With at least eight comedy festivals across the country and a finite number of headlining comedians, you would think every professional comic eventually gets to play all of them. Think again. In the case of Vancouver’s Byron Bertram, that number is currently at zero. And it’s not because he’s a guilt-ridden sociopath—that’s just the title of his current one-man show. But it’s not for lack of trying, either.

“I apply, I send stuff, and for whatever reason I just don’t get in,” he tells the Georgia Straight, interviewed at a picnic table on Granville Island. “I’m a headline comic but none of these festivals have hired me. Is there something inherently just terrible about me, or is it just bad luck? I don’t know. I’d like to get more recognition. Ultimately, you want the industry and establishment to recognize you. I’ve had a bit of tough luck with that. It’s tough for anybody. It’s a grind. I’m a headline-respected comedian in this country and then I feel like I’m a black sheep where I don’t get into any festivals. So it’s kinda weird.”

Bertram’s Guilt Ridden Sociopath is standuplike. There is some crossover with his club act, but it’s more structured and has an arc. Plus, there’s a multimedia presence you won’t get when you see him performing on Yuk Yuk’s stages across the country.

“It takes you on a bit of a journey of the human condition,” he says. “Our inner thoughts and demons, mental-health issues, self-esteem, body-image issues. It’s comedic, but there’s a couple of poignant, kind of truthful moments. It’s standup with a theme. I talk about my struggles with OCD. I just worry about ridiculous stuff, like ‘What if I wake up and I have a terrible disease?’ Or I could be a murderer. I feel guilty and worried and stressed out and anxious and insecure.”

An ex-girlfriend once called him a sociopath. “I felt so bad about it, but then realized I’m not a sociopath because I feel bad about it.”

Bertram first performed a version of the show four years ago in Adelaide. Since then it’s played in Melbourne, Perth, Edinburgh, San Diego, and Winnipeg.

“I’m from here,” the East Van–raised Bertram says. “I want to bring it home and see what the reaction is and what my so-called fan base is in my hometown.”

Bertram comes from an artistic family. His father, Gordie, is a sax player best known for his years with the Powder Blues Band. His mother is artist Lynn Onley. His grandfather was the legendary Canadian painter Toni Onley. The arts are in his DNA. He attended the Ailanthus Achievement Centre, a summer arts school for East Side kids at risk, and fell in love with juggling, taking to the streets to perform at the ripe old age of 16. His parents were always very encouraging. “I think they were really intrigued,” he says about their reaction to his busking.

In fact, you can still see his alter ego, Byron from England, escaping from a straitjacket or juggling on Granville Island and occasionally English Bay. Crazy as it sounds, street performing has always been his fallback position to standup and acting.

“It’s enabled me to travel all around the world, losing money doing standup,” he says. To date, he’s performed in 18 countries. He supplements both endeavours with acting. He’s the pathetic man-cold guy in the NyQuil commercial, had a two-episode role as a cop on The Romeo Section, and had a few lines with Christoph Waltz in Tim Burton’s Big Eyes, among other credits.

Bertram is currently working on a second one-man production. And when this run of shows is done, he’ll be back at the clubs, MCing Vancouver’s Yuk Yuk’s in the first week of August and headlining the Victoria Yuk’s the week after. He’s not going to sit and wait for a festival to book him.

“But of course I’d love to do festivals,” he says. “So if you’re reading this article, comedy festivals, please book me. I’ll do well.” 

Byron Bertram’s Guilt Ridden Sociopath plays the Havana Theatre through Saturday (July 23).