“Fuck, I hope this is real!” stand-up comedian Chris Silio exclaimed when he stepped up to the microphone during a live taping of stand-up comedy variety show Kill Tony in Austin last summer.
The joke landed instantly because Silio is blind.
In less than a minute, the comic, who had just moved to Austin from Miami, had the room in the palm of his hand. Kill Tony host Tony Hinchcliffe, the judges’ panel, the house band and the packed audience erupted in laughter. Silio’s appearance, which has garnered more than 900,000 views on YouTube, quickly became one of the night’s standout moments.
By the end of his performance on Kill Tony, Silio had earned a Golden Ticket, which allows comedians to perform on future episodes without entering the show’s random drawing.
On Friday, June 19, Silio will perform as part of the Golden Hour Comedy Show, a live show at the San Antonio Aquarium featuring comics from Kill Tony, Don’t Tell Comedy and Netflix.
During our interview, Silio, 30, talked about his blindness, what led him to comedy and what his goals are as a comedian.
Tell me a bit about your eye history.
I was born with eye problems immediately — like a birth defect. They fixed it early. Growing up, I could see. I had the biggest glasses in school. Then, I started having my first retinal detachments when I was 12 or 13. It’s the part of your eye that helps connect the picture to the brain. My retinas are super thin, so I was getting retinal detachments all the time. I ended up having five retinal detachments from ages 12 to 18 and having 30 eye surgeries before I was 18. At some point, the doctors were like, “We can’t do anything else.”
Are you totally blind now?
Yeah, I’m 100% blind. During my last year of high school, my friend was messing around and threw a manila envelope at me and nailed me in the eye. They fixed it … and I had six more months of good vision. Before going to college, the doctors were like, “Do this eye surgery, so you’ll have a little bit more vision.” But I came out with no vision. There was just too much scarring. So, that was that.
Did you stay in college?
I did not. It was an adjustment period. I had to go to the Lighthouse for the Blind for a while, so they could teach me how to be blind. They had to teach me how to do everything again. Then I did some research on local open mics, and I did my first comedy show. When I told my first joke on stage, I was like, “Oh, this is the only thing I want to do.”
What led you to comedy?
I’ve always been a big fan of comedy. When I went blind, I was sitting alone in the dark and realized I didn’t want to watch TV. So, I gravitated towards comedy podcasts. I was listening to Kill Tony back then and a bunch of others. It was something I wanted to do. I thought I could handle writing some jokes.
When you initially sat down to write the jokes, were they all based on your blindness?
Oh, no. I think I’ve figured out how to do that more now. When I first started, I didn’t want [my comedy] to be about that. When you first start writing, you don’t really know how to be funny on stage. It’s not until you start doing comedy that you learn what the audience thinks is actually funny, which is honesty and real perspectives.
As you continued to grow as a comedian, did it become easier to realize what the audience wanted from you?
Yeah, I learned what I needed to do. It would be crazy for me not to talk about the thing that everybody is thinking about. What happened early on was that I was writing these jokes that weren’t necessarily about me. There was this big elephant in the room I wasn’t addressing. There was a disconnect with the audience. I think all art is supposed to be honest.
Before relocating to Austin, did you set any goals for yourself?
I don’t know if I’m a good planner. I’ve just been stumbling my way through it. My only goal every night is, “How do I get on stage tonight?” That was my driving force for a long time. In Miami, there wasn’t a clear picture or a path. There was just stage time. There wasn’t a big comedy scene. So, my only thought was, “How can I get in front of people?” Now that I’m here, I’ve started thinking, “How can I have a career in comedy?”
Are you OK if people refer to you as that “blind comedian”?
I’d rather just be Chris. Obviously, I understand that it’s a label that will always be there. But I try not to have it be the leading label. I’d rather be that “funny guy,” for sure.
Golden Hour Comedy Show
$25.09, Friday, June 19, 8 p.m., San Antonio Aquarium, 6320 Bandera Road, (210) 310-3210, eventbrite.com.
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