Melbourne International Comedy Festival review by Steve Bennett

It’s a great move for the Melbourne festival to encourage the nascent stand-ups scenes across South East Asia by bringing the pick of the region’s emerging names to town. And a savvy one, too, as the next generation of international comedy stars could well come from this fast-growing circuit, and it wouldn’t hurt to forge some early links.

Since these six are newish acts on a newish scene, there are inevitably rough edges and bad habits, but also plenty of promise in the all-important attitude they bring to the table.

Hong Kong’s Vivek Mahbubani is one of the more established acts and has the slick, affable spiel that makes him an engaging, energetic MC. He starts with material that’s a little obvious, talking about people not being able to pronounce his name – even his two-syllable first name – but has some funny tales about surprising people with his fluent Cantonese, and demonstrates his comedy moves in a section about hitting the nightclub.

In contrast, Malaysia’s Brian Tan is deadpan and low-status, almost to the point where he looks terrified to be here, so no wonder that self-depreciation is his approach, with one-liners his wares. It’s a highly mixed bunch, with a few truly duff efforts, but also maybe half a dozen delightfully tricksy examples in his short set, which is enough to signify his promise.

Joanna Sio, from Singapore, is also an intriguing prospect, with interesting angles on her topics and an impish sense of humour. Her twisted view of white people from having grown up among the bankers of Hong Kong is especially fascinating. Not all the gags land, but she has a winning stage presence, and you want to hear more.

Jason Leong is a slicker performer than his two predecessors, but less interesting in his longer set as he hit the sex references and obvious ideas such as taking phrases like ‘losing your shit’ literally. There’s a nice, if slightly overwrought, closing gag about not being appreciated in his former job as a doctor in Malaysia – and slightly worrying for society if that was what drove him to stand-up.

The aridly dry Rohan Desai is here because last year the Melbourne festival took its Raw talent hunt to India, where he was victorious. His shtick of nervously using ‘how to do stand-up’ notes as instruction for his set is a variation on a device that’s getting little old-hat among Western rookies, but his execution of the awkwardness is nicely done, with a strong sense of timing. And his premeditated four-letter insult at a 12-year-old in the front row was delight, so against his persona’s inherent timidity.

Jenhan Kuah is already a successful comic in his native Malaysia, where he is also a radio host and magazine columnist. He has something of the cocksure attitude of his compatriot, Ronny Chieng, currently doing great business this festival, although he’s not above a bit of blatant audience pandering, asserting: ‘I believe women are superheroes’. Content-wise, it’s another mixed set. He’s not the only comedian to wonder why air quotes are the only punctuation mark we mime, but when he moves on to Asian culture, especially the difference between Chinese and Indian movies, the material comes alive.

Overall, Comedy Zone Asia is an interesting glimpse into how English-language comedy is taking form in new territories – long may it continue, as the scene can only get increasingly fascinating as it develops.

Review date: 10 Apr 2015
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival