Irishman Aidan Killian quit investment banking in Tokyo to “save this world one laugh at a time.” Since then, he has toured the world with comedy that aims to tickle the brain as well as the funny bone, while trying to offend the least amount of people possible. Unless they deserve it. In town for his upcoming show with fellow comedians, Englishman Graham Wooding and Scotsman Ray Bradshaw, Killian offers a taste of his cultivated humour.
When did you realise you were funny?
I’m not really funny, I just have an extraordinary ability to penetrate people with my words, enter their soul and tickle their insides until they succumb to an uncontrollable fit of giggles. At about age 12 I realised I could make my fellow school inmates laugh, which was kind of like having a superpower because it became a force field to boringness and brainwashing.
You spend a large part of your life making people laugh. What makes you laugh?
I like comedy that shines light on the world, but I also like the scene in V For Vendetta where the bad cops get massacred by V. Sometimes I laugh so much I end up feeling slightly guilty. Also the sound of a well-timed, loud fart gets me every time. If you can put the two together you might actually see me roll in pain with tears in my eyes.
Stand-up comedy can be a tough gig. What’s the worst reception you’ve ever had, and how do you save a total flop act?
I once was at a gig where a drunk guy came up on stage, pushed me, took the mic and screamed at me, “YOU ARE FUCKING BRUTAL!” The same night, someone broke a bottle and demanded to be served another beer and the barman actually served him. There was no saving that gig. I just wanted to go home to my mum.
What is the audience reception like in Phnom Penh as opposed to other cities in which you’ve performed? What jokes make PP audiences tick?
What a bunch of wonderful weirdos this place attracts! There is such a mix of freedom-lovers, arty types, adventurists, sex-pats, tie-wearing teachers, losers who don’t fit in at home, dreamers, drug-lovers, drunks and general misfits. So, basically, they should be the perfect crowd for my Braveheart style of comedy. I will do my material that I have been writing all month and if it doesn’t make them tick they can suck on my shamrock-flavoured balls, which would likely make them tick.
If you could crack a laugh from anyone in the world, who would it be?
Vladamir Putin. And can I give him a hug too?
What does St. Patrick’s day mean to you?
Fuck St. Patrick’s Day. It’s an insult to mankind! It’s a day when the stupid, embarrassing, drunken Irish fools drink ‘til they puke while wearing cheap, green, silly, plastic hats made by Chinese children to honour a genocidal agent from Rome who singlehandedly destroyed the ancient druidic knowledge. Bah humbug! Seriously though, the man was not Irish, he wiped out the druids, killed the ancient knowledge and replaced them with the Church, which ultimately enslaved our great nation and so we celebrate him by getting hammered. Ghandi himself would have punched him in the face.
An Irishman, an Englishman and a Scot walk into a bar…
The Englishman puts his hand up the Scot’s kilt, the Scot hits him, they roll around the beer-stained floor but it gets steamy and they end up making out, sharing a beer with a straw and pulling each other off in the corner. The Irish guy is not judgemental but equally unsurprised. Then a super-hot American chick comes over, licks Irish guy’s face and says, “Please show me your Leprechaun.” Irish guy ends up giving hot American chick extremely powerful multiple-orgasms until she becomes at one with the entire Universe, goes backwards in time and when she comes out of her pleasure-filled state-altering trance looks at me, eh.. I mean, Irish guy… in the eyes and says, “Yeh, you were right – it turns out St. Patrick was a prick!”
Aidan Killian will perform his comedy alongside Graham Wooding and Ray Bradshaw at 8pm Friday March 20 at Equinox Bar, #3A St. 278. Tickets are $5.