Dj Demers, a deaf, hearing-aid-wearing comedian, recently stopped at WSU on his "Here to Hear" tour.
"Many people express the sentiment to me that ‘it must be very hard’ to perform stand-up comedy with a hearing impairment. They are absolutely right, and I am a goddamn hero," Demers joked in an interview with Hearing Like Me.
American Sign Language students and other students gathered in the Medical Science lecture hall for a night of laughs put on by the University Activities Board.
“I wear hearing aids myself, I was very intrigued. I am always interested in learning different perspectives of those with hearing aids,” sophomore Sarah Phillips said. “Personally, I found him to be quite funny. A number of his comments on hearing loss were things I could relate to. I loved that he brought awareness to hearing aids in a humorous way.”
Demers said during his performance he embraces the fact that he started to become known as “The Hearing Aid Guy” because he knew that people were enjoying those jokes the most and he used it to his advantage.
After his success performing on season 11 of America’s Got Talent, two performances on Conan and winning the 2014 Homegrown Comics Competition at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal, Demers recently released his first album “Indistinct Chatter.”
Phillips said she would absolutely watch Demers again if he were to return. “At one point, DJ remarked that he wouldn’t want his situation to be any different. I can identify with this," she said.
Even with a physical disability and many medical challenges, Phillips said she relates to Demers in having a positive outlook on her life.
"I wouldn’t want to change my life for anything in the world. I am completely content, and my life is more meaningful because of what I’ve been through. I am one of the lucky ones,” Phillips shared after watching Demer’s performance.
Check out Demers Conan performance here and his America’s Got Talent Performance here.
