For those who have not heard of Ed Hill or King Ed Hill from Vancouver, Canada, you are probably going to guess that he is a real king. Lest assured, he is far from royalty. Born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1984, Edward, popularly known as King Ed Hill followed his father on a “vacation” to Canada when he was 10. Now, 22 years later and still on this “vacation”, The “Canasian” (Canadian-Asian) wisecracker has gained significant recognition in both the media and people’s hearts alike
Before comedy, Ed worked as a Disc Jockey while he was still studying in university. Ed holds a Master’s degree from Simon Fraser University and an Undergraduate degree from University of British Columbia but he Disc Jockey phase did not last long. After sometime, Ed missed the stage so he took a stand-up comedy class offered near his university. The journey at the beginning was filled with fears and insecurities but for Ed, it is what makes comedy attractive as you can’t predict what is going to happen at every show.
When we asked Ed to tell us about his experiences, he recalls one incident where on his way to a show, a tornado hit the airport when his plane was taking off. “The tornado threw a bus into the middle of the airport, destroying the entire terminal while my luggage was still there. I made it to the show, and I had to brave the flash floods again in a 9-hour roach infested train ride to get to the nearest operating airport to get back home. Get this, I had flu the whole time and I accidentally packed muscle relaxants instead of antibiotics”.
Despite facing countless challenges, Ed has come a long way since his debut in 2009. He appeared on Gotham Comedy Live, CBC Radio’s “The 180 with Jim Brown”, XM Radio’s “Canada’s Next Top Comic” and a number of comedy festivals across the U.S.A and Canada. He was also voted “Best Vancouver Comedian of 2016” by West Ender Magazine and “Best Vancouver Comedian of 2015 by West Ender Magazine and The Georgia Straight, and named “Comic to Watch” in 2015 by Canadian Immigrant Magazine. To date, Ed has released two CDs, Canasian and Weirdo Whisperer and he has toured to countries like Hong Kong and Singapore as well.
Every show he does changes him in some ways. He is always introspecting himself to learn more about whom he really is and what his comedy means to the world. Ed’s role model is his father, as his father left everything behind to pursue a better future for his brother and him. Ed recalled the day he invited his father to one of his shows, “My dad said to me “All you do is talk about me on stage. If I wanted to see that, I can just talk to myself”.
Looking back, Ed has no regrets and he believes that all that he’s done and has happened to him made him who he is today; although he could have went easy on the cheese. His greatest achievement in life will be the day he married the love of his life, and the fact that he’s still alive and kicking after all the dumb stuff he has done.
Ed came a long way from when he was just a young boy who was once pranked by his father to move to Canada, to having his tweet read out by Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show. 10 years from now, if you find a bald, Asian guy with thick-rimmed glasses in an airport somewhere in Canada complaining, walk up to him and say “take a chill-pill, King Ed Hill”.