[Sportschosun Lee Ji-hyun] Comedian Heo Kyung-hwan revealed the backstory behind his catchphrase "If you're curious, 500 won," saying it was a joke even the producer had brushed aside.
On the 10th, Heo appeared as a guest on the YouTube channel "Yangrak 1st Street," where he reminisced about his days on KBS's "Gag Concert" with senior comedians Choi Yang-rak and Kwon Jae-kwan and shared various behind-the-scenes stories.
That day, Kwon recalled Heo's comedy, saying, "I saw him keep repeating the same line over and over and thought, 'How can someone say the same thing two or three times?' But when I heard they were going to tape it, I figured Gag Concert was finished." Heo added, "My style of repeating catchphrases like 'If you're curious, pay 500 won' was different from my sense of comedy, so a lot of people didn't understand it at first."
In particular, he spoke about the segment "Dignity of a Beggar," saying, "After a lot of twists and turns, we finally got to tape it, and even Producer Seo Soo-min said, 'I'm a producer too, but honestly, I don't get what you're doing.'" Kwon also added, "There were more than 10 people who said the same thing."
Heo then explained why the taping went ahead, saying, "Even the producer didn't know where he was supposed to laugh, but deep down he was so curious about how he should react to something he didn't understand."
Recalling the first taping of "Dignity of a Beggar," he said, "There wasn't much reaction during rehearsal, but when I shouted 'If you're curious, 500 won' during the actual recording, the audience burst out laughing." He added with a laugh, "Even the comedians watching from the waiting room said, 'This isn't it,' but it kept getting laughs again and again."
Heo said, "Back then, people kept telling me I was overusing catchphrases," but added, "As time went by, younger comedians started asking, 'Senior, please give me just one catchphrase.'" He went on to show his knack for creating hit lines, saying, "When Kim Ji-min came up with the catchphrase 'I know how you feel,' she came to me and asked, 'Oppa, what do you think of this?'"
olzllovely@sportschosun.com
