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Ng performs at a stand-up comedy show at Green House (Hong Kong)
Photo courtesy of Ng Ting-ting

injustice that I come across in society,” comedies, I can present them in a hilar- sponses were quite funny to me,” she
Ng says. ious way, and I think it’s cool,” she says. recalls.
Her dream of being a journalist Since then, performing stand-up com- Whenever something terrible hap-
came true after her university gradua- edies has become Ng’s major hobby. pens, Ng’s first reaction is to write it
tion. But her journalism career did not In Ng’s eyes, stand-up comedy and down as a source for her jokes and to
go smoothly as she thought. She calls journalism have something in com- understand it in a funny way, instead
herself too “idealistic” – believing that mon – journalism requires careful ob- of indulging herself in depressing feel-
journalists should speak out against in- servation, so does stand-up comedy as ings. She was furious about the inci-
justice, but the reality is different from jokes originate from life experiences. dent of the disappearance of Causeway
her thoughts. One of her performances is about the Bay Bookstore’s booksellers back in
Disappointed by the bureaucracy secrets in a local girls’ school, where 2016, but now she has decided to adopt
and tedious procedures, she gave up she spent her whole secondary school another attitude towards the issue.
her job. “If you like steak very much, life. The performance went viral on- “I still believe the issue is unreason-
you’ll be delighted when you can have it line with more than 300,000 views. It able, but in a hilarious instead of an
sometimes. But when you have it every illustrates how she has turned her life angry tone. I still hope to change these
day, it will gradually become not tasty experiences into intriguing stand-up unreasonable things, but I’m more re-
anymore,” she says. Instead of being a comedies. laxed towards them now,” Ng says.
journalist, now she finds more satisfac- Doing stand-up comedies also But it is not easy to work as a full-
tion in performing stand-up comedies. brightens Ng up by changing her atti- time stand-up comedian. Ng thinks
Ng first got in touch with stand-up tude towards life. When she first met most Hongkongers have little or no
comedy when her friends invited her other fellow stand-up comedians, she knowledge about the culture of stand-
to join a workshop held by Vivek Mah- was amazed by the way how they re- up comedies which directly affects
bubani, a local stand-up comedian. The spond to different issues. “When I first her income. “People have the habit of
encounter had a significant impact on talked to them about the absurdity of searching for what to do or which films
her. politics, they would reply me with an to watch on weekends, but seldom will
“When you are doing news, it’s im- interesting angle. In fact, they did not they look for stand-up comedy shows,”
possible to add your own emotions or follow the news closely and were sim- she says.
put it in a funny way. But for stand-up ply speaking nonsense, but their re- Still, Ng believes her career will have