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Emphasis. EMPHASIS!
—Josh Nichols
I knew who Josh Peck was from his work on The Amanda Show, but it was undoubtedly his work on Drake & Josh where I realized how funny of a comedic actor he is. He never seems to shy away from shouting or screaming a line, making a wacky face, or doing a bit of crazy physical comedy. His Josh Nichols character, and also Jerry Trainor's Crazy Steve character, are definitely the funniest in the show—even funnier, I think, than the Drake Parker character.
I have read some remarks online that showed annoyance and disapproval of his overacting
in Drake & Josh, but I think that, in a comedy, this is precisely what provides the best type of humor: be loud, be outrageous, be over-the-top, do ridiculously absurd physical comedy, make bizarre and exaggerated faces, play outlandish characters, scream all your lines! I never really did understand that whole deadpan thing, and generally I don't find it very funny.
He also lost a great deal of weight during the original run of Drake & Josh (good for him), and you can tell very easily which season an episode belongs to by looking at Josh's physique: if he is fat, then you're watching season 1 or 2; if he's only a little bit chubby, then you're watching season 3; and if he's not overweight at all, then you're watching season 4. (Quite a helpful indicator, isn't it?)