedy helped me the most.
“The more I watched it, the more I fell in love with it until it became something I couldn’t ignore.”
TJ’s interest in comedy began to surface just as future luminaries like Kevin Hart and Chris Rock were starting to make their mark. But it was an older name that inspired him above all.
“I was watching my contemporaries but they never made me feel it was something I could do. It was when I started watching the legends, that’s when I felt something deeper. I don’t know if that means I’m an old soul. My North Star is an Irish American, George Carlin, born in New York, one of the most prolific comedians and one of the greatest commentators on politics, on culture and on human beings. He has inspired me more than anyone else.”
As previously alluded to, TJ’s road to comedy wasn’t an obvious one, at least not as a schoolboy.
“I was never the class clown. In fact I was an A student and class president. But I always identified with the funny kids and I enjoyed what they got up to. But because I was top of the class, it was my job to discipline and chastise them.
“Growing up I was a disciplinarian until I got older and began to forge my own path. Then I decided to do what I had always enjoyed, making people laugh.”
Much has changed in the 15 or so years since TJ first stepped into the spotlight. The biggest of those developments has been the social media onslaught.
“To be a comedian in the modern era, you have to run it like a business,” he explained.
“You still have to go on stage and perform but you also need to be a social media person, you have to edit and cut reels, you have to put subtitles on videos, you have to do your own scheduling and marketing. It’s much tougher now than when I started out.”
Something else that has changed in recent years is how many in society view asylum seekers, refugees and people of colour in general.
“It’s interesting because I think there are different kinds of racism in America today. You have the subtle kind and you have the more open kind. Because of who our president is right now I think some people feel emboldened, almost as if they have been given permission.
“But it’s part of the American fabric and I don’t let it get to me. When someone is being racist they aren’t telling me anything about me, they are letting me know something about themselves. That’s how I look at it.”
Unlike the loud, rapid pace of many of his peers, TJ’s comedy style tends to be laid back, smooth and conversational. And when he walks on to the stage of the Waterfront Hall on October 28, expect potentially explosive topics such as race, politics and gender to be raked over with a humour that is as sharp as it is cool and intelligent.
“In general Europeans are a bit more polite and reserved in how they enjoy comedy,” he said. “They aren’t as gregarious as Americans. The Americans give it to you, they are big and boisterous and loud.
“The Irish are big laughers too which I love. I meet loads of Irish people here in New York and I always enjoy them, they always make me laugh.”
TJ will perform at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, on October 28, supported by local boxer-turned-comedian Tommy McCarthy. Tickets are on sale now: The Alien Everywhere| 28 October 2026 | Waterfront Hall Studio
Tanael Joachim’s performance is part of the North West Migrants Forum’s Black History Month programme, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Housing Executive.
