If he didn’t laugh, he’d go insane.
Ken Roche has always had a sense of humour. It’s only in the past 15 years he’s had the vision to take that gift and go up on stage to make others laugh, something he’ll be doing Sept. 20 at the Fortress in Chatham.
And in terms of actual vision, Roche doesn’t have any. He’s blind.
But he’s never let that stop him from doing anything. He’s a massage therapist, a second-degree black-belt martial artist and instructor.
And he’s got an even crazier past.
Remember the Crazy Canucks, the Canadian men’s downhill ski team of the 1980s? Well count Roche as a crazy, blind Canuck.
He is a retired blind downhill ski racer.
“On the skill hill, that’s where I faced my biggest challenges,” Roche told The Voice. “In the first week, I broke a helmet, got whiplash. I went off the side of the hill and hit trees. But I kept doing it. I was more afraid of quitting.”
Roche went blind at an early age. He said at the age of 19, while on disability, he “wanted something better; to be a productive member of society.”
He decided to become self-employed as a massage therapist.
As a martial artist, Roche instructs children with physical and intellectual challenges.
“I try to be an inspirational personality,” Roche said.
The comedy bug began nibbling away at him. In 2008, he started testing the waters, and found that if he wanted to get in, he’d quickly be up to his neck.
“I called Yuk Yuk’s back in 2008 in Toronto. I was thinking I was finally ready to step up and get on stage,” he recalled. “I didn’t know how competitive this industry really is. Their (Yuk Yuk’s Toronto) amateur program gets 200 applications per week. I realized this would not be easy and at times not fun. But it would be funny.”
Despite the daunting news, he began performing a year later.
Known as Mr. Blind and Dangerous, Roche is hosting the Riff Raff Laffs stand-up comedy night at the Fortress. He’s bringing Larry Smith, a Hamilton-based comedian with 40 years of stand-up experience with him, as well as headliner Ernie Vincente, one of the Just For Laughs originals.
Tickets to Saturday’s show are $20.
