{"id":22830,"date":"2023-06-13T15:29:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T07:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=22830"},"modified":"2023-06-13T21:41:09","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T13:41:09","slug":"laughter-is-the-best-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2023\/06\/laughter-is-the-best-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Laughter is the Best Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Former doctor Jason Leong shares his story of being a comedian.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Ryan<\/strong> Teh<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doctor-turned-comedian Jason Leong is back on stage with a new show after the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is nice to be working hard and to go through the process of creating a new show, it is something I enjoy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leong says that his current world tour is by far his most ambitious project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis year\u2019s tour is the biggest one I have ever done. I will be touring around 25 cities in nine countries. Places like New York City, Melbourne, Indonesia. It is a good time to be a comedian and to be able to travel again\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Brain Drain\u2019, the title of  Leong\u2019s new show, is referenced to the slang term describing talents leaving their home country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe main theme is about how I want to leave Malaysia. This started last year when one of my fellow comedians was arrested and the comedy club was shut down,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr Jason Leong opening for Comedy giant Russell Peters in Leong\u2019s home city of Kuala Lumpur.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Malaysian comedian Rizal van Geyzel was arrested and the operation of Crackhouse Comedy Club was suspended in July 2022. Both cases were due to separate allegations of religiously insensitive jokes by Rizal that went viral online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI also wanted to talk about how Malaysia has been crumbling and how this among other reasons has made Malaysia unappealing for me. This is how I came up with the name for the show,\u201d Leong continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is the tour I travel the most extensively outside Malaysia so it is nice to call it the Brain Drain World Tour,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the stops on his tour is Hong Kong and Leong says he is excited to be back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has been three years since I have been in Hong Kong. I used to come almost every year. The city is one of my all-time favourite places. I love visiting the city centre and also hiking at Dragon\u2019s Back. I especially love the dim sum at Fu Sing Seafood Restaurant (a local restaurant in Hong Kong famous for its dim sum). Thinking about it alone makes me hungry. Now I want some dim sum,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I am very happy to be earning Hong Kong Dollars as well,\u201d he adds jokingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Screenshot Of Dr Jason Leong\u2019s Instagram story about the Hong Kong show.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With 2023 marking his ninth year in the industry, Leong says he has no regrets about leaving the medical field to pursue comedy since making the switch in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tried balancing being a doctor and a comedian for two years and eventually stopped my practice to focus on comedy. Now my newest Netflix Special Ride with Caution<\/em> has been getting good reviews, and I am in the middle of touring for my new show so I am enjoying my career to the utmost and definitely have no regrets,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comedian also boasts a number of accolades to his name. Ride with Caution<\/em>\u2019s release in February added to the list by making Leong the first and currently the only Malaysian to have two Netflix Specials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leong was also selected to perform at the Just for Laughs Festival in July 2022, the largest international comedy festival in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese successes are meaningless if they do not spur you to achieve more. They drive me forward to do bigger and better things,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind the Jokes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former doctor shares that his jokes are inspired by his own life experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo me, it is really simple. You just see something and then you make fun of it. At first it was mostly from my background, growing up in a Chinese household and growing up in Malaysia. Then as I grew older, I began talking about my experiences as a father, being married to an Indian wife,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have come to realise I really like to make fun of people who like to show off. My favourite joke from my first comedy special was about people showing off their business-class tickets and in my latest one, it was making fun of people who start cycling but honestly, they are just trying to show off their money,\u201d he adds with a laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even while performing overseas in countries that have local taboos, Leong says that there is no restriction in his creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy intention is to make people laugh, maybe even provoke their thoughts. I want to take their minds off their stress, and of course, be famous as well,\u201d the comedian says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leong\u2019s shows also feature a fair share of jokes about Malaysia, particularly the country\u2019s political scene and its figures- a topic that is traditionally considered taboo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey give us comedians an endless supply of material to make fun of. It is also becoming quite common in Malaysia on Twitter. So, I am not worried about making jokes about our politics,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comedian does not feel the need to adjust his creation to cater to his international audiences and make sure they understand his jokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHumour is universal\u2026 actually you do not have to be Malaysian to understand most of my jokes. Like my bit about cyclists, they are everywhere around the world and most people would get it so I do not ever change my jokes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr Jason Leong wishes to continue performing comedy. (Photo courtesy of Dr Jason Leong)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As for his future plans, Leong hopes he can continue with comedy and have his own TV show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI (am) hoping to keep doing comedy until I can\u2019t anymore. Maybe let\u2019s try for two more decades. I also plan to travel more and do more shows or stand-up gigs overseas like in New York City. Another thing I really want to do is to produce my own sitcom and be on-screen besides just only being on stage,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Esme Lam
Sub-edited by Charlie Chun<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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