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Comedy Night at the Kingston May 28, 2009

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“My name is Andrew Christian John von Rosenbach-Torbeke. If you can pronounce it properly on the first try I’ll buy you a beer.”

They say if you can get someone saying yes in the first 30 seconds of a negotiation, it’s a done deal. The same is true for comedy — if all it takes is saying your name to get the audience laughing, you know it’s going to be a good night.

And tomorrow night is certainly going to be a great one at The Kingston in downtown Vancouver on 755 Richards (between Georgia and Robson) (map). Every Monday and Thursday night, 9:30-11:00, the restaurant hosts some of the hottest comedy gigs in town. Tomorrow’s show is no exception. Headlining is winner of Vancouver’s Funniest Comic Competition, Phil Hanley, as well as Richard Lett, Alicia Tobin, and two newcomers to the comic stage, James Masters and Andrew Von Rosenbach.

I had a chance to catch up with ACJvRT (he usually just goes by Andrew) before the show and learn what it’s like to be a new comedian on the scene. Check out the full interview below and come see Andrew perform live tomorrow night at the Kingston.

UPDATE: check out Andrew’s two songs he performed last night, “Fuck War (A Protest Song)” and “Secret Admirer“. Go Andrew!

   

MWJ: What’s your name, how old are you, where are you from, what’s something funny about you?

ACJvRT: My full name is Andrew Christian John von Rosenbach-Torbeke. If you can pronounce it properly on the first try I’ll buy you a beer. I’m 23, and grew up in Burlington, Ontario…that’s right next to Hamilton, the Pittsburgh of Canada. Something funny about me is my face. Also, technically I’m a Baron, thanks to some roundabout conquerings in the dark ages, so you can add that on to the front of my name.

MWJ: Are either of your parents comedians?

ACJvRT: Look at what they named me. If they aren’t, they should be.

MWJ: What did they say when they found out you were funny?

ACJvRT: “Hopefully that will make up for his face.” Actually my parents are some of my biggest supporters, although my mom thinks I make too many gay jokes about myself. Hey, it gets laughs mom, deal with it.

MWJ: Do you think some people are just born funny?

ACJvRT: Uhh, yes and no. Someone like Will Ferrell, he’s just a funny guy, he can just say a completely normal and boring statement and somehow you’re laughing at it. But funny can be learned, and I’m sure he didn’t start off being effortlessly hilarious. Especially live performance comedy, you just don’t start off good at it. Nobody does.

MWJ: Did you struggle with your funniness as a child?

ACJvRT: Well, I struggled with frequent public erections as a child, which in retrospect is quite funny, so I suppose I can answer “yes.” But yeah, I was kind of a loner. I figure skated and did musical theatre, so I didn’t have a ton in common with the other kiddies I guess. Thankfully I’ve been able to turn those depressing years of solitude into my A-material. If you can’t laugh at yourself, everyone else is still probably laughing at you, so you might as well tell some jokes about it.

MWJ: When did you first come out and show the world just how funny you are?

ACJvRT: Ahhh, good question. My first stand up gig was in March, I did a song and a normal stand-up bit, and it was like… one of the top 5 moments in my life. Getting laughs is like a drug, and I really can’t get enough of it. But like I said, I did a lot of acting and stuff when I was a kid, and even then they knew “this kid’s going to ruin all of our serious scenes, might as well just let him make an ass of himself.” I guess I’ve always known comedy is kind of my thing, I just never really contemplated getting up on stage until I finished my undergrad and realized that I had nothing productive to do with my free time. So now I write jokes and songs with jokes.

MWJ: What do you like most about being a comedian?

ACJvRT: The fact that I can walk out onto stage and say “So I’ve got a huge penis” in front of a group of strangers and nobody thinks anything of it. Some people actually think “Oh boy, this is gonna be good, I hope he takes this premise and just RUNS WITH IT.” Also getting one (1) free beer on the nights when I get booked for shows. That’s probably the biggest perk of being a comedian. Seriously though, it’s THE LAUGHS! I’m a whore for approval, I just like people liking me. I like making people I don’t know laugh, I know I’m gonna get the pity laughs from my friends because hey, you better laugh, douchebags! But yeah, it’s a pretty big rush to know that people who don’t HAVE to laugh at my jokes still laugh at them. I know that’s basically the entire premise of stand-up comedy, but still, it’s 100% why I do it, and it hasn’t gotten old yet.

MWJ: Who has to put up with all your bad jokes? Does (s)he still think you’re funny?

ACJvRT: My girlfriend has to put up with them the most, but my at-home humour is very different from my on-stage humour. My at home humour revolves a lot more around baby talk, doing stupid dance moves in the living room and dry humping my girlfriend while she’s trying to fold the laundry. Also, she’s Japanese, and she taught me all the bad words in Japanese so I shout them out a lot and use them as nicknames for her. It’s funny to ME, dammit! (But I love her very much)

MWJ: Give us a lyric or two to tide us over until we get to hear you belt it out tomorrow night.

ACJvRT: “You bring the rice cooker, I’ll bring the grilled cheese/ And I’ll bring home the bacon, as long as you bring your collection of pirated DVDs”. That’s a line from a new one i’m still working on, it’s about a special brand of interracial love known as the “vancouver special” (asian woman, caucasian man). I’m not playing that one tomorrow though, it just popped into my head because of question 8. It’s funnier when I sing it, I promise.

MWJ: Anything else you’d like to say?

ACJvRT: Well, first, thanks to Matt for the interview, this is cyber awesome! Thanks to Johnny Scoop for helping me while I’m starting out and booking me for the show tomorrow night. Mondays and Thursdays at the Kingston Bar and Grill on Richards, come out and support Vancouver’s stand up scene! Thanks to whoever reads this, and all my friends and family who support me. And my girlfriend, who told me if I didn’t mention her she would “chop my penis off”.

And lastly, hey you - yes, YOU! Ever find yourself bored of doing the same stuff over and over, bars/clubs/movies/stalking celebrities? Look up some comedy or live performance gigs around town and come on out! It’s generally way cheaper than conventional forms of entertainment, and I promise if you’ve never been out to a comedy show, you’ll love it. support local comedy!

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