Stand-up comedian Danny Cho strives for comedy like 'ripened kimchi'

Stand-up comedian Danny Cho quit his stable job to pursue comedy, making people laughing his priority. Cho challenges himself with shows in Korea, where stand-up comedy is less prevalent.

Stand-up comedian Danny Cho [CHOI YOUNG-JAE]

“You should make people laugh at least three times a minute. That’s stand-up comedy. Otherwise, it's just a lecture,” stand-up comedian Danny Cho said.

With no props other than a microphone, the comedian makes people burst into laughter from the stage. Ever since he was young, the now 41-year-old comedian has loved making people laugh. He majored in economics at the University of California, Los Angeles. After graduating, he landed a high-paying job at a consulting firm. But he didn't give up on his comedy career, and after work he would go to perform on stage. Stand-up comedy meant more to him than anything else in his life.

“I knew what I wanted, so I quit my job because I didn’t want to regret it later.” His family, however, was not so supportive.

“My parents used to call me ‘my boy’ when I had a stable job, but they began to call me ‘that dude’ after I quit,” Cho said with a laugh.

Cho has been doing stand-up comedy since he was a college student, now for more than 20 years, in the United States, often dubbed the home of stand-up comedy. He made a name for himself by appearing on TV shows in the States.

“For me, what’s more important than money is doing what I love to do,” Cho said. He gained his footing stateside around 2017 but decided to challenge himself to something new. Thus, he came to Korea, where stand-up comedy has a much smaller presence.

He began staging shows by gathering people who were interested in stand-up comedy. He encouraged colleagues to “focus on what they like instead of the number of likes or followers [on SNS]” and “pay attention to the 90 out of 100 people who like their style and ignore the rest.” By continually doing comedy shows, Cho was able to hone his technique, and the stand-up clips uploaded by him onto YouTube, YouTube Shorts and other social networking services have earned him 55 million views so far.

The following are edited excerpts from the interview with Cho.

Q. What made you settle down in Korea? A. I initially came to Korea thinking that I would stay here for two years. One day I happened to see the performance of [Korean comedian group] Psick Univ near Hongdae. After watching the performance, I shared my tips with them such as where to take a breath during a performance and how to liven up the mood. I acted like a kkondae. [Kkondae refers to older people who are often stuck in their ways and condescending.]

They were looking at me with faces like, ‘Who do you think you are? And why are you telling us what to do and what not to do?’ I thought I had to show them my comedy. I was also wondering whether my comedy would work in Korea or not. I staged a show in Hongdae the following week. People loved my show. At that time, I thought to myself that I might be the one who could develop stand-up comedy in Korea.

What are some goals you wish to achieve in the near future? I want to have a stable source of income in Korea just by doing stand-up comedy. In the States, stand-up comedians can earn up to 50 billion won [$37 million] by touring across the states without TV show appearances. I know it’s hard to expect that in Korea, but I hope the stand-up comedy scene grows big so that my peers and I can earn enough while doing this. My personal goal is to be respected by big shots like Dave Chappelle, whom I admire.

Do you feel different reactions from Korean and American audiences? They often say Korean audiences are conservative, but sometimes American audiences are more conservative regarding political correctness. There’s a difference, though. Americans laugh when they feel like laughing even if the people sitting next to them are not. But Koreans try to hold back their laughter when others are not laughing.

Does that make it difficult to perform in Korea? Not really. I believe Koreans will gradually accept and enjoy some hardcore, strong jokes. About 20 years ago, nobody [in Korea] took hip-hop seriously. They didn’t even think of it as a genre of music, but now it’s always included as one of the tracks by popular singers. Like hip-hop, I hope stand-up comedy will become a pillar in the comedy scene in a few years. I believe it will happen someday.

You launched a nationwide stand-up comedy tour titled “Korean Dream” in March. Tickets sold out in major cities such as Seoul and Busan, right? I didn’t expect to have so many people come and watch the show. I decided to launch the show on a whim. I was like ‘Okay, let’s just do it.’ I hope many people will discover the charm of stand-up comedy through the show.

What makes a good comedy show? My definition of good comedy is similar to ripened kimchi. I don’t want to be famous overnight, being blessed by algorithms. I don’t want to jump on the bandwagon by following trends. If you mimic some popular memes or certain concepts, you can make people laugh a couple of times, but that’s it. Good comedy makes people laugh not only during specific periods, but all the time. If you just follow the trend, your comedy loses character.

What are the charms of stand-up comedy? I tell my joke and the audience bursts into laughter. You get feedback instantly. There’s no better feeling than this. I also believe it is a genre in which you can discover various characteristics of comedians and different kinds of stand-up comedy. For example, some stand-up comedians tell short jokes, while others develop longer stories and make you laugh at the end.

What are your imminent goals? I hope I can perform as long as possible. I still get nervous and excited before I begin a show. Comedy is my life. I want to challenge sketch comedy. The latest trend in the comedy scene is making people laugh by demonstrating situations most people are familiar with. People laugh because they relate to the situation. But it’s sympathy, not funny jokes. Someday, I want to proudly say that I contributed to the foundation of stand-up comedy in Korea.

BY WON DONG-WOOK [kjdculture@joongang.co.kr]