I love performing stand-up comedy. There's something so beautifully pure about stepping on a stage to invoke a specific reaction that happens so immediately. It's a huge rush to assist people in forgetting about their problems, and being present with you in a moment. The past 2 weeks, I've felt like all the years of grinding open mic comedy shows are back coursing through my veins. With my wonderful lady by my side, I've hit up many opportunities since I've arrived to Hong Kong. People are incredibly friendly and there's such a fresh new scene that's just ready to bust open!
The first night was last Monday at Bar 109, where we met one of the most interesting characters I've EVER met in my life. He's an 18 year old boy who had never been in a bar before and was drinking a beer. Look how happy he is in the picture above. He proceeded to tell us his whole life story and laughed hysterically at the best moments. He then grabbed the mic and said exactly what he had told us in full flow of the moment. He stood up there with full confidence and killed his first time! He recorded it so he could show his parents. I wish I could have showed my parents my first set... but they would have banned me from going out to shows if I did! Anyway, he has contributed greatly to the entertainment of the first weeks of comedy and reminded me how close we are to our first times, even 7 years in for me. We both were having our first set in Hong Kong and he made me so comfortable to jump on stage right after!
During this first night, there was such a beautiful energy to the room. Everything was new. The people were excited, the experiences were fresh, and I truly felt I've been working my whole life to be ready for all of this. However, no matter how prepared you believe you are, nothing means more than people who put themselves out there, just to ensure you're feeling supported in getting stage time. As a performer, there's nothing more important than getting up there and just doing it. It is a nerve-racking experience, even if you've done it thousands of times, and this night was made that much better by the people who gave me their Whatsapp(still getting used to using this, its like Blackberry Messenger), telling me other places for shows and tagging me in all the pictures!
Here's all our sets on mute and fast forwarded...
During this first night, there was such a beautiful energy to the room. Everything was new. The people were excited, the experiences were fresh, and I truly felt I've been working my whole life to be ready for all of this. However, no matter how prepared you believe you are, nothing means more than people who put themselves out there, just to ensure you're feeling supported in getting stage time. As a performer, there's nothing more important than getting up there and just doing it. It is a nerve-racking experience, even if you've done it thousands of times, and this night was made that much better by the people who gave me their Whatsapp(still getting used to using this, its like Blackberry Messenger), telling me other places for shows and tagging me in all the pictures!
Here's all our sets on mute and fast forwarded...
Throughout the past week and half, I've done 5 open mics and they've been awesome! Jen's such a great audience member, it feels like I'm happy just performing for her. Alot of the other comedians are calling her out too which is always sweet hearing her giggle throughout it all. She's such a great sport! It's awesome having her there because if anyone's heard my material lately, alot of it is involving situations we've been through together. I'm so lucky to have someone to practice with, and she even gives me notes after shows now. "You were standing a little out of the light, and I think this joke sounds like this other one..." I GOT A MANAGER NOW, I'M BIGTIME! :P
I even got offered by Nick, one of mine and Jen's favourite people in the scene, to do a road gig out in Hanoi! I don't even know where that is, but hell, it'll be amazing if Nick's gonna be there... Jen kept quoting this one joke of his "We built this city! We built this city! We built this city on OPIIIIIIIIIUUUUUMMMMMM!" He's so much fun :D
Another person I really found helped me out alot was Michael Dorsher. He alongside Chris Musni are the ones who run the open mic shows in town. Bar 109 Mondays, and Brewhouse on Wednesdays. Another show is every 1st and 3rd Tuesday, where there's a Chinese Open mic at Bar 109. I can't wait to see what that's like, as I've never done comedy in Cantonese before. Lots of places to hit the mic here in Hong Kong! All the happenings of Hong Kong Comedy are listed at www.comedy.hk
I even got offered by Nick, one of mine and Jen's favourite people in the scene, to do a road gig out in Hanoi! I don't even know where that is, but hell, it'll be amazing if Nick's gonna be there... Jen kept quoting this one joke of his "We built this city! We built this city! We built this city on OPIIIIIIIIIUUUUUMMMMMM!" He's so much fun :D
Another person I really found helped me out alot was Michael Dorsher. He alongside Chris Musni are the ones who run the open mic shows in town. Bar 109 Mondays, and Brewhouse on Wednesdays. Another show is every 1st and 3rd Tuesday, where there's a Chinese Open mic at Bar 109. I can't wait to see what that's like, as I've never done comedy in Cantonese before. Lots of places to hit the mic here in Hong Kong! All the happenings of Hong Kong Comedy are listed at www.comedy.hk
Recently, they got me to submit a bio for the Hong Kong International Comedy Competition (http://comedy.hk/2014/09/hk-comedy-competition-2014-anto-chan/ ). My night is next Thursday, the 25th of September. I picked 6th in the lineup. This is a sweet spot because hopefully they'll be well warmed up, but not too tired as there will be 10 comedians on the evening. If you make the finals, you'll be performing in a theatre with 700 people capacity. All of this is made possible by Take Out Comedy Club (www.takeoutcomedy.com) It's owned by Jami Gong who is a New Yorker who came out to Hong Kong 8 years ago to build a comedy scene from nothing! He was the first to bring in acts from overseas and the whole landscape of the asian market has now changed completely. It's pretty badass cause people are able to now do tours across the continent. This is one of the reasons I wanted to come out here not only for the competition, but to really experience what the Asian scene is growing into. How can we contribute and help it grow even more? I did the open mic on Tuesday at Take Out. It was great to finally be in the club where I have dreamt of performing for so many years. It's all happening from envisioning to manifesting because of such incredible support. That's one of the reasons I feel so strong on stage these days is because I don't feel as if I'm the only one up there. It's as if my whole family and friends are up there with me. Everything the past generations have worked for is manifesting into our generation being able to live our dreams, and here we are... It's pretty incredible!
