A comedy marathon in HBC

Brian Aylward, who was called: "Definitely one of the funniest and most talented comedians performing today," by Bill Jackman, owner of the famous Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.

By David Keelaghan

The world of stand-up comedy is a strange and fascinating place. As exhausting as it is exhilarating, painful as it is triumphant, and where you are surrounded by people, but completely alone all at the same time.

As far as occupations go, there are definitely easier ways to make a living ― ­Sherpa in the Himalayas maybe, removing land mines in Cambodia perhaps, how about fitness instructor for Kim Jong-un?

Yes, facing a room full of people with the sole responsibility of making them laugh is a job like no other. It takes a special breed of person, and comics often develop a special kinship only members of their unique tribe can truly understand.

Comedians, despite the sad clown cliché that often permeates, also like to have fun; it was that grand ideal that led Canadian stand-up Brian Aylward to engage on a comedy endurance test last Saturday Oct.18. at the HBC Fest.

Just like a marathon, but with jokes replacing actual running, and beer taking the place of sugar-filled energy drinks, Brian preformed 21 times at venues across Haebangchon and Kyungnidan over a ten-hour period. Beginning at Rocks Frites at 2:30, and culminating in Phillies’ basement just before midnight, if nothing else, it was an unforgettable experience for the comic from Mount Pearl, Newfoundland.

Speaking to The Korea Times this week following his record-breaking performance, Brian Aylward outlined the genesis of this particular harebrained scheme.

“I got the idea watching Steve Byrne’s documentary ‘Thirteen or Bust’ where he beat Dave Attell’s previous record of 12 performances over one night in New York. I thought it would be a cool thing to try and do at HBC Fest.”

Although the HBC/ Kyungnidan area is pretty compact, moving from venue to venue all day and night was not without its own set of logistical challenges. Sets were therefore kept short and sweet (some of the hecklers might disagree with the sweet part).

“It was 21 separate 10-minute sets, so that’s over three hours of material. As I was back in Korea, I had plenty of stories to tell, and as it was HBC Fest, messing with the crowd was obviously a big part of it too,” he said.

Not surprisingly, playing 21 times in a day meant not every audience was entirely buying what he had to sell either.

“Most of the sets went well, but there were three disasters along the way ― Pet Sounds and the Rabbit Hole during the day and my last set in Phillies at night. I came on right after a rock band in Phillies, so that wasn’t ideal, so I decided to tell the story of my worst gig ever, at my second worst gig ever, even though it wasn’t really.”

As for the worst, well as far as warm-up acts go, this one takes some beating.

“It was at an art gallery in Itaewon back in 2008. I was part of a ‘countries without borders’ passport show where artists from different countries took part. As it turned out, right before my set was a North Korea refugee who came on stage to tell his story, which was just horrific ― murder, torture, slave camps and his escape into China. Then, just as he finishes, he looks at the crowd and says: ‘Sometimes the world is a terrible place; that is why we have comedy...everybody ­ Brian Aylward!’ The irony was I couldn’t just get the hell out of there because everyone’s passport was hung on a rope across the stage as a decoration for the show.”

Brian’s connection to Korea is longstanding, having first taught English here from 2002-2005. It was during this period he finally decided to scratch a comedy itch that had been bothering him for some time.

“It started off as a bet with my girlfriend. She said if she gave up smoking for a month I had to try stand-up. I can remember my first time on stage clearly ― Nov. 11, 2005 at Rockssins Bar in Anyang. I played for 14 minutes and I was horrible, there’s no way you should go that long your first time. The day before I came back to Korea my mom pulled out a DVD I had of the set, but I couldn’t watch it all, it was that bad,” he said.

With an upcoming Asian tour encompassing dates in Hong Kong, Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, it’s safe to assume his joke-telling has become more refined since that baptism of fire in Rockssins Bar.

“It has taken me nine years to get to the point where I can confidently say ­ ‘I’m good at this’. It’s a craft; in comedy they say it takes 10 years to really know what you’re doing. Nobody is good in the beginning. Richard Pryor started off as a bad Bill Cosby imitation; George Carlin was the same. Comedy is weird; I think you have to be delusional at the start when you really do suck, because how else would you go on? Comics ask me for advice all the time, I just say write and get on a microphone. There are no tricks; you have to go through the bad ― which is why most people usually don’t last.”

Now approaching his 10th anniversary in the comedy game, staying power doesn’t appear to be a problem for Brian Aylward. Still, in all levels of entertainment, any performer is only as good as their last performance. Bearing this in mind, and remembering his late-ish start into this highly-competitive industry, the Canadian comic will be keeping himself extremely busy on the road ahead.

“I made a mini-doc for the HBC Fest, because I knew it was going to be crazy, but I wanted and embraced that. My Asian tour will be over nine countries, so I’m going to make a documentary on that experience too. Next spring I’ll record my first comedy album ― a collection of my Asian stories that I hope to have translated into Mandarin and Korean. After that will be a DVD album I make in Canada next summer. Also, I'm writing a book, basically a collection of my idiotic adventures since leaving high school in Newfoundland in 1992. I hope to have that published in late 2016.”