Stephen O’Keefe, stand-up guy

Everybody knows me as a crazy guy who’ll do anything: Ironman marathons, bungee jumping or even taking part in a rodeo. Stand-up comedy – especially for a deaf guy – is right up there with jumping off a bridge or wrestling a wild steer.

I started doing comedy three years ago. I was thinking about doing some motivational speaking, and I wanted to be funny. I took some classes with David Granirer, a local comedian, and he encouraged me to perform. Now I perform about twice a month at local comedy clubs.

The comedy gets my mind off the business, which I run with my wife. We supply healthy baked goods to all the Starbucks in B.C., Ontario and the northwestern U.S. – very demanding.

The other great thing about stand-up is that you get instant results; people either laugh or they don’t. At work, if you change something, the staff might seem happier or you might make a bit more money, but you’re never sure if it’s because of what you did. In stand-up, you know.

Being deaf is actually an advantage for me in comedy. It makes me unique, and I get great material. Like, the way “normal” people talk when they find out you’re deaf: “HOOWWW AAARRE YOOUUU?? IS EVERRRYYTHINGG OOOKAAYY??”

As far as I know, I’m the only deaf comedian out there, which is great; no one can steal my material. I joke that if there’s another deaf comedian around, I haven’t heard of him.