Comedian Jeong Cheol-gyu talked about his difficult past and his resurgence.
On the 23rd, Jeong Cheol-gyu, a former KBS 19th class recruited comedian, appeared on MBN's 'Exclusive World' and opened up about his story.
It was 20 years ago that he shook Korea with the catchphrase "Boss, you're mean." In his 22nd year as a comedian, Jeong Cheol-gyu, surrounded by juniors more than 20 years younger than him, was burning with passion, doing things like personally soliciting audiences as the youngest in stand-up comedy. However, his comedy failed to get a reaction from millennial and Gen Z audiences. After four months as the youngest, Jeong Cheol-gyu confessed at a gathering of performers, "I don't know whether the audience mood is good or bad."
Jeong Cheol-gyu, who drew attention by winning a rookie award as soon as he debuted with the character "Blanca," said he finishes each day by writing in a diary and revealed the precious diary, calling it "like a talisman" to him. Jeong Cheol-gyu said, "Until two years ago, when I came home at dawn, I didn't have a late-night snack or ramen; I drank alcohol. I wrote when my mental state was shaken — early signs of alcoholism, antidepressant addiction, sleeping pill addiction — and writing relieved my stress, so I started then."
Jeong Cheol-gyu, who was an overnight star, looked back: "When comedian rankings on portal sites appeared in real time, I was number one for six months. My face was on buses, my stories were on the radio, celebrities mimicked my manner of speaking — it was exactly like waking up and becoming a star."
Why did he suddenly disappear at the peak of his popularity? Jeong Cheol-gyu said, "I was popular for a year and two months, but people around me told me, 'You have to erase the Blanca image to survive,' so I came to hate Blanca. My daily pattern was waking up around 11 a.m. and buying a hamburger, a bottle of beer and a bottle of soju at a convenience store. I relied daily on sleeping pills and antidepressants. Staying awake was painful." Unprepared fame was a heavy burden, and stress over his next work led to severe depression for 10 years.
On days without performances, Jeong Cheol-gyu helped at the bakery café his wife had run for three years. Though he withdrew from the public because of depression, he did not let go of his desire for the comedy stage and received vocal training from singer Han Kyung-il, who had been in the same agency. While talking after training, Han Kyung-il said, "We suffered depression because the agency didn't pay us. They took a lot of money from events. I was there for eight years and really didn't receive a single won." Jeong Cheol-gyu looked back on his hard past: "After suing and going off the radar, jobs didn't come. KBS-affiliated comedians have reservations with KBS for about a year, but because I was specially recruited, I didn't have such a contract clause, so I immediately joined an agency and got involved in a lawsuit due to a bad contract. For bus advertisements I received 35,000,000 won, for radio ads about 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 won; I don't know how it was settled, but when I received money there wasn't much left. So I lived in seclusion for two to three years. There were times I earned 47,500 won a month."
His wife showed trust in her husband, saying, "After we married, there were times I wondered if I had done something wrong. We talked about divorce, but it did not last that long. After about a year or two he gradually got better and brighter, and he stopped depression treatment and counseling. I thought someday things would get better." Jeong Cheol-gyu recovered while earning certifications such as a community sports instructor certificate, a companion animal industry technician certificate and a multicultural specialist instructor appointment, and he was able to become the top choice for bookings in the multicultural lecture industry.
But stand-up comedy was not easy. Regarding parts that did not come together as easily as he expected, Jeong Cheol-gyu lamented, "I tried about four newly written bits thinking they might be okay, but I wondered if it was a generational gap or whether those jokes had to be discarded," and he sought advice from Go Myung-hwan, a fellow comedian turned professional speaker and restaurant entrepreneur. In response to Jeong Cheol-gyu's concerns, Go Myung-hwan encouraged him: "When I look at juniors like Kim Won-hoon and Lee Suji, no matter how many books I read I feel I cannot match that sensibility. But you don't need to do that. You became stronger after 10 years of depression; just keep approaching audiences as you are now. Don't be fixated on outcomes; by challenging new fields you will inevitably succeed."
Jeong Cheol-gyu laughed heartily, saying, "There was a time I hated Blanca, but she is the character that made my life. So I say Blanca is my debut work, hit work and retirement work," and he pledged to keep challenging himself as an even more solid comedian.
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