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Sue Green

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL ROADSHOW
	Fringe Underground
 
Malaysian-born stand-up comedian Ronny Chieng faces a dilemma: does he offer the race-based humour audiences expect from a Chinese comedian, or does he take a more sophisticated approach?
"That has been a constant battle. When you start out you do comedy that comes to you quite naturally," says Melbourne-based Chieng, a full-time comedian who got his big break by winning a University of Melbourne competition while studying law.
"You start to speak about your background which is perfectly OK. But then, especially in Melbourne, where the yearly comedy festival has led to a sophisticated taste in comedy, you start to realise that those jokes are hacky jokes that cater to the lowest common denominator. Race and family stuff is an example of that.
"The way I think about it is that hacky jokes are still funny, but they are jokes that any one of the street can come up with," he says. "I also feel that a professional comedian should be coming out with jokes that no one else would have thought of."
It is a big challenge, but one award-winning Chieng has proven equal to. He fills theatres rather than small venues in Australia, is a regular on Australian television and radio, and this year took out the Directors Choice Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Best of the Fest (Local) Award at the Sydney Comedy Festival.
He is among the five acts that are coming to town for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow, from July 14 to 20, at the Fringe Club. The other four are Harley Breen, Joel Creasey, Anne Edmonds and Luke McGregor.
Chieng initially steered away from what he calls "the race stuff" because he thought he should aim higher. But when filling one-hour shows he found, "there is some stuff you cannot avoid because that is who you are, especially me, sounding the way I do and being from where I am. You have to address that a little bit."
So he now takes a more relaxed approach: "If it comes up in something I'm talking about, so be it. But if you go there for the sake of it then it gets a bit tiresome."
Chieng chose to study law with no thought of becoming a comedian. "As far as I knew I wanted to be a lawyer," he says. He grew up in Johor Bahru and the US, spent his teenage years in Malaysia and Singapore, then moved to Melbourne in 2005.
Twice he entered the university's annual comedy competition, but "chickened out". But in his final year he performed, and won. "It was something I thought I could do, and it just kind of worked out. Five years later I am doing theatre shows," he says. "I don't think I was much of a joker with friends, but I knew I had something I could say on stage that would be funny."
Asked to describe his onstage persona, Chieng says: "I would say, aggressive and absurdist observational." Watching his shows and YouTube clips confirms this assessment. The key to his success is the way Chieng converts our daily frustrations into laughter. "It is just something that developed over my first two years of doing comedy," he says of his aggressive approach.
"I think it comes from some kind of truth in the onstage persona. It's not me, it's like an exaggerated person. It's how I express it in comedy. There is a part of that in me but not all the time," he says.
In his latest show he talks about his Apple Store experience — "basically, I trash Apple Store employees" — and says it comes from a customer service experience with a grain of truth in it.
His act isn't improvisation; it's the result of hard work, something that audiences might not realise.
He faced a big learning curve after that initial win. "I had a feeling I had something and I translated it into a very good five minutes. It got me a lot of gigs. But when I tried to write the next show it was a constant struggle. It takes a long time. I make notes on my phone and craft it later."
Chieng is excited about returning to Hong Kong (he performed here in 2012, also for the Roadshow at the Fringe). He enjoys the intimate venue and says audiences here are more familiar with comedy than those in Singapore and Malaysia, where comedy is in its early stages.
"They find the fact that I am a Chinese comedian, but I'm not from Asia, interesting. The dynamics change in Asia because you are no longer the minority," he says.
"I guess in Western countries I am a minority punching up, whereas in Asian countries they will be, like, why are you so angry at us, and when are you going to talk about being Chinese?"
 
Fringe Underground, Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central. July 14-19, 8pm; July 20, 5pm. HK$250-HK$350. HK Ticketing. Inquiries: 2521 7251
 


Melbourne-based comedian Ronnie Chieng is unsure about using race jokes in Asia

Malaysian-born Australian comedian Ronny Chieng.

Funny business: Australian stand-up comedians (clockwise from top left) Luke McGregor, Harley Breen, Anne Edmonds and Joel Creasey will perform at the Fringe Club.

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48 Hours

Malaysian-born stand-up comedian Ronny Chieng faces a dilemma: does he offer the race-based humour audiences expect from a Chinese comedian, or does he take a more sophisticated approach?
