By David Keelaghan
Stand Up Seoul celebrated its sixth anniversary Friday in front of a packed house at Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon, Seoul.
Events have been hosted by a variety of comedians over the years, but the one constant has been its founder, Brian Aylward.
Originally from St John's in Canada, he has traveled the world honing his craft, but South Korea still retains its allure.
Speaking to The Korea Times following the anniversary show, Aylward revealed how Stand Up Seoul got its start. "There was no stand-up scene in Korea when I first got here," he said. "I would just look for whatever open mics were happening. Through that, I met other comedians, so we used to get together at noraebangs and regurgitate on each other emotionally."
Given the dearth of venues for stand-up, he decided to start his own night in the expat-centric Itaewon area of Seoul. "I knew there had to be other people like me in Korea, so that's how Stand Up Seoul started," Aylward said. "The first night I think we had nine people on stage and 60 people in the audience. It has always had a good following, ever since that first night. It's been awesome. It's great to see really genuinely funny people doing their thing."
Joining him on stage last Friday were comics Rudy Tyburczy from Oregon in the United States, Nevada Rhodes from Las Vegas, Rob Fioretta from Philadelphia and Jeff Sinclair from Winnipeg, Canada. With close to 100 people in attendance, it made for a memorable birthday for the Stand Up Seoul crew.
Fioretta first arrived in Korea in 2008 and his search for comedy venues soon brought him to the Rocky Mountain Tavern.
"I had been looking for a comedy night in Korea but there really weren't many out there," he said. "Brian had been doing open mic nights for a few years, and before too long I found Stand Up Seoul, which had started in 2009."
Tyburczy also landed on the peninsula in 2008 and began doing stand-up in 2010. He was the host of the night on Friday.
He gave his view on what makes a good comic.
"Chris Rock says the difference between a good comedian and a great comedian is that a great comedian doesn't care what the audience thinks," he said. "You have to know what your viewpoint is and go for it. Sometimes the crowd won't be on board, but you have to be ready for that."
In the world of stand-up comedy, having an event reach its sixth year is a significant milestone in itself. Having it reach that age while still regularly attracting a full house is another big success. Regardless, those at Stand Up Seoul still have further ambitions for their events.
"I think the stand-up scene is a lot like the hip hop scene here; it's underground," said Aylward. "The next level for Stand Up Seoul, or any other comedy night, is to get more Koreans involved. That's what I want to see. It would be amazing for us if we could get more Koreans to come. We need to encourage that."
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| Brian Aylward of Stand Up Seoul performs at a sixth-anniversary show on March 6. / Michele Farley |
Events have been hosted by a variety of comedians over the years, but the one constant has been its founder, Brian Aylward.
Originally from St John's in Canada, he has traveled the world honing his craft, but South Korea still retains its allure.
Speaking to The Korea Times following the anniversary show, Aylward revealed how Stand Up Seoul got its start. "There was no stand-up scene in Korea when I first got here," he said. "I would just look for whatever open mics were happening. Through that, I met other comedians, so we used to get together at noraebangs and regurgitate on each other emotionally."
Given the dearth of venues for stand-up, he decided to start his own night in the expat-centric Itaewon area of Seoul. "I knew there had to be other people like me in Korea, so that's how Stand Up Seoul started," Aylward said. "The first night I think we had nine people on stage and 60 people in the audience. It has always had a good following, ever since that first night. It's been awesome. It's great to see really genuinely funny people doing their thing."
Joining him on stage last Friday were comics Rudy Tyburczy from Oregon in the United States, Nevada Rhodes from Las Vegas, Rob Fioretta from Philadelphia and Jeff Sinclair from Winnipeg, Canada. With close to 100 people in attendance, it made for a memorable birthday for the Stand Up Seoul crew.
Fioretta first arrived in Korea in 2008 and his search for comedy venues soon brought him to the Rocky Mountain Tavern.
"I had been looking for a comedy night in Korea but there really weren't many out there," he said. "Brian had been doing open mic nights for a few years, and before too long I found Stand Up Seoul, which had started in 2009."
Tyburczy also landed on the peninsula in 2008 and began doing stand-up in 2010. He was the host of the night on Friday.
He gave his view on what makes a good comic.
"Chris Rock says the difference between a good comedian and a great comedian is that a great comedian doesn't care what the audience thinks," he said. "You have to know what your viewpoint is and go for it. Sometimes the crowd won't be on board, but you have to be ready for that."
In the world of stand-up comedy, having an event reach its sixth year is a significant milestone in itself. Having it reach that age while still regularly attracting a full house is another big success. Regardless, those at Stand Up Seoul still have further ambitions for their events.
"I think the stand-up scene is a lot like the hip hop scene here; it's underground," said Aylward. "The next level for Stand Up Seoul, or any other comedy night, is to get more Koreans involved. That's what I want to see. It would be amazing for us if we could get more Koreans to come. We need to encourage that."
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