Fin: The curious case of Jay Johnston

Straight actors are still allowed to play gay, a night at the movies, an unoriginal fake moon landing movie, and more in this week's notes column.

 Of all the people arrested for their roles in the January 6 insurrection, only one was a major figure of consequence in the sketch comedy boom of the 1990s. 

That man was Jay Johnston, an original cast member of Mr. Show and an actor who went on to have roles on Arrested Development and Bob’s Burgers before later appearing in Anchorman.

He’s best known for the Mr. Show bit in which he repeatedly knocks over a valuable collection of thimbles:

For a while after the January 6 attack, there started to be whispers that a guy there looked kind of like Johnston. But it sounded like a joke or maybe a meme gone wrong. 

But no, it was him. Johnston was arrested in the summer of 2023 and brought up on four charges, including felony obstruction of officers during civil disorder. Even before that, he had been dropped from the “Jimmy Pesto” role on Bob’s Burgers. 

NBC News reporter Ryan J. Reilly — author of the excellent book “Sedition Hunters” — reported this week that Johnston will plead guilty to charges in the chase. 

I noticed something interesting this week: In the whole saga that has stretched out for over three years, I have seen no reporting deep dive about Johnston, his radicalization, or what exactly led him down that particular path, from cutting-edge comedy to insurrection. His ex-co-stars have been reluctant to talk about him, but I’m surprised this fascinating story hasn’t been told. 

When I posed this question on X a few days ago, I got a quote-tweet from a woman claiming to be Johnston’s fiancee: 

My reply?