Bilingual improv show on 'KONGLISH' to highlight comedy inherent in learning new language

Stand-up comedian Jordan Brown, left / Courtesy of Jordan Brown

When doing improv, performers don’t have time to worry about errors, including those of the linguistic variety. This is a feature that Jordan Brown hopes to exploit with an upcoming comedy show, titled "ASSSSDOG: KONGLISH," bridging the divide between communities with different languages through humor.

Four native Korean and five foreign-born performers, representing four monologists and five improvisers, will take to the stage for the improv comedy and storytelling show, with the Koreans acting in English and the foreigners in Korean. While the participants are all said to be fluent in the language in which they will be performing, the producer is still expecting a lot of slip-ups. In fact, he’s counting on it.

Brown, the host of the event, is a seasoned improviser who’s performed onstage in both English and Korean. However, it was when he was acting in his non-native language that he made a surprising discovery. “The biggest laughs came when I was making mistakes,” he told The Korea Times.

“For years I was very tough on myself when I would make mistakes speaking Korean. On stage, I…was forced to say exactly what was on my mind, mistakes and all… At first I felt silly, but then I realized the audience wasn't laughing at me, they were laughing with me.”

This led him to put together ASSSSDOG: KONGLISH, with the name "ASSSSDOG" being a reference to ASSSSCAT, a long-running improv show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in LA, which has become synonymous with this form of improv.

For this show, a special guest will tell true stories from real life, inspired by suggestions from the audience. The performers will then devise ad hoc scenes based on these stories. With new guests and different rosters of performers, the show is never the same twice.

The improv scene in Seoul has seen a boom in recent months, with more performances and greater numbers of people trying their hand at the art form. Inevitably, this has led to the English and Korean improv scenes coming into more frequent contact with one another and a greater number of shows including both languages.

ASSSSDOG: KONGLISH draws on the developing multiculturalism of Seoul, where people from all over the world come to live, and aims to highlight the comedy inherent in learning a new language. A “celebration of language learning and the inevitable mistakes that come with it,” the show seeks to “normalize the challenges of language learning and encourage everyone to embrace their linguistic journeys with confidence and laughter.”

Brown thinks that showing fallibility can make those acting onstage feel more relatable to the spectators. “[Audiences] can empathize with what it feels like to make a mistake in front of people,” he said.

He hopes that seeing the players onstage using the wrong vocabulary or messing up grammar and fearlessly continuing on regardless “empowers [people] to make their own mistakes.”

He also thinks that the common experience of misspeaking in front of people and the humor that can arise from it could help bring together disparate groups of people. "It is my hope that this show continues to inspire people to be kind to themselves and others when mistakes happen and laugh about it together."

The Korean cast scheduled to perform includes Ahn Se-hee, Aine, Choi Ye-na and Jeong Seong-eun. The foreign cast scheduled to perform in Korean includes Anna Rihlmann, Chambo, Tyler Yoon, Bazil Manietta and Cameron Word.

ASSSSDOG: KONGLISH will be performed at KLYDN Social Club in Gyeongnidan near Noksapyeong Station on Seoul Metro Line 6 this Friday, starting at 9 p.m. Tickets are 10,000 won at the door or via prior registration. Follow @jordanbrownactor and @kyldnsocialclub on Instagram for more information.

Rory Kelly is a writer, actor, improviser and stand-up comedian based in Seoul. He's also often spotted not quite winning pub quizzes in the Itaewon area.