May 12-14, 9pm, Duetto; May 17, 8.30pm, Hemingway's Bar
Comedy, much like any other form of entertainment, goes through fads and fashions. The trend in Britain lately has been 'edgy' comedy: stand-up that scares and titillates the audience by pushing the boundaries of decency. Russell Brand and Frankie Boyle have done very well out of it.
But the tag doesn't always sit well with comics. 'My comedy is always billed as edgy,' Ava Vidal (right) says. 'I really hate that.'
Vidal's PR profile leaves the impression that her upcoming Hong Kong shows will be raw and, perhaps, edgy. But she says her shows are more about the truth than shock value.
'I talk about life and I talk about it with honesty,' she says. 'I just spent a month at the Melbourne comedy festival where no one would sit in the front row because they expected me to attack them. I don't do things like that.' There is, of course, one exception: '[If] you start on me first ... you're going down.'
Vidal has enjoyed a fairly quick rise to the top of the comedy ranks thanks in part to the popularity in Britain for putting stand-up comedy on television.