Here's a picture of all the local performers who are in the Hong Kong International Comedy Competition. Check out my weird floating hand on Nick's shoulder, and Tamby's face! I actually used to go to Chinese school with Tamby in Ottawa, and now we're here in Hong Kong doing comedy together...such a small world! He doesn't remember me though because I didn't have a huge beard and Ming Dynasty hair when I was 7, I grew it all when I was 8.
Here's a picture of all the local performers who are in the Hong Kong International Comedy Competition. Check out my weird floating hand on Nick's shoulder, and Tamby's face! I actually used to go to Chinese school with Tamby in Ottawa, and now we're here in Hong Kong doing comedy together...such a small world! He doesn't remember me though because I didn't have a huge beard and Ming Dynasty hair when I was 7, I grew it all when I was 8.
Jen said the best thing to me last week. Even if you don't win the competition, doesn't it already feel like we've won just being here? And with that attitude, at the open mic, I volunteered to go first onstage. Jami was kind enough to introduce me to all the other comics and ended up giving me a later spot because I've never performed at the club before. After my set, he told me he would like to book me to do some weekend shows. AMAZING! After only a couple shows out here, I've booked a road gig, will be hosting the open mic and gotten offered to perform on the weekend at the comedy club... my my my things are just rolling so smoothly over here :D He also told us that we can see all the shows throughout the festival for FREE! Can't wait to check out all the other talent. It's exciting to see how all the jokes I did in Canada transfer over to this scene here. I've also been writing so much because of all the weird things we've seen since we've arrived. My dad (HI DAD!) was worried that it would be a different scene, but that's before the boom of all these North American performers coming through. Now it's so vibrant with differing styles, opening up for people like me who are coming in from overseas. Next week, the man he kept telling me to check out online because he won the Hong Kong Festival's competition in 2007, Vivek Mahbubani, will be the MC on the night I'm competing. What are the chances? So exciting :)
Tonight, Jen didn't come out to the show with me. This morning, we realized we've been doing every single thing together, and it was time for us to take a step out of the house on our own. Not gonna lie, it was a bit hard. I missed her the moment I left her side as you get when you're in such a connected relationship. We forgot what it was like to take a step forward on our own. However, the moment we did, Jen found an incredible organization that she wants to volunteer for. So excited for her and the experience she will have there. They're so lucky to have someone so willing to help with such an open heart as hers. With my time this evening, I was able to literally run from one venue to the next just to get an open mic spot. I don't remember the last time I did that, but it was invigorating! It reminded us to appreciate our independence and strength we have on our own. We bring so much to eachother's lives, but its important for us to step away sometimes so we can share it with all the amazing people we meet along our journeys. We missed eachother so much while we were gone, we even ended up BBM'ing back and forth silly pictures of eachother, as well as family and friends with Big Eye setting.
Here's some of our favourites!
Tonight, Jen didn't come out to the show with me. This morning, we realized we've been doing every single thing together, and it was time for us to take a step out of the house on our own. Not gonna lie, it was a bit hard. I missed her the moment I left her side as you get when you're in such a connected relationship. We forgot what it was like to take a step forward on our own. However, the moment we did, Jen found an incredible organization that she wants to volunteer for. So excited for her and the experience she will have there. They're so lucky to have someone so willing to help with such an open heart as hers. With my time this evening, I was able to literally run from one venue to the next just to get an open mic spot. I don't remember the last time I did that, but it was invigorating! It reminded us to appreciate our independence and strength we have on our own. We bring so much to eachother's lives, but its important for us to step away sometimes so we can share it with all the amazing people we meet along our journeys. We missed eachother so much while we were gone, we even ended up BBM'ing back and forth silly pictures of eachother, as well as family and friends with Big Eye setting.
Here's some of our favourites!
It's been a really incredible 2 weeks already filled with unique challenges that we've never faced before. However, with comedy in full swing, and my incredible partner by my side, how can I ever fail? We've already won by being right here in Hong Kong.