If you ask my brother, he’d say I was born without a sense of humor. That’s not true…it’s just, well, sometimes a little hard to find. My sister says it’s because I’m too literal. She’s probably right. But I do like a good laugh and, this week, I decided to go hunting for some. And, thankfully, all those people who used to crack us up on Active Duty, are still out there making people laugh, including the GIs of Comedy.
The GIs of Comedy are professional comics who have all served in the military and want to use their humor to honor and entertain those who are serving or have served their country. Debuting in 2011, they have had sold out show after sold out show. Primarily performing for servicemembers and student veterans, they have also performed at VA hospitals and other venues, including The Lucille Ball Comedy Festival. Each performance on a military base generally last two hours with a pre or post-performance Q&A session, a meet and greet, and even the possibility of a guest performance by local veteran talent (previous guest performers have included Jody Fuller, a Captain in the Alabama Guard and three time Iraq vet, and former Marine Shawn Halpin). While the line up has rotated a little over the years, the core of GIs of Comedy is made up of two Army veterans and an Air Force Reservist.
Thom Tran: An Iraq veteran, medically retired Army SSG, and child of parents who came to America after being designated political prisoners in Vietnam, Tran is the founder and driving force behind GIs of Comedy. Shot in the head shortly after arriving in Iraq, he pushed through his twelve month deployment, only to lose his roommate shortly before leaving country. Medically discharged in 2005, he decided alcohol and the pills the VA was pushing on him were no way to deal with his PTSD, so he turned to comedy instead. He’s said more than once that it saved his life.
Jose Sarduy: An Air Force Academy graduate, pilot, and son of political prisoners who were deported from Cuba for protesting Communism, Sarduy (pronounced Sar-doo-E) traded in Active Duty for the Reserves in order to pursue comedy full time. Tran saw him on stage in LA and pitched the GIs of Comedy to him and, as they say, that’s all she wrote.
Tom Irvin: A former Private First Class with the Army’s 5th Engineers during peacetime, Irvin has taken four trips to Iraq to perform for servicemembers and has even been invited to perform at the White House.
An Armed Forces Entertainment Approved act, the GIs of Comedy recently returned from performing for troops in Greenland and South America. They also recently completed a TV special, which they are encouraging people to tweet about in order to get an air date from Comedy Central. Upcoming performances are limited while they take a little breather from three years of touring to work on individual projects but include:
- 30 May: Army Ball in Long Beach, CA
- 16 July: NCOA conference in Las Vegas, NV – this one will be Tran and Navy veteran PJ Walsh
You can find more about these funny guys on their website, Facebook and Twitter. You can also purchase some of their gear there. Proceeds are split with the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which covers college expenses for the children of fallen SOF.
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