How My Disability Changed My Comedy... by Andie Hong

When I first started comedy, my subjects were about everything except myself. I parodied movies, made fun of pop culture, and even created absurd stories about news from around the world. Who would be interested in stories of some Korean immigrant, I thought. People told me that they had never seen stand up like mine. I was proud, but my sets were hits and misses. Some people loved it so much and some people.... just didn’t get it (I’m proud to say that I never had eggs thrown at me).

After doing a set on Bottomless Pit at The Ossington, I asked Rebecca of Laugh Sabbath if I could be on the show. She didn’t criticize my set, but simply commented that my style wasn’t what their audiences liked. “What do audiences want to hear?” I asked. She said people like something personal and relatable. As unique as it was, my comedy was neither. That’s when I turned to my own experiences. I told stories of what my mom was sending me from Korea, having to watch Queer As Folk with my dad and the aftermath, as well as my failed dating stories (oh, yes, the most universal subject you could find in stand up comedy). Deep down, I think I was ashamed to talk about myself because I didn’t grow up in North America. I didn’t have a Canadian or American upbringing. That’s why I had to talk about something, anything but myself.

On March 1st, 2020, I had a great set on Crimson Wave at Comedy Bar. Audiences were telling me after that my set was very relatable because they had similar experiences. I was thrilled. It was my story of unintentionally watching Queer As Folk with my dad in Korea. I guess being a fan of gay shows is universal! On the same day, I was notified that I will be showcasing for Just for Laughs three weeks later. I honestly couldn’t believe it. I was born cynical and always believed good things never happen to me. But towards the end of March, it was inevitable that a lockdown was happening. ... and it did. The showcase got cancelled, I lost my job, fell into a deep depression and... I became disabled. I was right, good things never happen to me.

I was still a beginner cyclist meaning I fell down a lot. My legs were covered with bruises, but I was getting better at it. I practiced everyday and as a bit of an OCD person, I liked to practice at a specific time everyday. When my friend wanted to hang out around my bike practice time, I decided to incorporate the bike practice into our hang out. I was telling him how clumsy and bad I am at cycling. I showed him my bruises and remember vividly saying, “I have to go bike riding with someone in case the person has to call an ambulance for me because I will probably fall.” My friend thought Lakeshore would be a good place to bike around, but to get there we have to ride down a steep hill on Logan avenue. I told him that I had never rode uphill or downhill before. He asked me if my bike had gears. I said yes and he said it should be fine. I thought if he thinks it’s fine, it should be okay.

Once the road became really steep, my heart started racing. I was going too fast. I checked my gears over and over. Yes, this is the highest gear I can get, but it was still too fast. I screamed at my friend “this is too fast!”. He screamed back saying “it’s okay you’re just not used to that speed.” I decided to slow down by pulling on my brakes. I squeezed a little and the next moment I remember, I was laying down on pavement. Two pedestrians who saw the accident hurried over to me. My first thought was “Damnit, I broke my glasses”, but other than that, I felt fine. I checked my glasses and saw that they weren’t broken. I was very relieved and tried to get up. It felt like I had no bones left in my right leg followed by immense pain. I screamed and fell again. A nice lady who saw my accident called 911 for me. I was still positive that my leg would be fine and I will go home soon. I could never have predicted that I wouldn’t be home for the next 3 months.

A few days later I was admitted, the surgeon came to my room and showed me the x-ray from his phone. He said he had performed over a thousand surgeries and this is one of the worst fractures he had ever seen. My entire tibia in right leg was fractured and had to be replaced with metal pins and screws. The worst part of it all, I won’t be able to walk maximum 2 years. I was so devastated; I could not stop crying. Until hearing that diagnosis, the only reason I cried was at how bad the food was at St. Michael’s hospital, but now I’m crying for an actual reason. God, I shouldn’t have trusted male comedians! (It was a male comedian I went a bike riding with).

Since my injury was so severe and the fact that I’m a poor immigrant with no family (I have to admit I played the poor immigrant role a bit too much so I could go to rehab), the hospital decided to send me to rehab. At the rehab, I really started to identify as disabled. Probably because I was in a wheelchair all the time. Wheelchairs can give you that kind of illusion, you know? Now that I’m on crutches, I identify as a cripple with a fat knee.

I immensely enjoyed my time at the rehab facility. I was surrounded by old disabled people and we instantly connected. The age didn’t matter when it came to disability. None of us could walk and that was okay. We were are all disabled... TOGETHER. The best part was that old people are funny! Every time I posted what happened at the rehab, a lot of people loved it. Rehab was where I gathered most of my new material. I was booked several shows while I was there. But my rehab stay was so much longer than what people or even I expected. By the time I was discharged, the second lockdown was about to start.

I haven’t performed since March and I honestly don’t know when that will be. Next time I perform, I will come on to the stage with crutches and tell them I quit stand up comedy because I can’t stand up anymore. While I’ve forgotten a lot of my old jokes, now I have a pile of new jokes truly about myself. I don’t know how many people will relate to my new bits, but I can certainly tell that it will be very personal.

Andie Hong - @AndieHongFilm