Day: July 21, 2010

In his new special, "The Byrne Identity" (debuting July 25 on Comedy Central, out July 27 on DVD), comedian Steve Byrne says that his own identity is a blend of Korean and Irish, but when he went to China: "They thought I was Chinese. Even they couldn't tell the difference." Rim shot! But seriously, folks. Steve Byrne talks a lot about personal identities in his stand-up special, from how a person can find their identity based solely on a single incident — whether you're O.J. Simpson or the guy who poops his pants at an office party — to how you never hear anyone refer to anyone as an African-Canadian, and how TV only seems to speak to us as a collective audience in terms of black or white, despite being in color.  Byrne spoke with me earlier this week and had some things to say about finding his own comedic identity, how he had a WTF moment reacting to the WTF podcast that questioned his comedic identity, and more. Before we get into it, here's a quick clip from "The Byrne Identity." Roll it: When did you find your own identity? "When the half-hour came out, 'Happy Hour' came out, they did well, they sold well, and I thought maybe I needed to do something more. I said, 'There's nothing in it that people can realate to.' I...