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www.groovekorea.com / November 2014 84 Edited by Jenny Na (jenny@groovekorea.com) COMMuNITy Killin’ it in Korea Story by Ian Henderson / Photos by Darrell Aylward “W hat’s the best thing about living in Korea?” “Thailand.” That’s how comedian Brian Aylward responded when he was interviewed about life in Korea in these very pages a few years ago. He was leaving Asia then for the second time, and al- though it was a funny joke, you could tell there was an element of truth to it. That said, comedians must always be equipped with a sense of irony as well as sarcasm, because he’s back for round three on the peninsula. Korea will serve as his launch pad for a stand-up tour taking in most of Asia, as well as his base of operations for the foreseeable future. Aylward kicked things off with a marathon 20 sets in one day at each of the 20 HBC Fest venues on Oct. 18. The feat gives him a stand-up comedy record that breaks the previous record of 13. He followed that up with a six-day run through Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Up next, he’ll tour Indone- sia, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam from Nov. 27 to Dec. 13, with possible dates in India, Thai- land and the Philippines. He plans to top it all off with gigs in Korea next year. Aylward’s return brings his story, close to a de- cade in the making, full circle. Like many of us, he was here in his 20s as a lost soul. Then one day in 2005, he got up on stage in Anyang to take his first swing at comedy. After returning to his native Canada and a stint performing there, he and his wife returned for financial reasons on their second proverbial tour of duty, which ended in late 2010. It was during that second period in Korea that Aylward really came into his own as a performer. He started the local institution Stand Up Seoul, did shows all over Asia and arguably helped nurture Comedian Brian Aylward starts his third stint in Korea with a mega tour of Asia ‘I left Stand Up Seoul in great hands.… They are doing a great job and it is awesome to see stand-up comedy alive and well in South Korea.’ Brian Aylward
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