Being funny is serious business. Being funny in English and Cantonese when you’re not Sting and an Englishman In New York, but Vivek, a 31-year-old Indian living and working in Hong Kong as a standup comedian in one of the most racist cities in the world takes massive balls- and- you know what?- a sense of humor and a bloody thick brown-assed skin.
We haven’t known Vivek for long, but the Vivek we know is someone whom we feel we have known forever and with whom we have grown up.
As a guy to hang with, he’s fun, he’s funny and, mercifully, he isn’t funny all the time and craving to be the center of attention. He knows that’s MY job.
A few things about Vivek and what makes him not your regular Indian in Hong Kong:
* He isn’t a part-time tailor and his folks are not tailors.
* He is not a waiter at Ashoka’s or The Indian Curry Village.
* He’s hairy, but not fat, sweaty and outta breath from wolfing down curries swimming in ghee and oil.
* He doesn’t play hockey or cricket and is pretty clueless about Bollywood movies and the exploits of Sachin Tendulkar.
* He doesn’t use a skin whitener.
Nah, Vivek lives and breathes to make people laugh doing standup and living in a city that offers him so much new material every day- the keystone cops antics of the government, the weirdness of taking the MTR and wondering if you will ever make it out alive, Ocean Park, Disneyworld, the dangers of being polite to women, the helter skelter LOUD world of the impatient Chinese punter and how many of the local Chinese view foreigners- especially the dumbass “gweilos” who still think Hong Kong is a colony owned by “them”.
For us, Vivek is a talented guy who deserves some International recognition- a role in a movie with and by Stephen Chao would be great- but better would be doing a gig with Russell Peters or Billy Crystal or even the quite mad and out there Russell Brand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADJhErmJuoQ
Can it happen?
Anything can- even an Indian doing standup in Hong Kong and being extremely funny in English and Cantonese and not making the latter a gimmick.
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