Hong Kong comedian Vivek Mahbubani explains how a sense of humour makes life more fun
Award-winning stand-up comic shares his tips for seeing the funny side of everyday life.
Vivek Mahbubani is a bilingual stand-up comedian who was born and raised in Hong Kong. Photo: Xiaomei ChenEvery week, Talking Points gives you a worksheet to practise your reading comprehension with exercises about the story we’ve written
If there is one thing that Hong Kong students know, it’s that life can be stressful.
Having grown up in the city’s local school system, award-winning comedian Vivek Mahbubani understands the weight of this academic pressure – and how to face it with a laugh.
Now 42 years old, the successful stand-up comic has advice for how to develop a good sense of humour that can get you through tough times.
Making life a game
First, there is a difference between having a good sense of humour and being funny.
“A good sense of humour is your ability to see something most people don’t see or find an angle of an object or a situation that makes someone laugh,” Mahbubani said.
“Being funny means being able to tell someone that angle.”
The comedian explained how a good sense of humour could encourage a more positive outlook.
“You might say: ‘I’m lonely during recess, no one is playing with me, my life is miserable,’” he said.
“Or you could say, ‘Everyone is giving me the chance to be imaginative. No one is going to interrupt me. For 10 minutes, I get to be wherever I want to be, have fun and daydream.’”
He added: “It lets you turn something that was no big deal into something more fun.”
Public speaking tips from a Hong Kong comedian
Having this perspective can also make everyday life more interesting and enjoyable: “You’re basically making your life into a game,” he shared.
One example Mahbubani gave was about elderly fares on public transport. When they pay with their Octopus, it makes a higher-pitched noise than the card of someone paying the full fare.
“It makes my day because it’s a higher-pitched ‘doot’. Their Octopus is like, ‘Yay!’ while mine is like ‘Ah, come on!’” he pointed out.
“The ‘doot’ is not a transaction; it’s a sign of emotional happiness.”
Creative exercises to try
One way to develop a good sense of humour is by challenging yourself to look at things in an unconventional way. Mahbubani said he enjoyed figuring out new ways to explain the world.
“Let’s say I have a table. How would you describe it without saying its name? Maybe as a surface you put stuff on that has four legs,” he said.
But this could also describe many other things.
“Technically, that could be a chair or a dog – so maybe this table is a dog, maybe it’s a horse ... Challenge yourself not to see a table as just a table.”
If you are interested in writing jokes, start by looking at your life for inspiration. Gently poking fun at yourself can help others relate to you.
“For example, if I have really bad Mandarin, I can make fun of my bad Mandarin speaking,” Mahbubani said.
“It lets people know you. When you show them, ‘Hey, I’m harmless and vulnerable, let’s all laugh together’, then they invite you in.”
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It is easier to get inspired if you aren’t constantly distracted, so Mahbubani recommended putting your phone away. Instead, take out a pencil and paper and let yourself daydream.
“I write my comedy [on paper] because it takes longer and allows my brain more time to digest and simmer. The feeling of writing every letter goes into my brain better than just tapping away on my keyboard. When I’m writing something, I get excited,” Mahbubani said.
“It’s magical to be able to get away from the easy, rewarding system of the phone and go the harder way. It’s like how you can take a bus to The Peak – but it’s so much fun hiking there.”
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