It’s balmy for a Saturday night in mid-November and the inside of the Howlin’ Wolf is no exception. The Den, the wolf pack’s enclave for New Orleans’ up-and-coming avant-garde artist cubs, is packed wall to wall, with even a few huddled on the floor.

Before Poose the Puppet returns to the stage (after a brief hiatus performing under said moniker), The Joker of New Orleans, a 45/45 cross between Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix but more James Spader in jawline and vocal cadence, lurks behind the curtain. For someone with over 200k followers on social media, he cuts an oddly enigmatic figure, leaving the crowd to wonder what his sideshow spectacle will have in store. If it leans toward his infamous Instagram reels of Bourbon Street hijinks, it will be comedy-meets-mentalism where he predicts, as best he can, from his audience’s various horo(or horror)scopes, their maiden names and more.

While we won’t divulge The Joker’s joke or magic formulas here, we catch up with the New Orleans native son for a glimpse into the mind behind the mischief. He grew up on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain and remembers the exact moment magic took hold. “I first picked up magic in high school after learning a single magic trick,” he says. “I became obsessed with the reactions that I got from it and needed to learn more.” That obsessive curiosity defines everything he does onstage, as does a sense of irony he considers central to the human condition. “I consider myself to be a funny person but the term ‘comedian’ conjures a certain mental image. The human condition is inherently ironic, absurd, and funny. So I try to embody that in my daily life, including my performances.”

Of course, with a name like The Joker, people naturally reach for cinematic comparisons and he doesn’t shy away from them. “All of the movie portrayals of the Joker appeal to me in one way or another,” he says, though one rises above the rest. “But Heath Ledger’s portrayal is visually the darkest visual portrayal of the character in a movie to date. And I really appreciate that deviation from what was the norm before him.”

That darkness — the kind born not of cruelty but of emotional weather — intersects neatly with the city he calls home. “I feel like I relate to New Orleans in the sense that it has a history filled with tragedy and mystery. But it is resilient,” he reflects. “As many times as hell and high water has swept this city away, it rebuilds and celebrates. I like to think that I stand as a sort of embodiment for what this city is and what it’s all about.” That kinship led to Carnival City, the immersive show he and a friend (Sir Sanguine)] built as a love letter to the place that shaped him. 

Sanguine remembers the idea taking shape long before either of them had a stage. “We decided to try our hand on the street because we both had a deep rooted interest in it,” he says. “The next day we became street performers.” Even as they parted ways to study different branches of magic, the concept lingered. “We formed the idea that eventually became Carnival City on day one.”

After COVID, they reunited with a venue in Lake Charles willing to take a chance. “We put our first Carnival City show together… and now we have a whole production company that tours four or more times a year,” Sanguine says. He describes the result as “a New Orleans Vaudeville one-of-a-kind theatrical experience” that brings drag, burlesque, magic, music, and more to every city they touch—“the spirit of the city” packed into a traveling spectacle.

And while The Joker’s stage presence radiates mischief, his encounters with audiences can turn unexpectedly intimate. “All of my interactions are strange,” he admits. “What I do is innately weird and people are as well.” 

One moment in the French Quarter stands out. 

He had been talking to a woman at Apothecary when a number suddenly popped into his mind. “I wrote it on the back of a business card, handed it to her and explained to her that it may be meaningless.”

But it wasn’t. The woman burst into tears; the number aligned with the date of a personal tragedy. 

“I ended up hugging her for about 10 minutes as she cried on my shoulder,” he says. Her husband stood by, just as baffled, but less shaken. “They both proceeded to have many questions after that. That was an odd one for sure.”

Odd, yes, but it fits. In a city where mystery is its own currency, The Joker of New Orleans is simply the one brave enough to spend it.

The Joker will perform Friday, Nov. 28 at 10:30 p.m. at The Allways Lounge, 2240 St. Claude Avenue. He will perform with comedian Adam Beard and drag by Tara Hole Royale. Doors open at 10 p.m. Tickets are available here.