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71 ‘You don’t turn into a different person on stage; you turn into a different energy source. If people feel your energy, it’s better than any drug you can possibly take.’ Enda Whitney “I like the pressure. It adds an edge to what you’re doing. The pres- sure, those little nerves, you need those nerves or you shouldn’t be doing it,” admits Enda Whitney. As I sit down with the Irish comedian at a coffee shop on a hu- mid summer day, I can already tell this is going to be fun. The enthusiasm literally drips off him as he sings each word. “You don’t turn into a different person on stage; you turn into a different energy source,” he explains. “If people feel your energy, it’s better than any drug you can possibly take. If I’m buzzing after a show, I’ve really achieved something.” Whitney came to Korea fresh off the famed Irish stand-up comedy cir- cuit, where he was well known to organizers as an audience favorite. After touring around Ireland and commanding some of its biggest stages, here he is now, years later in Seoul, still making us laugh. “When I got to Korea, I fell in love with (comedy) all over again,” says Whitney, the youngest of six from a small town in the Midlands of Ireland. As a result of his crowded upbringing, he never takes anything too serious- ly with his friends and family, explaining that when hard times happen, you have to put a positive spin on them and make people laugh. This, he says, is the Irish way. But in spite of any sort of shared cultural affinities for good humor and high spirits, Whitney remains modest about his beginnings in standup: “I always liked comedy, but never really had any aspiration to go into it.” He describes his 2009 entrance into performing in the same way that some guys might recall getting their first tattoo: He accidentally stumbled into it when he lost a bet with some friends. After losing said fateful bet (he declines to elaborate on the circumstanc- es), Whitney’s punishment was to skydive out of a plane during the day before performing a seven-minute open mic set later that evening. Of the experience, he says, “The sky diving was the less scary part of the day.” That may be true, but both plunges appeared to be suc- cessful; not long after that, he was booked to do gigs all over Ireland. What’s interesting about the comedy scene in Seoul is that the audience can feature any random assortment of people from all over the globe. Bearing this in mind, you need to figure out who’s in your audience and what it is they want to hear. “The greatest satisfaction is when you can relate to people from all around the world,” says Whitney. “Living in Seoul has given me the ability and opportunity to draw on situations and stories from my life and make people from any- where laugh.” Not very long ago, Seoul barely had a comedy scene to speak of; now, there’s a thriving one. The Spotlight Comedy Club run by BH Productions was the first to regularly bring professional comics to the city and give locals and expats a chance to perform. Whitney is working on creating a bigger and bolder comedy scene in Korea. To get the ball rolling, he founded the Ag Gaire Comedy Club at the Harp Bar in Bundang’s Jeongja district. Ag Gaire, which means laughter in the Irishman’s native tongue, runs every second Friday. ‘The greatest satisfaction is when you can relate to people from all around the world. Living in Seoul has given me the ability and opportunity to draw on situations and stories from my life and make people from anywhere laugh.’ Enda Whitney MorE INFo j Whitney will be performing at multiple comedy venues all around Korea in the next few months. Check out his Facebook page for more information. Website fb.com/enda.whitney