Joseph Neibich — actor, producer, writer, and Tucson Weekly’s 2025 Best Comedian — has never been one to take the ordinary path. From bartending for “sexy people” in Beverly Hills to running a film festival and sharing the stage with comedy giants, his career has been a whirlwind of unexpected turns. Now, with Lights Off, he steps boldly into the world of genre filmmaking, blending horror and humor in a short film that asks the question: what if your haunting came with red lipstick, horns, and emotional baggage?
In this conversation, Neibich opens up about the blackout that sparked his twisted idea, the circus-like process of bringing it to life, and why the dark is not just scary—it might be into you. Equal parts funny, thoughtful, and delightfully unfiltered, his answers are a reminder that the best stories often come from moments of chaos, a burrito, and a well-timed exorcism.
Patrick Roy, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): You’ve had a wild ride through stand-up, Hollywood, and now genre film. What sparked the idea for Lights Off, and how did it come together as both a comedy and horror short?
Joseph Neibich (JN): Everything I do has a touch of comedy to it, but the concept really came to me quite organically. The idea for LIGHTS OFF came to me out of nowhere —well, technically it was a power outage that came out of nowhere. I was sitting in my apartment during a blackout, armed with nothing but a candle, a half-eaten burrito, and a very active imagination waiting for my girlfriend to come home. And I thought, ‘What if the dark isn’t just inconvenient… what if it’s personal?’ From there, the idea spiraled—because of course, the only logical thing to do when you’re afraid of the dark is to make a comedy-horror short film about it.
Bringing it together was like assembling a crazy circus: we brought in equal parts comedy nerds, film geeks, and a few horror freaks and voila, after a whole lot of popcorn and soda, our short film was born. The magic came from letting those worlds collide. The humor disarms you just long enough for the scares to sneak up on you. It was a lot of fun working with so many talented people.
(UM): The premise of a sexy demon haunting someone’s house is both hilarious and surreal. Did the story originate more from a place of satire, personal experience, or just pure fun?
(JN): It was 100% pure fun—with a dash of malted hops and barly and far too much time on the internet. The idea hit me while scrolling the odd side of TikTok at 2 a.m. I thought, ‘What if instead of a terrifying demonic presence, it was… hot? Like, emotionally unavailable but weirdly seductive?’ Suddenly it made perfect sense—a haunted house with the girl of your dreams. Or maybe I just needed an excuse to write a scene where someone tries to perform an exorcism in their underwear. Art is mysterious.
(UM): You wrote, acted in, and produced the film. How did juggling all those roles influence your performance and the final shape of Lights Off?
(JN): Honestly, juggling all those roles mostly just drove me to drink. Two bottles of Bordeaux to be exact. The real hero was my director, Mark Stewart Iverson, a super talented graduate of the famed UCLA School of Film —while I was running around in a hoodie with horns and fangs, trying to remember lines and if we had snacks for the crew, he was the calm in the chaos, shaping the whole thing into an actual movie instead of a nightmare with lighting issues. So if it looks good, thank him. My character wasn’t even supposed to die at the end, but after eating Jimmy Johns for breakfast lunch and dinner 3 days in a row, the crew decided to let, Kelley Whilden our brilliant lead actress, bludgeon me to death.
(UM): You were just named Best Comedian by Tucson Weekly. How did your background in stand-up inform your timing, character choices, or even the film’s structure?
(JN): I’ve always been a natural at comedy and perform corporate gigs to this day. When it comes to comedic timing, you either got it or you don’t. You get better with experience, but generally speaking I’ve seen very few people go from unfunny to funny. You’ve either got it or you don’t. When it comes to how it informed my choices in the film, it allowed me to make the piece uproariously hilarious as opposed to it being another predictable horror short. What makes our unique is, it’s not only a badass well-crafted piece of art, it’s also a lot of fun.
(UM): How do you strike the right balance between horror and humor—especially when the film hinges on jump scares, physical gags, and a seductive demon?
(JN): You must be talking about our sacred balance of horror and humor… I’m not technically allowed to reveal our exact formula, but let’s just say it involves two magic carpets, a bottle of tequila, and a little santeria. It also helps to surround yourself with super talented people like Mark Stewart Iverson, Kelley Whilden, and our DP Tomas Arceo.
It all comes down to timing—scare them, then make them laugh, then hit them with a seductive demon who may or may not be in a relationship. The goal is to keep the audience unsure whether to scream, giggle, or text their honey. Honestly, it’s less of a strategy and more of a carefully choreographed emotional rollercoaster with questionable taste. But hey, it works!
(UM): What were some creative (or hilarious) production tricks you had to use to pull off the demon effects on a short film budget?
(JN): The greatest production trick you will ever pull to make your film better is hiring talented, brilliant people who can pull off anything. Did I mention our editor was the super talented Rob Jaeger. It also helps to have a great post production team and Rob was crucial to our success.
(UM): How does your journey—from Gilbert and UofA to Paramount and Landmark—feed into the kinds of stories you want to tell today?
(JN): Like all great comedians, I’ve always pulled for the little guy. Everybody loves an underdog and I’m no exception to that.
(UM): You’re also behind the Faith in Film International Film Festival. How do you navigate the space between irreverent genre projects like Lights Off and more value-driven initiatives?
(JN): Like most artists my interests lie all over the map. I’m always switching gears. Doing it successfully comes down to building a great team and never yielding on quality or taking the easy way. You have to put in the work to have a great product and that starts with hiring men and women with an unyielding passion for the arts. And at the end of the day, everybody loves a good comedy show. It reminds us of our humanity.
(UM): What’s been the audience reaction to Lights Off so far—any surprising feedback or favorite moments when viewers really got what you were going for?
(JN): Audience reactions have been golden. They loved it at the Toronto Spring Horror Film Festival, the Arizona Film Festival, Orlando, and now we’ve been accepted at the Atlanta Film Festival and Chicago Screamfest. So far, It’s going really, really well.
(UM): Between stand-up, writing, and producing, what’s next for you? Is Lights Off the start of a new series of comedy-horror shorts, or was this a one-time romp into the absurd?
(JN): As much as I love one-time romps and other adventures into the absurd, I am definitely going to make more comedy-horror shorts and plan to develop them into a television series. When it comes to what’s next, right now I’m focused on the five features I’ve attached talented directors and actors to that I need to get funded and into production. I still book the occasional road gig, but at this point in my life I prefer spending time with the woman I love, doing small projects, and working locally while trying to get larger projects off the ground.
Til we meet again, god bless and good luck.
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