There's more to Byrne than being Asian | The Honolulu Advertiser

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There's more to Byrne than being Asian | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Friday, October 9, 2009

There's more to Byrne than being Asian

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Comedian Steve Byrne refers to his half-Korean, half-Irish heritage as "the elephant in the room" that he touches on in his act. "You have to address it and move on," he says.

STEVE BYRNE

Pipeline Café

8 p.m. Wednesday (Doors open 7 p.m.)

877-71-GROOV, www.groovetickets.com

$20, $40

Steve Byrne will always give a nod to his heritage when performing his standup routine.

He figures that if he doesn't identify that he's half Korean, half Irish, some audience members may have trouble moving on.

It doesn't hurt that his material is funny, either.

"It's the elephant in the room, you know what I mean," Byrne explained during a recent telephone interview. "You have to address it and move on. It's like a fat comedian has to address his obesity with a few jokes and move on. For me, people see me and think 'Asian? What is he?'

"But it's never really been the backbone of my act. It used to be a bigger part than it is now, but that changed when I went to China with Vince (Vaughn of the movie "Couples Retreat") and people kept asking me what I was. I kept saying 'American, half-Korean, half-Irish.' It got me thinking that really, I'm American first."

Hence, "The Byrne Identity" was born.

So, who is the new Steve Byrne?

He's a workaholic comedian who finds humor in everything. He interacts with his audiences, makes fun of himself — and maybe some of them — and guarantees plenty of laughs.

After his performance at Pipeline Café Wednesday night, he'll continue doing standup until later this year, when he films his second comedy special for Comedy Central, "The Byrne Identity." His first, which aired last year, was "Steve Byrne's Happy Hour." He averages anywhere from three to eight standup gigs a week.

He's had a bit of hard luck. His scenes were cut from both "Couples Retreat," which opened last weekend, and from "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard."

He's a learner. During our interview, he was staying at an Indian Casino in California where he was performing, but he's refused to gamble ever since he lost money doing a regular gig (it lasted more than two years) at a Las Vegas room a few years ago.

Mostly, Byrne is an American, and proud of it. He was in New York during 9/11 and saw his brother enlist following the attack. That spurred Byrne to pester the USO into letting him tour for the troops. He got his first taste of overseas duty when he joined Colin Quinn to perform for the troops in Baghdad — where Byrne's brother was stationed. He enjoyed it so much, he's since performed for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and wants to go back.

"Those are the best shows to do," he said. "The guys appreciate it because it's something for them to do. I love touring for the troops, and I love it when I'm at a gig in a place like Kansas and a soldier walks up and says 'I saw you in Baghdad or Afghanistan.' That means a lot."

Besides the Comedy Central specials, Byrne recently auditioned to perform on Jay Leno's new show, as well as "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." Both said yes, he said, and he also is pitching sitcom pilots with Vaughn to networks.

"The people who go to Pipeline will see some material from 'The Byrne Identity,' Byrne said. "I guarantee it will be one of the funniest shows you'll ever see."

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