Sínann Fetherston sits down with funnyman Killian Sundermann to talk TikTok fame, stand-up comedy and his first trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, budding comedian and DIT graduate Killian Sundermann put his Degree in Film and Broadcasting to good use, creating mock RTÉ news reports, speedy impressions of Irish politicians, and viral-worthy observations of Irish and German behaviours (he's half-German on his father's side).
The videos were an instant hit and, before long, he found himself with a loyal and international fandom across social media, leading to a wide range of opportunities from calendar modeling with the Hot Young Guyz to joining an ensemble cast of Irish talent on RTÉ's sketch show, No Worries If Not!
This was all in addition to singing in his band, The Sleaze, co-hosting a movie review podcast, Popcorn Boyz, and taking part in the odd protest (he spent time with Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir while in New York).
Finally, in April of 2022, he decided to try his hand at more traditional stand-up. Rather than testing out five minutes at an open mic, though, he played Dublin's Liberties Distilleries to a packed house alongside fellow comic and collaborator Michael Fry.
Suffice to say, the comedy thing is going well.
Irish and German people offering things pic.twitter.com/AoPgWJpK6L
— Killian Sundermann (@killersundymann) October 7, 2021
So, what's next?
"I don't feel like I'm jumping from internet comedy to stand-up, I just feel like I'm starting stand-up now," Sundermann tells me, having spent the past year bridging the gap between international internet fandom and live performance.
"I like it, and I think I'm suited to it, but I want to get good at it," he adds. "In comedy clubs, you do your 15 minutes and you'll think 'Wow, they love me, that was amazing', and then Shane Daniel Byrne gets up and blows the f***ing walls off the place, and it's like 'Oh, ok, there's still a lot to learn'."
While the majority of his gigs have gone down well thanks to his warm and welcoming audience of built-in fans, the funnyman admits that going to cold rooms where nobody knows him has been a steep - and welcome - learning curve.
"You're standing in front of people who don't necessarily know you and you have to win them over, and that's a really fun experience. The first time you do it, you think you're the worst ever, but then you learn that you have to change your jokes and there are ways of winning crowds over. It feels like a skill then."
"I had gigs where no one laughed," he continues. "I was standing there for 15 minutes and no one is laughing. You take that on internally and think you're so bad, but you forget that you've done it 50 other times and it's gone amazing.
"I think the more healthy thing to do is to externalise it and try to think of reasons why it didn't work. You have to externalise it or go mad."
Thanks to all who came to liberty hall last night, a very special evening pic.twitter.com/JHMCHBVfyy
— Killian Sundermann (@killersundymann) May 5, 2023
Having gigged his way around the country over the past year, Sundermann is now gearing up for a summer of festivals, including his first Edinburgh Fringe - the world's largest performance arts festival that sees comics test their mettle throughout the entire month of August.
"We're going to do two weeks," he laughs. "I don't believe in punishing myself. I think there's a thing in comedy where you have to suffer but, luckily, I'm friends with some older comedians who are like, 'You actually don't, there's no need."
"Maybe next year we'll go for longer or in other ways but it's nice to dip your toe in and enjoy it."
trying to leave pic.twitter.com/3oTsRYzCjy
— Killian Sundermann (@killersundymann) March 8, 2023
Despite being known for late nights, constant travel, and dashboard diets - not to mention the all too popular 'sad clown' stereotype - Sundermann seems determined to keep his health in check while diving into the often hedonistic industry.
"I'm trying to get healthy; I'm turning 30 in July, I want to be a very healthy person in my 30s. I don't know if I've fully thought it through," he laughs.
Thankfully, the funnyman insists that he has a support system of comics such as Tony Cantwell and Shane Daniel Byrne who are leading the way and warming audiences up to different styles of stand-up.
"There's a specific idea of what stand-up is," says Killian. "If you watch it on TV, it's like Live at the Apollo where it's people - a lot of the time men - talking into a microphone. It's very talky, talky, talky whereas people who come from the internet do characters and songs and more alternative things."
"I think our Fringe show is going to be like that. It's going to be a lot more of an internet comedian's version of stand-up comedy."
For more information on An Evening with Michael Fry and Killian Sundermann at the Edinburgh Fringe, click here.
