The GIs of Comedy take Minot

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christian Sullivan
  • Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  A combat veteran comes home from war. He doesn't act the same, he doesn't even smile or laugh like he used to. Almost every day he's drinking to numb the pain. For some this may seem all too familiar. For Thom Tran, a comedian in the GIs of Comedy group, it's how he lived his life for a very long time until he decided to use comedy to help him overcome his problems.

Tran, a retired Army Staff Sergeant, founded the GIs of Comedy after finding out it helped him more than any other therapy could.

"I was introduced to it at a very young age because one time I went to the video store and rented what I thought at the time was a black Barney, but what was actually Eddie Murphy in his comedy special 'Raw'," Tran said. "I always loved comedy, I just never thought it would be a career. The reason I got into comedy is a lot more depressing than it is for these two guys. I was in Iraq for just 4 days before being shot and then two weeks before I left my roommate was killed by an IED. I came home with serious problems, all I did was drink and stress, and I had a heart attack at the age of 24. The doctor said I needed to relax and smile, so I started hosting a radio show and I started telling my own jokes. It became my therapy."

Luckily for his two colleagues, comedy didn't come to them in such a tragic way. For Jose Sarduy, another member of the GIs of comedy and a Major in the Air Force, he was inspired by those around him.

"I always loved it," Sarduy said. "I had a female family friend that would make fun of the males in my family and they would just laugh and take it, and I always thought how cool that was to have the power to say what you want and make people laugh while doing it. Then I saw standup on TV and I realized it was only a person, a microphone and a chair and they were dominating rooms with thousands of people, and I was just very impressed by it."

For Eljaye Montenegro, the newest member of the group and also retired Air Force member, comedy came to him more naturally than his partners.

"It was weird for me," Montenegro said. "I had followed comedy my whole life, I'm surprised it took me so long to get into it. I had a friend who told me I was funny and should do standup, which is funny because people always come up to me saying that they're funny and they should do standup and I always tell them that they shouldn't. I still believe that you can't teach someone to be funny."

The GIs of Comedy performed at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., Sep. 26, 2015, but this hasn't been their first venture into the tundra of North Dakota.

"We've been through North Dakota several times," Tran, the Buffalo, N.Y, native, said. "I've been to Bismarck twice and Williston, both during the winter, so when we heard we were coming in September we were very excited. Coming to North Dakota in 2013 is the reason I quit smoking. I got so sick from smoking for 15 seconds at a time there and I found out we were going to Greenland for our next show in three months, so I told myself I had to quit."

All members agree that comedy has its perks of traveling and meeting famous people, but when it comes down to it, the main reason they do this is for the members of the Armed Forces.

"I had a Vegas gig this weekend that I had to call and cancel because I had this show to do," Montenegro said. "I was headlining that show and I postponed it because the GIs are most important to me. I would drop any gig to do this show, because it's more rewarding and more important."