Melbourne International Comedy Festival review by Steve Bennett

Many festival shows wear their themes like a straitjacket. But although Lawrence Leung’s analogy between escape from his family’s expectations and his youthful interest in escapology is made explicit, he takes the concept lightly; it’s just a way to contain an often hilarious collection of stories from his youth.

‘My mad ethnic parents’ is frequently mined comedy seam, but Leung hits gold with his tales of their ambitions. They wanted him to become a doctor – of course – believing, he jokes, that ‘before you enter the kingdom of Heaven, you must pass through the faculty of medicine’. Leung Jr had little interest in that, and a gruesome work experience stint with a doctor – explained here in cringe-inducing detail – put paid to that career. Instead, he developed a nerd’s interest in magic and escapology (is there any other kind?) sparked when seeing David Copperfield escape from an exploding bank vault and was undeterred by the ‘don’t try this at home’ warning. But Leung couldn’t escape soft furnishings, let alone chains.

After amusingly explaining the embarrassing tale of how he sourced the straitjacket in his publicity photograph, Leung seamlessly juggles the twin stands of the show: his formative teenage experiences and fascinating tales of master showman’s Harry Houdini’s derring-do.

He speaks with the enthusiasm of a basket full of puppies, a permanent smile on his face that seems innate… even if he tells us its natural state isn’t so cheery, creating one of the mini-catchphrases, ‘resting sad face’, that make the hour so charming. Sometimes his gags are a little cheesy – fitting with the magician theme – but his insistence on sticking with them in full knowledge of that fact endears him more. Likeable seems woefully underpowered to describe his lively-but-modest, affable-but-geeky stage appeal.

Leung wears both his sharpness and his wit lightly, the veneer of boyish joyfulness disguising the impressive writing that underpins the upbeat storytelling, and making for one of the most effortlessly enjoyable shows of the festival. There’s no escaping that fact.

Review date: 6 Apr 2015
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival