10 years on, and comic Dan McKown still ‘standing’

“Comedy is tragedy plus time,” is an oft quoted expression.

But Tacoma comic Dan McKown’s personal tragedy didn’t need any cooling off period.

“It became funny immediately,” McKown said.

That tragedy was the Tacoma Mall shooting on Nov. 20, 2005.

“When I said, ‘Young man, I think you need to put your weapon down’ that apparently translated into ‘Please, fill me full of bullets,’ ” McKown said.

McKown was one of seven people injured that day when Dominick S. Maldonado walked into the mall and fired bullets from an assault rifle.

McKown, a mall store employee at the time, was the most seriously wounded.

After confronting Maldonaldo, McKown was shot five times. He lay bleeding internally for about an hour before help arrived. Today, paralyzed from the waist down, he uses a wheelchair.

On Friday (Nov. 20), McKown will mark the day with the help of several other comics in an evening of stand-up comedy.

“Still Standing” will have two shows. The first, at 7 p.m., is “clean.” The second, at 9 p.m., is for adults only.

McKown is part of a comedy troupe, Comedy Kaleidoscope, formed in 1989. Along with McKown, other performers Friday include “Last Comic Standing” runner-up Ty Barnett, Shawn Lawrence, Rick Anderson and Kris “Sonics Guy” Brannon.

Another nationally known comic will also perform in the show, but his name can’t be announced prior to show time due to contractual obligations.

Each comic will perform a 10- to 30-minute set. Both shows will be followed by a question-and-answer session with McKown.

Why is McKown choosing to commemorate the shootings that forever altered his life?

“I could sit there and feel sorry for myself. Or I could put on a comedy show like they did for me,” he said.

“They” are his fellow comics (including Barnett, Lawrence and Brannon) who organized a fundraising show within days of the shooting.

“In a way it’s a celebration. They’re celebrating that they still have a friend. I’m celebrating the fact that I’m alive.”

McKown said Friday’s show will be a swan song of sorts to the shooting, though it, like his chair, will always be with him.

“At some point it’s got to go in the rear view mirror,” he said.

When he performs, McKown usually makes a joke a two about why he’s in the chair.

“I can feel they are waiting for an explanation. I have to address why I’m in a chair.”

But sometimes he’ll ask the host to do it before he takes the stage. McKown even provides the host with a one-liner: “Don’t call attention to the wheelchair because he doesn’t know he’s paralyzed.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 8:45 PM with the headline "10 years on, and comic Dan McKown still ‘standing’."