The comedian who was the first Mensa member among comedians and shook the nation with "Boss, you're bad" — comedian Jeong Cheol-gyu's new start and daily life have been revealed.
KBS class 19 recruited comedian Jeong Cheol-gyu caused a sensation from his debut. Portraying the foreign worker character "Blanca," he struck the nation with the catchphrase "Boss, you're bad." Winning a rookie award as soon as he debuted and drawing attention, he recalled the time saying, "When the portal site comedian rankings appeared in real time, I was number one for six months. My face was plastered on buses, my stories came up on the radio, celebrities imitated my way of speaking — it was exactly like waking up and becoming a star."
But at the height of his popularity, Jeong Cheol-gyu disappeared. He said, "I was popular for a year and two months, but people around me said, 'You have to erase the Blanca image to survive,' so I grew to hate Blanca. My daily pattern was waking up around 11 a.m., going to a convenience store and buying one hamburger, one bottled beer and one bottle of soju. What I relied on every day were sleeping pills and antidepressants. Staying awake was painful," and said he suffered severe depression from the pressure about his next project.
There was also conflict with his agency. Han Kyung-il, who was in the same agency at the time, said, "We suffered from depression because the agency didn't give us money." Han Kyung-il exposed settlement disputes, saying he did not receive a single won from the agency where he had been for eight years.
Jeong Cheol-gyu said, "KBS-affiliated comedians typically spend about a year as KBS talent and then join an agency, but because I was specially recruited, I didn't have that contractual clause, so I entered an agency immediately and got embroiled in a lawsuit due to a bad contract." He said he filmed many advertisements — a 35 million won bus ad, a 20 million won radio ad, among others — but did not take home much, and lamented that while living in seclusion he naturally drifted away from broadcasting.
Jeong Cheol-gyu said he earned as little as 47,500 won a month. He said, "Until two years ago, when I came home at dawn, instead of a late-night snack of ramen I drank. I had early signs of alcohol addiction, antidepressant addiction, sleeping pill addiction — when my mental state was shaken, writing relieved my stress, so I started then," and described his changed daily life.
His changed self was also felt by his wife, who lives closest to him. His wife, who has been running a bakery cafe for three years, said, "After we married I wondered if I had done something wrong. There was talk of divorce, but it didn't last that long. After about a year, two years, he slowly got better and brighter and stopped counseling for depression treatment. I thought someday he'd be fine," and expressed trust in her husband.
Jeong Cheol-gyu, who started a second act as a multicultural specialist instructor, is also challenging stand-up comedy. Although the audience generation has changed since he became an overnight star, causing many difficulties, Jeong Cheol-gyu seeks advice from comedy seniors such as Ko Myung Hwan and continues to make efforts, so his future is promising.
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